Amazon Business: Is It Right for You?

What Is Amazon Business?

Amazon Business offers its users a purchasing solution for their all-sized registered businesses. It allows business owners to access a huge network of providers for easy ordering and numerous appealing discounts. It’s a good option for businesses of any size – small companies and enterprise corporations alike.

How to Access Amazon Business

The process is pretty straightforward. Navigate to the Amazon Business page, then click on the gold “Create a Free Account” button.

Next, you’ll be asked to enter your email. If you already have a personal Amazon account, you’ll be prompted to sign in.

Follow the instructions to complete your account signup and you’ll then be able to start using Amazon Business.

Amazon Business Account Cost

Signing up for an Amazon Business account is free; however, you’ll need to pay for a Business Prime account to take advantage of Prime shipping. Plans start at $69/year, and existing customers with Prime on their personal Amazon account can sign up for Business Prime Duo (a plan for one user). You can also opt for the Business Prime Essentials plan for $179/year to access even more benefits, including adding up to 3 users per account.

Amazon Business customers in the United States, Germany, and Japan can upgrade to Amazon Business Prime at any time.

Benefits of Amazon Business

Price savings and shipping choices

Amazon Business offers significant price savings and shipping advantages for its members. Those who have business accounts can buy through Amazon.com to receive cost reductions on multi-unit purchases, price breaks on thousands of business items, and the opportunity to compare prices from different sellers.

Payment options

You or another administrator on your Amazon Business account can choose between individual and shared payments. Payment options include credit cards, the Amazon corporate credit line, and debit cards. Any eligible user of your business account can use the payment method of their choosing to buy products on behalf of your business.

Tax exemption

Many businesses can enjoy tax exemptions under the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP). Amazon provides a tool that determines if you’re eligible for the program and enables you to apply your tax-exempt status to qualified purchases from Amazon and all of its affiliates. On Amazon Business, small-business sellers are given the opportunity to generate sales by approaching millions of business consumers throughout the world.

Drawbacks of Amazon Business

More fees decrease product margin

Amazon Business charges 6–15% in fees (with the exception of products not typically sold as business items).

Product differentiation is more challenging

It’s difficult to differentiate yourself from other Amazon Business sellers. Customers can easily find and buy from the lowest-cost vendors.

Limited customer interaction

Amazon restricts the ways in which sellers interact with buyers. As a vendor, you don’t have much room in the way of adding packaging inserts or other marketing content. Sinces Amazon takes more control over the customer–seller relationship, it will be harder for buyers to recognize or learn about your brand.

Despite these drawbacks, however, Amazon Business still may be worth a try. After being accepted as an Amazon Business customer, you’ll be qualified to buy the Business Prime plan, which will afford you greater flexibility on shipping and payment terms.

Main Features of Amazon Business

Even with the free account, Amazon Business makes it easy to:

• Manage multi-user accounts (you need to be one of the account administrators to add or edit single accounts)
• Opt in to Amazon corporate credit options
• Integrate your purchasing system to create an Amazon punchout catalog, which makes it possible for your customers to shop Amazon without leaving your procurement software
• Establish order approval workflows and spending limits
• Receive multi-unit discounts
• Access price cuts on thousands of business products
• Price-check multiple sellers

Which Businesses Can Use Amazon Business?

Any kind of business can theoretically take advantage of the Amazon Business account, regardless of size. For instance, a small e-commerce business may find it more efficient to automate the delivery of crucial office supplies, whereas larger companies (e.g. those with 100+ employees) may find it helpful to ensure guaranteed delivery of office supplies and other goods.

Remember, though – what works for some companies may not necessarily benefit yours. Generally speaking, Amazon Business works best for companies offering products that can be purchased in bulk. Though the program offers many perks, it’s still important that you do your due diligence in research to ensure you’re well aware of all the caveats before deciding to participate.

Is Amazon Business Worth It?

If you’re a business entity, registering for Amazon Business may be well worth the cost. The program offers unique features to its members, such as purchasing analytics, guides, and business-only pricing on certain eligible products.

Takeaway

Amazon Business is a huge growth platform with a proven track record of success for B2B businesses and allows you to benefit from higher visibility of business offers and lower fees on high-volume transactions. You’ll also have the opportunity to grow sales by reaching millions of B2B customers across the globe – buyers that would otherwise be very hard to reach.

As a seller, you’ll reap multiple benefits, including exclusive pricing options, analytics, tax breaks, and invoicing & credit control features.

Feeling like you now know the best Amazon account type for your needs? Great!

But keep in mind… that’s just the start.

Once you’ve created your accounts, you’ll then have to put plenty of time into developing and marketing them. Frankly, it’s no easy feat.

Thankfully, Rank N Bank can help. Our team of Amazon marketing experts is well-versed in the makings of a successful Amazon listing. We’d be more than happy to bring that knowledge to your business and help you succeed!

Ready to get started? Drop us a line and schedule a call today!