Amazon Business
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| Amazon Business | |
|---|---|
| Name | Amazon Business |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | E-commerce |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Founder | Jeff Bezos |
| Headquarters | Seattle |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Andy Jassy; Doug Herrington |
| Revenue | Not publicly separated |
| Parent | Amazon (company) |
Amazon Business Amazon Business is a B2B e-commerce platform launched to serve institutional procurement needs across sectors such as corporate, education, healthcare, and government. It builds on retail infrastructure pioneered by Amazon (company) and aims to combine marketplace scale with purchasing controls familiar to organizations like General Electric, Unilever, and university systems such as the University of California network. The service competes with procurement and marketplace offerings from firms including Grainger, Staples, and Alibaba Group.
History
The platform debuted in 2015 amid rapid expansion of business-focused digital procurement solutions exemplified by companies like Ariba and Coupa Software. Early strategic moves mirrored acquisitions by eBay and platform partnerships seen in the histories of Oracle Corporation and SAP SE. As it scaled, the service added features resonant with the enterprise software evolution driven by firms such as Salesforce and Microsoft; leadership changes at the parent company involved executives formerly associated with Amazon Web Services and retail divisions. Geographic rollout followed global e-commerce patterns established by Amazon (company) in United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and India while adjusting to procurement regulations present in jurisdictions that regulate public contracting like the United States and European Union.
Services and Features
The offering bundles catalog management, purchasing workflows, and analytics comparable to solutions from JAGGAER and Ivalua. Core functionality includes multi-user accounts, approval chains reminiscent of systems from Workday and SAP Concur, tax-exemption handling similar to procedures managed by Avalara, and negotiated pricing programs paralleling contract catalogs used by W.W. Grainger. Catalog and search capabilities leverage large-scale marketplace mechanics seen on Amazon (company) and algorithmic relevance techniques advanced by research institutions such as University of Washington and companies like Google. Integration-ready features include punchout support used with procurement platforms like Ariba and hosted catalog feeds like those used by Oracle NetSuite.
Account Types and Pricing
Accounts are segmented to suit entities from small businesses like those served by Intuit to large enterprises like Procter & Gamble, offering tiered capabilities comparable to subscription models from LinkedIn and Adobe. Pricing models emphasize transaction-based billing, negotiated discounts, and volume pricing strategies that mirror procurement arrangements common at corporations such as Walmart and Target Corporation. Government and educational pricing often follow compliance and invoicing practices aligned with purchasing procedures at institutions like the Department of Defense and multi-campus systems such as the California State University.
Procurement and Integration
The platform supports procurement standards and protocols used in enterprise systems such as cXML and EDI, facilitating integration with enterprise resource planning suites from SAP SE, Oracle Corporation, and Microsoft Dynamics. It enables punchout catalogs compatible with sourcing modules used by buyers at companies like Boeing and Siemens. Analytics and spend-management capabilities draw on approaches found in spend analytics vendors such as Zycus and Spend Matters methodologies. For public-sector procurement, the service adapts to frameworks referenced by procurement bodies including GSA schedules and public tender systems in Canada and Australia.
Marketplace and Seller Programs
The underlying marketplace aggregates third-party sellers alongside first-party logistics arrangements similar to those operated by eBay and Alibaba Group. Seller programs offer enrollment tiers and performance metrics comparable to marketplace standards set by eBay Motors and the third-party ecosystems of Rakuten. Programs for vetted suppliers parallel supplier vetting and certification initiatives run by industrial distributors like Fastenal and MSC Industrial Supply. Fulfillment options interface with logistics networks and carriers such as UPS and DHL and reflect fulfillment models pioneered by Amazon (company) and logistics research from MIT.
Security, Compliance, and Privacy
Security features adhere to enterprise expectations informed by standards promulgated by organizations such as ISO and NIST. Compliance offerings support requirements relevant to regulated buyers, including controls that map to frameworks used in healthcare compliance overseen by Health and Human Services and data protection regimes influenced by legislation like the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union. Identity and access management integrates with single sign-on providers and directories from Okta and Microsoft Azure Active Directory; audit trails and reporting align with controls emphasized by Deloitte and PwC guidance.
Market Position and Criticism
The platform occupies a growing niche at the intersection of procurement technology and marketplace retailing, competing with incumbents such as Grainger and emerging procurement specialists like Coupa Software. Analysts from firms such as Gartner and Forrester Research have noted strengths in selection and fulfillment but cited limitations in advanced sourcing capabilities compared with specialized e-procurement suites. Criticism has focused on market concentration concerns raised by regulators in cases involving Amazon (company), supplier dependency issues highlighted by trade groups including the National Federation of Independent Business, and data-use transparency questioned by privacy advocates and researchers at institutions such as Harvard University.