What is Amazon Business and is it worth it?

What is Amazon Business?

Let’s assume you’ve heard of Amazon by now - the e-commerce giant that can deliver almost anything to almost anywhere - and that you are familiar with Amazon Prime; the subscription service that gets you free delivery on thousands of items, access to Prime Video and Music and a host of other perks. Amazon Business is a little bit like Prime for your business, but there’s quite a bit more to it than that.

What does Amazon Business do?

Like Prime, Amazon Business offers advantages when you shop on Amazon. You get free one-day delivery on orders of over £30, which will come in hand if you regularly shop for your business this way.

Where Amazon Business differs is that it is specifically tailored to suit business customers rather than a regular shopper. Items you buy on Amazon can be priced with or without VAT and you can specify to have VAT and purchase order numbers shown on invoices, all of which will save you time with business accounting. You can also pay by invoice, so that your purchases won’t require payment until 30 days from the invoice date if your business qualifies.

There are further advantages when it comes to shopping through Amazon Business too. If you have a company with several employees you can set up accounts for specific departments or even individuals, set spending limits and create purchasing approval systems so there is an audit trail for any purchases. You can also view your company’s spending with Amazon Business Analytics.

How much does Amazon Business cost?

Amazon Business need not cost you a penny. However, if you’re a seller on Amazon then you are already paying a fee for the privilege, either 75p per item sold or £25 excluding VAT per month, so it costs nothing to add Amazon Business to your account.

If you have a personal Prime account and you operate as an individual you can link the two accounts to enjoy free shipping on selected items. If your business has multiple employees a fee applies depending on your company size.

Is Amazon Business worth it?

If you or your company regularly purchase products on Amazon then there are a lot of advantages to signing up to Amazon Business, not least the ability to pay on invoice and add relevant information to make the paperwork side of things much easier. If you are a seller on Amazon then the same benefits apply, and it gives the potential for you to make selling easier and open up your products to a wider audience. For specialist businesses, Amazon Business offers some great benefits.