Amazon platform aims at $8.2tn corporate market

Online retailer Amazon.com yesterday launched a new marketplace that will connect individual businesses with suppliers, giving it access to a fast-growing market worth more than $8.2tn (€7.4tn) in the US.

Amazon Business will give US businesses — from biotechnology companies to oil and gas firms — exclusive pricing and discounts for buying in bulk, free two-day shipping for orders over $49 (€44), tax exemption, and the option to get products delivered with an Amazon guarantee.

A business marketplace will extend Amazon’s role as a middleman for third-party vendors, which account for about 40% of its sales. It would also help Amazon gain an edge in the fast-growing business-to-business (B2B) online marketplace, which is likely to account for about 12% of B2B sales in the US by 2020, according to estimates by Forrester Research. Forrester estimates a compound annual growth rate of 7.7% in B2B ecommerce over the next five years.