Why Commercial Brands Need to Include Amazon in Their Strategy

Amazon has grown into its name. From its humble launch as an online bookseller, Amazon has become the largest retailer in the world. If you ever needed a household item, an electronic gadget, a gift for a friend, or just about anything else, you’ve likely turned to Amazon to find it. In 2015, Amazon launched a B2B marketplace to provide commercial brands and customers with the same seamless, self-service experience. Amazon Business has grown about 50% each year with over $25B in product sales for 2021.

With more than a million customers now using Amazon Business, setting up a B2B strategy on the Amazon marketplace has become a valuable new channel for many sellers, manufacturers, and distributors. Here’s why you need to consider including Amazon in your commercial brand strategy.

What is Amazon Business?

Amazon Business is its official B2B platform. It’s geared towards business customers with features like multiple user account permissions, additional credit and payment options, and all the traditional benefits of the marketplace.

The platform is designed to create a business-friendly option that is integrated into the standard website.

Take a great user experience, combine it with fast shipping times and ease of market entry, and it may be a great alternative to building your own B2B eCommerce store.

Benefits of Commercial Brands Selling on Amazon

Some commercial brands think they don’t need to sell on Amazon, but know of it benefits. So here are just a few of the benefits of selling through Amazon Business:

• Reaching customers that are difficult to reach through marketing your eCommerce store
• Sizeable customer base across many of the biggest sectors, providing immediate exposure and traffic boost
• Seller account registration is quick letting you  launch your B2B eCommerce business within a few hours and start selling immediately.
  

This might surprise you about selling on Amazon (spoiler: it’s a good thing!)

While big companies like Amazon can sometimes have a reputation for poor customer service, Amazon Business is the opposite. Amazon has a reputation for great seller support. 

Amazon Business is ready and quite willing to help if you experience technical problems or issues with registration and setup. While a B2B eCommerce vendor will likely offer similar services, Amazon’s combination of its knowledgeable support team, helpful content, and large seller community can often address most issues sellers may encounter.

Because of its existing massive customer base of SMBs, mid-sized companies, and large enterprises, Amazon Business can help to establish a commercial brand and support its sales & marketing efforts in other channels. By leveraging Amazon Business as a way to highlight great product (& brand) content and monitoring and managing the pricing for their products, brands can legitimize their B2B presence for other resellers. 

Special Consideration for Commercial Brands Selling on Amazon vs. B2C Selling Companies

For commercial brands that are interested in selling B2B on Amazon, there are some considerations before launching on the platform.

• With Amazon’s visibility comes a bigger customer segment. This means transactions will often involve higher spend and purchase volumes.
• Aside from the Professional account charges, no additional fees mean Amazon Business can be a low-risk strategy for testing various products to expand your brand.
• Although the platform offers various features, note that they do not differentiate between business customers and other marketplace customers. This means limited ability to communicate with customers during the buying process, having the potential to make increasing brand awareness more difficult, especially for sellers that are less established.

With a track record of low prices and fast shipping, Amazon Business is quickly becoming a destination for B2B buyers. It’s an ideal solution for business owners, distributors, and manufacturers seeking an alternative sales channel that can provide access and tools for reaching new customers.

Phelps UNITED checks all the boxes in eCommerce! Check out our services at Phelps UNITED to learn more about how to make Amazon and other marketplaces work for you!