Selling on Amazon B2B: All Things You Need to Know

Amazon Business has changed the way businesses operate in the marketplace by addressing the specific needs of B2B sellers and customers. Both the buying and selling processes are efficient so far. The essence of selling on Amazon B2B is merchants can offer products to both retail customers and business buyers. 

According to sources, Amazon Business will surpass $52 billion in gross sales by 2023. Besides, it is the fastest-growing business unit of Amazon as per their financial records. 

With more than a million customers, Amazon Business has become a viable option for manufacturers, sellers, and distributors. 

As a seller or brand owner, you should consider exploring this opportunity and set a B2B strategy to scale your business on Amazon. In this article, I will explain why you should consider selling on Amazon Business. 

Quick Guide:

1. What is Amazon Business?
2. Should you consider Amazon B2B opportunities?
   • I have an existing B2B business. Do I need Amazon Business?
3. How to start selling on Amazon Business
4. Advantages of selling on Amazon B2B
5. How can you boost sales on Amazon Business?
6. Final thoughts

Recommended Guide: How to use Amazon for your business.

Should You Consider Amazon B2B Opportunities?

With a huge share of customer base and web traffic, Amazon Business is appealing to business owners. Along with that, Amazon offers a great user experience and fast shipping, which are great add-ons to your own B2B e-commerce store. 

When you look closely, it may not be simple. Amazon Business can be a great choice for some sellers and a terrible option for a few. It depends on the amazon niche you are selling in, competition within your industry, your business model, and flexibility to comply with Amazon restrictions upon sellers. 

I have an existing B2B business. Do I need Amazon Business?

Making more money with sales is the name of the game for most Amazon sellers. You may be selling successfully to both consumers and businesses right now. However, Amazon Business will give you a broader reach for your business. 

In general, some businesses may only use Amazon Business for their products, while some may not have a choice but to buy on Amazon B2B as suggested by their companies. So if you are selling on the B2C marketplace and your products appeal to business owners, you shouldn’t miss out on sales. 

The Amazon Marketplace is a go-to place for most consumers. Similarly, their B2B platform is viable for not only small-mid scale businesses but also Fortune 100 companies. So before you jump on the bandwagon, you should carefully weigh the pros and cons of selling on Amazon Business for B2B. I’ll explain that in a minute. 

How does Amazon Business benefit me as a seller?

If you want to understand whether Amazon B2B is a viable option for your business, I have a quick tip for you. SellerApp’s Report Central can help you to find potential B2B product opportunities tailored for your business. All you have to do is:

• Log in to your SellerApp dashboard
• Go to Report Central
• Select the marketplace of your choice and download the reports

In the first report ‘Recommended for you,’ you can find product opportunities that have huge demand from the top categories and brands that you already sell on Amazon.

The second report, ‘Products not yet on Amazon’ gives insights into products that are requested by Amazon Business customers, which may not be available in the marketplace. 

How can I benefit from the reports?

Amazon uses demand signals such as customer demand signals, new product requests, and purchasing trends from their rising Amazon Business customer base. These insights are personalized and mapped with your selling history to create product recommendations.

How to Start Selling on Amazon Business

Getting started with Amazon Business is easy whether you are an existing marketplace seller or a new one. 

• Register your Professional seller account on Amazon seller central. If you are already selling on Amazon, add Business Features via the seller central platform.
• You need to pay the account fees, FBA fees, and referral fees, etc. 
• Create a Business profile. Describe your business, add credentials, certificates, and other relevant details that are relevant to your business customers.
• Add your product portfolio. With Amazon Business, you can add info such as brochures, instructions, technical documents, and other safety certifications.
• Now you are set to market your products with sponsored ads, custom discounts, and enable additional services such as installation if applicable.

Upon enrollment, you must agree to maintain higher performance levels than the standard Amazon requirements. You also need to process appropriate amazon tax exemptions, provide a shipment tracking number for each order, and include a packing slip in each package that has the purchase order number given by the customer. 

Recommended Guide : Amazon Logistics: A Complete Guide For Sellers 2021

Advantages of Selling on Amazon B2B

As I told you before, the main benefit of signing up to Amazon’s B2B platform is you get more sales from businesses. Along with that, you have ample benefits.

Huge market opportunities

Amazon Business has a notable customer base. In 2019, this included Fortune 100 companies. Besides, it is set to reach $31 billion in revenue and $52 billion in gross merchandise volume by 2023 (source). Small and mid-sized B2Bs can observe almost immediate exposure and boost their visibility once they are a part of Amazon Business.

Businesses prefer to buy a whole variety of products in one place. It varies from furniture and electronics to stationery and toys, and more. 

Recurring orders

In general, Business buyers buy a set of items regularly over time. With Amazon Business, the company supports this practice through its Business Prime feature. Therefore, it encourages buyers to set up repeated orders. For instance, if you sell spare parts for tools, PPE equipment, or items that are purchased periodically, Amazon Business will keep those orders coming to you.

Ease of use

You can launch your B2B business in just a few hours by registering your seller account under Amazon Business. You don’t have to own infrastructure or a website that requires significant upfront costs in terms of money and time. 

Amazon Business Support

Amazon Business provides the necessary support that B2B buyers look for. It includes multi-user support, business account payment options, account management, etc. Amazon Business also supports sellers with fulfillment options such as managing returns, customer service, shipping and warehousing items, managing complaints, etc. Amazon also offers support for technical issues during setup. While any B2B e-commerce vendor would offer the same, Amazon offers some great content, and the large seller community would be able to address the issues that other sellers have. 

Besides, you can also take advantage of Amazon’s advertising efforts, which is great if you are just starting. 

Amazon brand

The best part about selling on Amazon is that Amazon is a trusted brand for buyers, be it B2B or B2C. In particular, Business buyers are always cautious about working with new vendors due to the large orders and the amount of uncertainty involved. However, with Amazon’s brand, customers are willing to purchase through the platform. So you’d benefit from Amazon’s brand name.

Read More : How to smartly negotiate the Amazon Vendor Agreement

How Can You Boost Sales on Amazon Business?

For most cases, increasing B2B sales is similar to increasing B2C sales. But you have to keep in mind a few things while dealing with Business buyers.

Business buyers are likely to have a well-defined approval and purchasing process that they follow. They might also have certain criteria that suppliers should meet, or they might give importance to suppliers who have specific certifications.

Additional guide: What are Amazon Ads Certifications?

Business buyers, in general, are critical and fact-driven as they want relevant information upfront to justify their purchase decisions before trusting the suppliers with large orders. On the other hand, consumers are more driven by emotion, personal needs, and wants. 

Recommended Guide: best suppliers for Amazon FBA.

For Amazon B2B buyers, you have to give complete business information including the range of products and quality. Offer relevant product materials to them. These can be product specification documents, brochures, videos, etc., especially for high-end, technical, and safety items. You should also consider offering them single as well as bulk variations. 

Final Thoughts

Selling B2B is a huge benefit for Amazon sellers of all sizes especially if the businesses buy only from Amazon. If you are an existing B2B seller and meet the requirements of Amazon, then signing up for Amazon Business is a no-brainer.

Additional Read:

Secrets on How to sell on Amazon Prime 2020

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