Amazon Business Lands In Italy And Spain

Amazon is expanding Amazon Business, the platform for companies to purchase office supplies and services, by launching in Italy and Spain.

According to a report in the Financial Times, the expansion of the platform underscores Amazon’s aim to serve the corporate market. Amazon Business launched in the U.K. last year, and with an entrance in Italy and Spain, it is now up and running in five European markets where it offers consumer-focused eCommerce. Amazon Business is “off to a fast start,” said Steve Frazier, global vice-president for Amazon Business in an interview with the Financial Times. Amazon Business is also available in India and Japan, with Frazier noting that business customers in the markets all have similar problems such as invoicing. Amazon Business, noted the report, has more than 100,000 customers in the U.K.,  and in the U.S. it has reached $ 1 billion in revenue in one year’s time.

As for its expansion into Italy and Spain, Bill Burkland, head of Amazon Business U.K., told the paper that the service “enables multinational businesses with entities in Europe to continue to streamline their purchasing, whilst also providing new exporting opportunities for smaller U.K. businesses who sell on the Amazon Business Marketplace.” The report noted that Amazon Business hawks more than 250 million products as well as services, including business analytics and invoicing.  In May Amazon launched Pay by Invoice. The feature, which requires no action or onboarding on the part of the vendor, enables corporate buyers to make invoiced purchases. The program reportedly launched on June 30 of this year. This effectively means that buyers no longer have to make payment for goods they buy on Amazon Business at the time of purchase. Instead, they are sent an invoice, with sellers receiving a credited balance to their Selling on Amazon account as soon as a buyer’s payment is processed.