Amazon has provided many retailers with a significant opportunity to extend their reach and sell to more shoppers. However, the Amazon marketplace can be so large that customers have trouble finding what they want, or they are easily inundated with similar products. For business-to-business retailers (B2B retailers), reaching prospective customers may be getting a bit easier with the launch of a new Amazon B2B marketplace.

The popular online marketplace announced Amazon Business, which will specialize in serving the B2B audience. Shoppers will find goods specialized for business uses, such as lab equipment and food service supplies. Sellers will also be able to offer business-sized quantities and price points as well, making it easier for buyers to get what they want quickly and complete the sale.

Amazon Business customers will also gain access to a number of specific features designed with the business owner in mind, such as free two-day shipping on eligible items, multi-user business accounts, tax exemption sheets and a dedicated customer support staff to help answer any questions. In this regard, Amazon Business is looking to position itself as a major experience upgrade for both sellers and customers alike.

“We’ve heard from business customers that they love the convenience of shopping online, and want an experience at work that is similar to how they shop at home,” said Prentis Wilson, vice president of Amazon Business. “Amazon Business delivers a new and expanded marketplace that brings the selection, convenience and value of Amazon to business customers, manufacturers and sellers with the additional selection, features and back-end integration businesses need to save time and money.”

Managing channels with ease

With the move towards new B2B channels such as Amazon Business, B2B retailers can make life much easier for themselves with an integrated Order Management System. Most B2B sellers today manually upload order files and enter orders received via fax, email, or phone into their legacy system. Now, all the order data can be entered once (by the customer) on Amazon and automatically pulled into an order management system, where the order and inventory can be managed efficiently. eCommerce will become a critical move for B2B players as they try to eliminate manual processes and keep up with competitors.