Amazon launches Business Prime shipping; to counter office supply retailers

Amazon, the world’s largest ecommerce players, is now targeting the office supply retailers and wholesalers as a next big business avenue. The firm announced a new paid membership program aimed at multi-user businesses in the U.S. and Germany. Called Business Prime Shipping, the program extends Prime’s free, two-day shipping benefits to all users with an Amazon Business account, allowing them to shop for office supplies and other company needs. The move is a direct challenge to office supply stores, like Staples, Office Depot and others, as well as other big box retailers, like Walmart, and warehouse deals stores, like Costco.

Greg Greeley, Vice President of Amazon Prime, commented that “Business Prime Shipping combines the wide selection of products available to Amazon Business customers, with the speed and convenience that customers have come to know and love from Amazon Prime. We are excited to introduce a shipping program designed to meet the needs of businesses and will continue to innovate on behalf of customers to make business purchasing even easier”. First launched in 2015, Amazon Business was a replacement for Amazon’s existing B2B brand, Amazon Supply, which had been around since 2012. The program later expanded to other markets, including Germany, as well as the U.K., and more recently, India and Japan.