Amazon Business Launched for SMBs in India, Offers Bulk Purchase Discounts and GST Invoices

Amazon on Wednesday launched its Business marketplace in India, as the company continues to work on expanding its e-commerce offering in the country. Amazon Business will help in the procurement needs of small and medium businesses in the country, the company said.

The new B2B marketplace, called Amazon Business, will feature additional "convenience and value offering" by providing business-only pricing, discounts on bulk quantity purchase, and GST invoices to SMB buyers to claim GST credit, the company said.

Arrival of Amazon Business comes nine months after the company launched a business marketplace targeting enterprises and large businesses in January this year. Both Flipkart and Snapdeal have little offering for business customers in India. Interestingly enough, former Flipkart CTO, Amod Malviya's new startup Udaan is also aimed at small enterprises.

The e-commerce giant says it will provide its business sellers with easy access to over 10 crore (100 million) products in a range of categories including laptops, network storage solutions, electronics, office supplies among others. But perhaps Amazon India handling the GST would appeal more to businesses, something that has been a pain point, ever since it was first introduced. SMBs can register for the business account at no charge.

"With this launch we now have a fully functional B2B marketplace alongside our thriving B2C marketplace to enable the same benefits for business buyers including a vast selection, value, convenience of door step delivery and more," Manish Tiwary, vice president category management at Amazon India said in a press statement.

The company says it has partnered with leading financial banks that will provide a business credit card with an interest free credit period of up to 45 days, to eligible customers. And Amazon Business will also offer reporting and analytics features, giving customers with insight on purchasing patterns.