Amazon Business is a Business Reporter customer.
The need to provide a compelling customer experience should be at the heart of every organization. For those working in procurement, this means being able to easily identify what they need to buy to help the business run effectively and ensure it can meet broader objectives around corporate responsibility.
This was the idea behind creating Amazon Business eight years ago, says Nicolas Olague, Amazon Business private and corporate sector leader, when it became clear that many people were already using Amazon's proven website and logistics infrastructure to make commercial purchases.
“The goal was to make it really simple,” he says. “We want our customers to focus on how to achieve their acquisition goals rather than how to use Amazon Business. The user experience is not very different from what we have for consumers.” It can offer a complete experience, from helping buyers research a product to purchasing and delivering it, all through a proven and trusted infrastructure, he adds.
For European companies in particular, which typically cover many different countries and markets, this may also take into account the need for both customization and localization. An example would be flexibility in how and when items are delivered, Olague says, with some companies choosing to group items into one delivery per week and others requesting delivery on a specific day.
There is also support on the pricing side. “If we see that you have purchased the same product multiple times, we suggest using our Custom Quote tool,” he says. This allows buyers to submit an offer for a bulk purchase and describe its terms, which will then be sent to several potential suppliers. This typically leads to savings of around 10%, she adds.
Increasingly, however, achieving savings is not the only goal of procurement professionals. European companies now hope that procurement can support broader objectives, with responsible sourcing and environmentally friendly supply chain management essential in the face of tightening legislation and consumer pressure.
According to Amazon's 2024 State of Procurement Report, which surveyed respondents across nine industries and several countries, including France, Germany, Italy and Spain, 81% of buyers have internal or external mandates to buy from different types of certified sellers. Many respondents (four in 10) who do not have required purchasing objectives still consider suppliers' environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
An example is the vice president of global procurement who works at a technology company in Germany. “From an environmental point of view, we are working to reduce our net carbon emissions by 50% between now and 2030,” he says. “We are doing many more checks on suppliers to make sure they behave as they should, meaning that they respect the laws, dispose of waste properly and have risk mitigation plans for natural disasters.”
The most prominent factor when purchasing from certain types of suppliers is sustainability, which is a mandatory requirement for 59% of buyers. Four in 10 are ordered to buy from certified small businesses and 39% from local companies.
However, this is not an easy matter, especially when it comes to indirect spend categories, which typically represent a large number of transactions of relatively low value compared to direct spend. In fact, a staggering 85% of respondents say that the difficulty of sourcing suppliers that follow sustainable practices prevents their company from setting or achieving sustainability goals for procurement.
Amazon Business can support responsible purchasing initiatives by making it easier for organizations to guide buyers to certified products and sellers, feature products with sustainability certifications, and proactively measure progress on responsible purchasing goals. This includes establishing a climate-friendly purchasing policy, which organizations can require to ensure buyers only purchase items with sustainability certifications.
“On the buyer side, smart business purchasing makes it easier to connect with certified suppliers,” explains Chris Costello, general manager of strategic accounts at Amazon Business. “Our online purchasing tools offer easy-to-use search and filtering functions, a platform to communicate directly with suppliers, and informative summaries for suppliers to explain key ESG information.”
“In this way, online purchasing becomes a valuable resource to reduce the time and effort required to vet suppliers and move towards responsible purchasing goals,” he adds. “With the right tools, procurement teams can help their organizations address goals related to environmentalism, diversity, and more.” These could include policies that prefer smaller businesses or those from particular groups, such as women or ethnically owned businesses, while from a logistics perspective, bundling items into fewer deliveries can help reduce the carbon emissions associated with delivery.
Using technology to help create a reliable and responsive supply chain that can assist with specific business demands can help organizations deliver high levels of service and satisfaction to their own customers. “Our goal is to allow you to be more effective and spend more time with your own clients,” Olague says.
This means setting rules around procurement, goals around sustainability and ensuring spend visibility. “It doesn't matter if you have five employees or 5,000, it's the same process,” he concludes.
To learn more about how Amazon Business is helping European businesses build more profitable and sustainable supply chains, visit
