Amazon launches B2B marketplace in India

E-commerce giant Amazon has launched a new B2B marketplace in India.

The launch was announced on Wednesday, and within 18 hours Amazon Business had 100mn products for sale from a total of 15,000 sellers.

The company is targeting SMEs in India through the platform which it has piloted in Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

Sectors targeted by Amazon Business include technology, services and manufacturing, as well as schools, universities and offices.

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Vice President of Amazon India, Manish Tiwary, has stated the pilot was a successful learning experience.

“Now we have started the wholesale across the country and plan to scale it up. We are extending the same benefits for business buyers much like in our consumer focused platform.”

He added, “There is a potential of cross-selling and purchasing among other merchants who are selling on our business to consumer (B2C) platform.”

Tiwary stated the B2B industry is currently fragmented, and small-to-medium businesses have huge potential and importance in overall output for India.

The company had received many requests over the past four years from customers and sellers like who wanted to buy in bulk with the correct paperwork. The new service will allow any business with a GST (Goods and Services Tax) number to register and all products sold come with a GST compliant invoice, allowing buyers to easily claim tax credit.

Amazon Business also plans to offer value added services such as analytics. The platform was launched in 2015 in the US.

Amazon’s Asian rival Alibaba announced plans to build its wholesale business in India recently, and continued to build partnerships in logistics, banks and NBFCs.