Amazon offers new free perk for Prime business customers

Amazon is eliminating the cost of a small business tool for Amazon Prime members who also engage in corporate purchases.

Amazon is making its Business Prime Duo feature, previously $69 per year, free for Amazon Business customers who are also Amazon Prime members. Business Prime Duo is an Amazon Business membership that combines business buying tools and access to business-only pricing on select items, along with fast, free business delivery.

Now small-business customers can have access to Business Prime Duo as part of their Prime membership at no additional cost.

Specific benefits customers who sign up for Amazon Business and Business Prime Duo will receive include:

• Free one- and two-day delivery on tens of millions of items, and free same-day delivery on eligible items in more than 90 metro areas.
• Members can choose their own "Amazon Day" to receive eligible orders on the same day each week, where available. Members can choose consolidated shipping on eligible large orders to receive items in the fewest packages and deliveries.
• Members can obtain insights with survey tools provided by Delighted.

Prime members can sign up for Business Prime Duo by creating a free Amazon Business account using a different email address than their Amazon account, and verifying their status as a business. They can then link their existing Prime membership to their new Amazon Business account and start receiving the perks and features of Business Prime Duo for free. 

Current Amazon Business customers can obtain access to free Business Prime Duo when they link their personal Amazon account with an active Prime membership to their Amazon Business account. Current Business Prime Duo members will be reimbursed for the remainder of their pre-paid yearly membership, with the refund calculated based on the months elapsed since their last renewal.

“We work with a variety of small-business customers, ranging from salon owners and mechanics, to health care providers and restaurant owners. Each of our small-business customers have very different business buying needs, and Amazon Business is committed to providing them with the resources and tools they need to streamline their buying and save money, so they can focus on what matter most – helping their customers and growing their business,” said Todd Heimes, director of Amazon Business Worldwide. “Free access to Business Prime Duo with a Prime membership is another way Amazon Business supports small businesses at every stage of their journey.”

“With the new addition of Business Prime Duo as a free offer for Prime members, there’s no better time to be a member,” said Jamil Ghani, VP of Amazon Prime. “Getting everything Prime members want and need, quickly and reliably with everyday savings, has always been our focus. Small-business owners who are Prime members can now magnify those savings and conveniences even more when shopping for their business.”

Amazon streamlines procurement for business customers

The new Amazon Business Duo perk follows the recent introduction of a new feature on the Amazon Business app, which is designed to help ensure purchase payments are received, accurate, and complete.

Amazon Business is now offering a capability called “3-Way Match” on the Amazon Business mobile app in the U.S. 3-Way Match enables account administrators and approved buyers to use a mobile device to scan the barcode of a package when it arrives and automatically mark the item as received.

Users can also match and verify the purchase order, the invoice, and the receipt before a payment is made, based on scan results

In another recent move to become more of a business solutions and services provider, Amazon attempted to establish itself in the network automation, orchestration and hosting space with two new offerings: a collaboration with T-Mobile and its own deployment/management platform for telco networks.