An online giant is giving its business members even more perks.
Amazon on Tuesday launched a new menu of Amazon Business Prime benefits available to companies of all sizes in the United States, Germany, and Japan. The expansion of benefits will provide business members with more money-saving opportunities.
For example, customers now have access to Spend Visibility, a dashboard that provides advanced visualizations of company spend in ready-to-present graphics. Meanwhile, the Guided Buying service enables account administrators to identify certain suppliers and products as preferred, as well as set specific product categories as restricted. This gives buyers more insight into company policies or recommendations, a move that reduces rogue spending, improves compliance and consolidates suppliers.
Members also now have the option of requesting “Extended Terms for Pay by Invoice,” a service that enables qualifying customers to extend their payment terms to 45 or 60 days to pay an Amazon Business invoice, according to the retailer.
Amazon has also expanded its shipping options for members in the U.S. In addition to offering free two-day shipping more than 100 million items, U.S.-based Business Prime members now can also receive free same-day delivery or free one-day shipping more than one million items on eligible orders over $35 in more than 8,000 cities and towns. They are also eligible for consolidated shipping on some bulk orders, an option that delivers orders in fewer shipments.
The news comes on the heels of Amazon
launching a co-branded credit card with American Express aimed at small businesses. The Amazon Business American Express Card — Amazon’s first credit card for the small business segment — has no annual fee, offers greater visibility into each transaction, and provides an enhanced checkout experience on Amazon Business and Amazon.
The cost of Amazon’s Business Prime program is based on the number of users on a business account. A basic membership starts at $179 per year for up to three users. Since the program’s launch two years ago, Amazon Business has served “millions of business customers and hundreds of thousands of business sellers around the world,” the online retailer reported.