What's PLANERGY?

Modern Spend Management and Accounts Payable software.

Helping organizations spend smarter and more efficiently by automating purchasing and invoice processing.

We saved more than $1 million on our spend in the first year and just recently identified an opportunity to save about $10,000 every month on recurring expenses with PLANERGY.

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Cristian Maradiaga

King Ocean

Download a free copy of "Indirect Spend Guide", to learn:

  • Where the best opportunities for savings are in indirect spend.
  • How to gain visibility and control of your indirect spend.
  • How to report and analyze indirect spend to identify savings opportunities.
  • How strategic sourcing, cost management, and cost avoidance strategies can be applied to indirect spend.

How To Set Up An Amazon Business Account

How To Set Up An Amazon Business Account

Setting up an Amazon Business account is a great way to manage your company’s spending and buying power. 

Amazon offers great pricing on a variety of business products.

While you can purchase those with a personal account, upgrading to a business account makes it easier to get insights into your spend visibility and offers a variety of other benefits. 

Learn how to set up an Amazon business account, benefits, and more.

What Is an Amazon Business Account?

An Amazon Business account is a special account that businesses can use to buy products and services from Amazon. 

It has many benefits over a regular Amazon account, including discounted prices, purchase history tracking, and simplified invoicing.

While an Amazon business account is free to create, there are some optional paid features that users can choose to add on, such as Business Prime Shipping and Amazon Business Analytics.

Overall, an Amazon business account is a great way for businesses of all sizes to save time and money when shopping on Amazon. Small businesses can also upgrade to a Business Prime account for additional features.

To qualify for an Amazon Business account, you must belong to a legal business or organization. You may be asked to provide proof of the business – so it’s not a program open to just anyone.

There is no annual fee to create an account, unless you opt for a Prime membership.

What is the Difference Between a Personal and a Business Amazon Account?

A personal Amazon account is meant for individual use, while an Amazon Business account is designed specifically for business use. Some of the key differences include:

  • Discounted prices: Businesses get access to discounts on many products that are not available to individuals, making sourcing products easier.
  • Purchase history tracking: Businesses can easily track and manage their purchases using an Amazon Business account. This can be helpful for budgeting and expense management.
  • Simplified invoicing: Businesses can generate and manage invoices easily using an Amazon Business account. This can save time and help with bookkeeping.

What is the Difference Between Amazon Business and Amazon Business Prime?

Amazon Business is a general business account that gives businesses access to discounts and purchase history tracking.

Amazon Business Prime is a premium account that includes all the features of Amazon Business, plus free two-day shipping on eligible items, like a personal prime membership.

With some items in some markets, you may also find same-day shipping.

Unlike a personal Amazon Prime account, Business Prime members have multiple price points to choose from. 

The Prime cost depends on the number of users you want to give account access to.

A single-user account can cost as little as $69 per year, while a business account with three users will pay $179/year. Accounts with up to 10 users will pay $499/year. And accounts with up to 100 users will pay $1299/year.

If your business needs more than 100 users, you’ll pay for enterprise pricing, currently set at $10,099/year.

Benefits of an Amazon Business Account

Becoming an Amazon Business member has many benefits for businesses. Below we discuss just some of the benefits of an Amazon Business account.

Not only do you get business-only prices on thousands of items, but you’ll also get volume discounts on thousands more.

Amazon Business’s user interface is identical to its sister site, so you’ll have a familiar shopping and checkout experience.

Using Amazon Business is also a time-saving convenience. Getting a free 30-day trial is a great way to get started.

Another benefit of becoming an Amazon Business member is that you’ll get much higher discounts on your purchases.

You’ll also get access to a wealth of tools to streamline your processes and automate purchases. 

You can set your own purchasing guidelines and approval workflows, manage users, track your spending, create reports, and configure visual dashboards to see your progress.

You can even allow others to use payment methods through your Amazon account. It’s a great way to streamline your operations.

Businesses can also take advantage of Amazon Business for their shipping needs. Fulfillment by Amazon makes the process of fulfilling orders much easier.

After receiving an order, products would be shipped to an Amazon warehouse. This warehouse would store the items until they’re sold, and then ship them.

Additionally, Amazon handles customer service for FBA members. You can also list your business credentials, including veteran, minority, or small business. 

Using Amazon Business can also allow you to access special business-only pricing on certain products, which can make a huge difference in your bottom line.

In addition to discounted prices, Amazon Business Prime also comes with extended payment options, free shipping for all business users, and no sales tax for certain items.

As a business, being an Amazon Business member can be a great way to save money. Amazon offers a business-only pricing system with discounted prices on millions of items. 

If you have a small business, you can even apply for the Amazon tax exemption Program, which can reduce your costs.

As an added bonus, Amazon will offer a GST invoice, which can be useful for managing your bills. 

You can also save money on groceries through this business-only program.

In addition to tax-exempt purchases, Amazon also offers a program that guides business owners through the application process. You can also upload and edit tax-exemption certificates to prove your tax-exempt status and view orders and status.

The process is similar to using a regular Amazon account. And as a business owner, you will enjoy many benefits as a member of Amazon.

If you want to buy products for your ecommerce business with Amazon while keeping your procurement processes simple, then a business account is the way to go.

Disadvantages of an Amazon Business Account

Amazon Business accounts are only for business purchases, so remote employees may need to switch back and forth between their personal account and the business one.

Some additional features may be confusing for account users, and depending on the size of your business, may be unnecessary. Amazon may also freeze or shut down your account if there is evidence of fraud.

Most disadvantages apply to Amazon sellers, rather than the people using the account to make business purchases. These include:

  • A lot of strong competition due to finicky algorithms
  • Difficulty selling wholesale
  • Limited relationships with customers
  • Little to no control over the Amazon business, compared to your own website
  • Seller fees

How To Set Up an Amazon Business Account

To set up an Amazon Business account, you’ll need to create a new Amazon account and provide some business information like your company name and contact details. You’ll also need to provide a credit card or bank account to be used for billing purposes.

  • First, go to amazon.com/business and click the “Create Your Amazon Business Account” button.

  • Next, enter your business information, including your company name, address, and phone number. Once you’ve entered all the required information, click on the “Continue” button.

  • Next, you’ll need to set up your payment method. You can choose to pay by credit card or bank transfer. Once you’ve chosen your payment method, click on the “Continue” button.

  • Finally, review your order and click on the “Submit” button. That’s it! You’ve now successfully set up your Amazon Business account. You can add people to your account and allow them to create separate user accounts. You can limit which product categories and payment accounts they can use, such as corporate credit accounts.

How To Manage Your Amazon Business Account

Once you’ve set up your Amazon Business account, you’ll need to add products and services that your company needs.

You can do this by browsing the Amazon website or using the search bar at the top of the page. You can also create purchase orders, track spending, and more by logging into your Amazon Business account dashboard.

Planergy is part of the Amazon Partner network. You can connect your Amazon Business account to your Planergy account via the Amazon Punchout catalog option or Punch-in, so you can limit what people can buy from Amazon, if needed.

Tips for Using Your Amazon Business Account Effectively

To make the most of your Amazon Business account, keep these tips in mind:

  • Make a list of the products and services your company needs and research what’s available on Amazon. This will save you time when you’re ready to make purchases.
  • Create purchase orders for large orders so you can take advantage of bulk discounts.
  • Track your spending so you can stay within budget.
  • Take advantage of free shipping offers on eligible items.

Amazon Business customers don’t need a seller account to take advantage of using Amazon for procurement. You only need a seller account if you want to sell your products to other businesses.

What’s your goal today?

1. Use Planergy to manage purchasing and accounts payable

We’ve helped save billions of dollars for our clients through better spend management, process automation in purchasing and finance, and reducing financial risks. To discover how we can help grow your business:

2. Download our “Indirect Spend Guide”

Download a free copy of our guide to better manage and make savings on your indirect spend. You’ll also be subscribed to our email newsletter and notified about new articles or if have something interesting to share.

3. Learn best practices for purchasing, finance, and more

Browse hundreds of articles, containing an amazing number of useful tools, techniques, and best practices. Many readers tell us they would have paid consultants for the advice in these articles.

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