What do you do when you have already made customers of a large chunk of individual population? Why you go after companies and other organizations of course. Amazon has announced the launch of its business marketplace in the United Kingdom. The marketplace will play the role of a facilitator for companies, merchants and other organizations and enable them to buy everything from industrial equipment, to stationary to anything else they might require.
Speaking on the topic, Bill Burkland, head of Amazon Business in the UK, said:
Whether you are a sole trader, a buyer in a mid-size company or a chief procurement officer in a large multi-national organisation, Amazon Business has the products and capabilities to serve your needs.
The platform will serve the needs of everyone, ranging from institutional buyers including universities, hospitals and non-profits to government offices. Not only will over a hundred million products be available on the platform, highly specialized pieces of equipment like power tools and thermal imaging cameras can also be purchased. You can also buy stuff like microscopes, test tubes and high-speed centrifuges — which isn’t really too readily available online either.
The company previously launched the Business platform in the US in April 2015. At present, the platform serves over 400,000 businesses in the country. The platform managed to generate over $1 Billion (£800m) in sales in its first year itself. The company followed up with an iteration in Germany, which was rolled out in December. The company has managed to garner more than 50,000 business customers. The platform for businesses has turned into a ready money spinner for Amazon, and the company is now hoping to capitalize upon it to the utmost.
The company’s share price has been surging up of late, managing to reach a record high. The valuation of the company also reached a peak at over $400 Billion. Last year, the company generated revenues of $136 Billion, with profits of around $2.4 Billion. All this, combined with the good showing made by the Amazon Echo range of assistants ensured that Jeff Bezos became the second richest person in the world — in a ranking by Bloomberg.
