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    Categories: Ecommerce

Amazon Launches GST Enabled B2B Marketplace For Indian Businesses

 

Amazon is aware that in India, real money lies in B2B, which is 7-times in market size as compared to B2C. By 2020, total B2B market is expected to touch $700 billion, and Amazon is now determined to dominate it.

Two years after launching their B2B marketplace, covering only few products, Amazon India has now launched a full fledged B2B marketplace which covers every product sold in Indian markets.

Besides, the new marketplace for businesses is fully enabled with GST, which means hassle-free bulk dealings for businesses.

This new business division from Amazon would be headed by Shalini Puchalapalli of PepsiCo India (Lehar Foods Pvt. Ltd).

6 Advantages Of Amazon Business In India

Amazon Business, which has been now officially launched in India, provides 6 distinct advantages for small businesses and SMEs, who are looking to buy products in bulk quantity, over the Internet:

  1. GST Enabled: Traders and SMEs can get GST invoice, and thus claim input tax credit on bulk purchases.
  2. Special Discount: SMEs and traders can get bulk discounts on various products, specially under this B2B marketplace
  3. Amazon’s Assurance: Amazon will provide their famous A-z guarantee on all product
  4. 3-Day Returns: Traders can immediately file for return, in case of damaged products
  5. Fast Shipping
  6. Business Analytics for buyers and sellers for proper measurement

In an interview, Manish Tiwary, vice-president at Amazon India explained the need for a full fledged B2B business marketplace for traders and SMEs: “This is basically a marketplace to serve the needs of small and medium businesses. The idea was quite simple—we get a lot of feedback from our 220,000-odd sellers who reach out to us and want to buy stuff from our B2C marketplace.”

Since Amazon restricts the number of units ordered in B2C, they expanded their B2B marketplace, and now, every SMEs and traders can buy products in bulk, without any hassles.

Manish has confirmed that pricing of products on B2B platform would be different than B2C, as there would be special bulk order discount.

Amazon’s B2B Journey So Far..

In 2014, Amazon India had hinted that they may launch a separate B2B marketplace in India, considering that there is no restriction in FDI for B2B niche.

Basically, they wanted to replicate their success of AmazonSupply, a B2B marketplace in US.

In April, 2015, Amazon launched AmazonBusiness.in, which was a dedicated portal for businesses and traders to buy few specific products in bulk. As of now, only FMCG and mobiles are available for SMEs and traders, in these states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.

Now, users are greeted with this message over here: “This website is designed for retailers to purchase FMCG / Mobiles. If you are looking to purchase for institutional consumption/buying, please click here.”

The users are now directed to the new B2B marketplace, which has added advantages of GST enabled, and covering all types of products.

We will keep you updated as we receive more information regarding Amazon’s B2B initiatives in India, especially at a time when Alibaba too is aiming to capture a market share.

Mohul Ghosh: Mohul keenly observes the nuances of Indian startup world; and tries to demystify the secrets behind Technology, Marketing, Mobile and Internet. He is a Writer by passion, Marketer by choice and Entrepreneur by compulsion. Follow him on Twitter here: @_mohul
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