Amazon has become the world’s largest e-commerce company due to its B2C model. But it seems that its B2B marketplace, Amazon Business, could be its next-big-thing.
At least this is what RBC Capital Markets has predicted. According to it, by 2023 Amazon Business could be bringing $31 billion in revenue and $52 billion in sales. This would be a significant increase from the $10 billion Amazon Business made in sales in 2018.
However, this only seems to fit right with what we know already about business-to-business e-commerce marketplaces. B2B e-commerce always had much greater potential than B2C, even though the former is much harder to establish than the latter. In 2018, B2B e-commerce was estimated to make over $1 trillion in overall sales. In comparison, retail e-commerce stood at a mere $524 billion.
But can Amazon Business really jump from $10 billion to $52 billion in just 5 years? Well, there are many factors that can enable this. Currently, Amazon Business is already the fastest-growing segment of Amazon. At a compounded annual growth rate of 115 per cent, it far outpaces other segments like retail and web services. Amazon has also offered its Business Prime (similar to Amazon Prime) subscription to offer better and exclusive services. It is also desirable for Amazon to expand into B2B, since its B2C sector seems to have hit a saturation point. Despite being on the top of the game, its retail e-commerce faces fierce competition from the likes of Walmart and might soon stop expanding.
Thus, Amazon Business can be the saving grace for the company and ensure its throne in the e-commerce industry.