Amazon Gives Merchants Free Business Prime Duo Access

Amazon Business says it wants to give small business owners an easier buying experience.

To that end, the retail giant’s B2B procurement store announced Tuesday (June 27) that its Business Prime Duo membership — once $69 per year — is now free for Amazon Prime members who also make business purchases.

“Business Prime Duo is an Amazon Business membership that helps small-business owners by bringing together business buying tools and access to business-only pricing on select items, alongside fast, free business delivery,” the company said in a news release.

Amazon says the program lets small business owners keep business and personal expenses siloed, helping them keep track of business spending while streamlining taxes and accounting.

The announcement follows the March addition of Amazon’s 3-Way Match feature to its mobile app for B2B buyers. The feature, formerly only available via desktop or handheld scanners, lets buyers scan the barcode of a newly arrived package, mark it as received and finish the purchase order.

As PYMNTS noted at the time, research shows that companies are examining how automated procurement can help lower some of their cash flow barriers, with roughly a third of U.K. and U.S. businesses planning to upgrade their spend management and expense controls.

Amazon’s other recent offerings to small businesses include its new plan to enlist them in its last-mile delivery program — letting them earn revenue on the parcels they drop off — and last week’s partnership with YouLend for cash-strapped merchants in the U.K.

These offerings are happening at a time when small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are seeking stronger financial footing as they cope with inflation.

As reported here Tuesday, research by PYMNTS finds that 40% of SMBs are more concerned about inflation than they were a year ago, while 15% feel unease over declining revenues.

“That worry is not unfounded, especially for those with little or no access to readily available financing,” PYMNTS wrote. “Main Street SMB owners must be savvy about the different financing options available to them and carefully weigh the pros and cons of tapping into additional sources of credit.”

Research from “Main Street Health Q2 2023: Credit’s Key Role in SMBs’ Plans,” a PYMNTS and Enigma collaboration, found that 34% of SMBs surveyed don’t use credit now but want to start doing so. And 14% said they have access to sources of business credit and want to expand their financing.

However, most SMBs are unfamiliar with the range of financing options available, possibly because they are busy with their day-to-day operations, did not qualify for or were denied other financing options.

“It may also be that lenders have not done enough to educate SMBs,” the report said. “These findings suggest that Main Street SMBs remain an underexplored market for financial lenders.”