In 2012, Amazon.com AMZN -1.01% quietly launched AmazonSupply, the e-commerce company’s foray into the unsexy but hugely lucrative world of B2B wholesale.
By 2014, when Forbes covered the burgeoning business, AmazonSupply was already offering 2.2 million products for sale in 17 categories, from tools and home improvement to janitorial supplies, stocking everything from 12-packs of Hawaiian Punch to schedule-40 stainless steel pipe.
Industry insiders were already concerned about the potential impact of AmazonSupply on America’s 35,000 distribution companies, almost all of which are regional and family-run. Could they compete with AmazonSupply’s infrastructure and deep cache of consumer data?
Now Amazon is taking its quest to win over the $7.2 trillion B2B sector a step further. On Tuesday, the Seattle-based web giant is launching Amazon Business, a new platform aiming to do for business customers what Amazon.com has done for everyday shoppers.
Dispatches From The Front 