Amazon launches 'Business' service in India to target enterprise customers

Three years in India, Amazon has begun aggressively expanding its offerings in the country.

The ecommerce giant is bringing its Amazon Business service in India, targeting enterprises and business customers who purchase products in bulk quantity.

Amazon's arch rival in India, Flipkart and Snapdeal, don't serve enterprise customers, yet. With Amazon Business, the Seattle-based giant will be challenging local players such as Power2SME and Veritas Finance. Interestingly enough, former Flipkart CTO, Amod Malviya's new startup Udaan targets small enterprises.

For now, Amazon Business is only available to businesses in the western India state of Maharashtra and to a few others that have received an invitation from the company.

Amazon says it already has over one million products in categories such as electronics, office, industrial and scientific supply with "business offers" on the website. In addition, the company says with this service, it also provides customers with proper invoices to help them with tax credit.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Additionally, Amazon says it is offering credit solutions to business customers courtesy a tie-up with ICICI Bank. "Using the ICICI credit solution, you can avail a free credit period up to a maximum of 45 days," the company writes.

On its website, Amazon says it will require business customers to create an Amazon Business account if they want to avail the service. They could also convert their existing account to that, however, in either case, it will need them to provide with certain documentations such as VAT, CST, Excise, and Service tax certificates.

Amazon introduced Amazon Business in the United States in 2015. With the service, which offers "thousands of millions of products", the company is targeting work professionals who need bulk office supplies. The company showed its first intention of getting in this space in 2012, when it launched AmazonSupply. The service was shut down and turned into Amazon Business three years later.