Amazon is envisioned to be the best and most popular digital platform to buy electronics, household items, and books. This eCommerce site helps retailers connect with their targeted audience. Hence, Amazon works as a mediator between the selling parties and buyers.
Most people look for the answer of whether Amazon is a retail company or it follows the B2B and C2C business models. Let us clarify that Amazon is an online retailer, and it is also a business-to-business and customer-to-customer company.
Being a leading marketplace, Amazon focuses on third-party sellers who offer new and second-hand items. Selling products on this company requires an account and product listing. You can’t trade the items directly to the consumers on Amazon without a seller account.
Let’s see why Amazon is called a B2B and C2C company:
Does Amazon Operate a B2B and C2C Market?
Apart from operating an online retail market, Amazon also operates the B2B and C2C markets. It markets products and services to other companies or businesses to help improve their operations.
On the other hand, Amazon is considered to be a C2C company for primarily 2 reasons. Customers purchase items from third-party companies and other customers with Amazon. C2C companies like Amazon also use e-commerce technology to generate more revenue. So, it is both a B2B and C2C company.
Which Type of Business Model Amazon Warehouse Follows?
Amazon Warehouse stores and delivers products to the customers who purchase them online. Hence, it is operated on an online store and lacks a physical store. It depends on the storehouses to process the consumer’s online purchases.
Amazon’s storehouse is located in different places across the country, including Texas. Additionally, they have a storehouse in Kentucky, Tennessee, New Jersey and California. These storehouses work as an intermediary between the traders and buyers.
What does an Amazon storehouse do? It receives the consumer’s request, packs the items, and sends them to the correct address. Even the storehouse employees pick the items which qualify for Amazon’s return and exchange policy. The company stores 1000+ items in the storehouse and ships them with package delivery services like UPS.
Is Amazon a B2B, B2C or C2C Company?
Most people tend to be confused about whether Amazon is a B2B or C2C company. Some also think that it operates the business in the B2C market. It is important to mention that Amazon deals with both business-to-consumer and business-to-business divisions.
We will make this statement clear by giving an easy-to-understand example. For instance, Amazon helps an online seller create an account and list her products. So, it is indirectly serving the customers who wish to buy the products from the listed category.
Amazon also provides consumers with a platform to sell used and new products to other consumers. Once you create an account on Amazon, you can even sell books on this digital platform. Many consumers shop for Kindle ebooks from Amazon.
However, having an Amazon Prime membership is essential to access online books. So, open the Amazon site, sign up for the Prime membership, and get ebooks at the best price. Discounts and offers are also available for a wide range of eBooks at Amazon.
On the other hand, Amazon B2B, which is also known as Amazon Corporation, lets other companies buy business essentials from them. Small-medium-large scale businesses access this platform to buy their necessary items at a reasonable price.
How Does Amazon.inc Make Money?
Amazon generates over 500 billion U.S. dollars in annual revenue. It has grown rapidly after including eCommerce operations and cloud services. Besides, the company sells high-demand products like Alexa voice assistant and Smart TVs.
It always stays ahead of the competition by offering the best quality products and web services. Amazon generally makes money through retail stores and web-based subscriptions. Its primary source of revenue comes from online and physical stores.
Amazon’s web services generate the majority of the company’s revenue. This cloud computing platform is growing rapidly, and it is a mixture of IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS. The company launched web services first in 2002 for handling online business operations. Amazon Web Services is the first company with pay-as-you-go cloud computing.
What is a pay-as-you-go model? The payment method charges a buyer based on their storage consumption. Amazon has a net profit of $3.2 billion in March 2023 and expects the amount to increase in the coming months.
Which Type of Products is Available on Amazon’s Online Store?
Amazon offers a wide variety of products in its online retail store. You will get everything from beauty products to furniture on this eCommerce platform. Besides, buyers get the opportunity to choose from 100+ home decoration items. Here are the top product categories that this B2B or C2C company focuses on:
- Kitchen Appliances
- Toys and games
- Sports and outdoors
- Personal care products
- Pet supplies
- Office Supplies
However, these product categories can also be seen in other popular eCommerce platforms like eBay. Hence, online sellers need help to sell them to the targeted audience online. Over 39% of sellers encounter problems when selling products from category due to stiff competition.
Increased competition for these products reduces their price. The more competition the product has in the online market, the harder it will be to sell.
Most consumers compare the product’s price from different eCommerce sites and choose the one that sells it at the best price. So, Amazon tries to keep the item price as low as possible so everyone can afford it.
Moreover, the products from popular categories involve higher advertising costs. Thus, you might have to invest more money selling these items on Amazon. So, product research is important when selling something on online retail companies like Amazon.
How to Buy Any Products on Amazon?
Amazon offers the best shopping experience to online buyers across the world. You only need to create an account on this online platform to purchase the required products. Hence, open the Amazon site from a web browser and head to the taskbar.
You will see the Accounts and Lists option, tap on it and wait until the new page opens. When prompted, click the Create an Amazon account button and enter your first and last name. Write your phone number and a valid email address on the account creation page.
Generate a hard-to-decode password and ensure it has at least 6 characters. Double-check the information you have provided and select “Continue” to complete the registration process. Add your shipping address, select the product you want to buy, and choose a convenient payment option; that’s it.
How Can You Sell Your Products on Amazon?
You must have an active bank account and phone number to sell at Amazon. Create an account on Amazon.com and enter your company name. Write your contact number and enter the one-time password on your phone screen.
Provide your store name (if any) and include the product you want to sell. Tap on “Products to Sell” and head to the Start Listing option. Enter the product name or its barcode number on the next window.
Can’t find the product that you want to sell on the list? Click the I’m adding a product not sold on Amazon option from the page’s bottom. Decide a product price and add an easy-to-understand description about it. You can write about its condition, quality and whether it is new or used.
Select “Save and Finish” after adding the product to Amazon inventory. Navigate to the selling dashboard and add the remaining details. Upload the product picture and choose “Launch your business” to complete the process. So, what are you waiting for? Start selling your product on Amazon and earn $1000-$2000 per month.
