For users of procurement software that strive to click out to feature-rich e-commerce sites, Amazon Business is continuing to play a bigger role as an e-commerce destination.

Amazon Business, the business-to-business e-commerce e-marketplace operated by Amazon.com Inc., is often cited by online companies as a B2B e-commerce trendsetter and dominant player to contend with.

Now it’s playing an increasingly bigger role as a destination linked from “punchout” applications in procurement software, which lets buyers click or punch out from procurement software to an e-commerce site of a supplier approved by their corporate procurement policy. This week Amazon announced that Amazon Business would have a “punchout” link in procurement software from Coupa Software, bringing to more than two dozen the number of procurement software applications linked to Amazon Business. The products available on
Amazon Business range from from I.T. and laboratory equipment to such items such as traffic signs, industrial deep fryers, antibodies, 55-gallon steel drums and dent pullers, Amazon says.

Advocates of punchout applications say it provides the best of two worlds: it lets buyers click to a more feature-rich shopping site, while also letting their company control who they buy from and how much they spend. When buyers punch out from procurement software to an e-commerce site and place an order in a shopping cart, the order automatically transfers back to the financial management system of the buyer’s company for approval and updating of purchasing records.

There are many other suppliers’ e-commerce sites serving as punchout destinations, but the role of Amazon Business is has an unusually high profile, says Jason Busch, founder and managing director at procurement research and consulting firm Spend Matters.

“The amount of excitement Amazon Business is generating as a supplier and intermediary in the B2B space is truly exceptional,” he says. “Amazon’s relationship with Coupa, the fastest-growing procurement suite vendor, will increase the value delivered to their business customers.”

Because Amazon Business is a marketplace of thousands of sellers, it provides buyers punching out from procurement software the opportunity to purchase on a single site products from as many product catalogs as their company approves.

“Business customers want better access to selection with great pricing and trusted delivery,” says Prentis Wilson, vice president of Amazon Business. “Coupa is helping customers achieve their purchasing goals by providing them with direct access to the Amazon Business marketplace.”

In addition to Coupa, Amazon Business is connected through punchout with 25 other procurement software applications, listed here:

• Ariba
• B-Pack
• BirchStreet
• Bookbyte
• BookVolume
• Elcom
• ePlus
• eRequester
• ESM Solutions
• ExpenseWatch
• Infor
• Ivalua
• Hubwoo
• jCatalog
• Oracle Fusion
• Oracle iProcure
• Payback
• Peoplesoft
• Point Systems
• SAP SRM
• SciQuest
• SpendBridge
• SpendMap
• Verian
• Vinimaya

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