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SAP and Amazon Business Alliance Expands SAP Business Network 

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SAP and Amazon Business’ latest technology integration amplifies the capabilities of SAP Ariba’s Spot Buy and champions a seamless, reliable purchasing experience for users.

In August, SAP forged an innovation partnership with Amazon Business through the launch of Amazon Business Integration for Concur Expense. Offered for free at SAP Concur App Center, the solution simplifies the creation of expense reports from Amazon Business purchases and increases the accuracy of data captured on purchases.

The strategic alliance of SAP and Amazon Business is pressing forward, this time with the integration of Amazon Business into the Spot Buy capability of SAP Ariba to streamline the process of purchasing general business goods while providing users with a plethora of items to choose from and ensuring compliance with corporate purchasing policies.

Alexandre Gagnon, Vice President Worldwide at Amazon Business, expressed:

“We’re excited to be working with SAP. Making online procurement easier for customers of all sizes and industries is among our top priorities and one we share with SAP.”

SAP and Amazon Business Backing SAP Business Network

The joint innovation aligns with SAP’s strategy of expanding the SAP Business Network. Unveiled during the SAPPHIRE NOW in June, SAP Business Network is the German software giant’s initiative in creating the world’s largest business network by bringing together Ariba Network, SAP Logistics Business Network, and SAP Asset Intelligence Network to benefit over 5.5 million organisations.

“Partnering with Amazon Business is a bold step aligned with our strategy to make SAP Business Network more open so that users can more easily and compliantly buy the goods required to do their work and keep their businesses running,” said Tony Harris, Global Vice President, Business Network solutions at SAP. “Customers want choices, and SAP is continually evaluating and onboarding new content sources for our Spot Buy capability to provide the most value to them.”

In similar ways, both Amazon Business and SAP Ariba’s Spot Buy offer a seamless, customer-centric shopping experience. Amazon Business is a purchasing solution that allows businesses of all sizes access to a vast network of suppliers, scale growth and utilise advanced analytics and spend management tools. In like manner, the Spot Buy capability, available with SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing and SAP Ariba Catalog, delivers a cost-saving, single source for buying indirect goods and offers employees over 100 million items sold by suppliers within marketplaces like Ariba Network, Mercateo, and Mercado Libre.

Enhancing the Buying Experience

With the SAP Ariba and Amazon Business’ integration that utilises a real-time search API, users can expect an enhanced guided buying experience. The innovation enables them to search for items and receive results from Amazon Business, along with other online stores, e-commerce providers, and direct sellers, directly within the SAP Ariba solution– simplifying the checkout process. SAP plans to roll out the integration to customers later this year starting with early adopters in the US then followed by a global release.

Nick Heinzmann, analyst team lead at Spend Matters, explained that employees expect to experience the convenience of online shopping in their work lives, which includes finding everything in one marketplace, under a familiar interface. He explained:

“The Spot Buy capability within SAP Ariba solutions is moving toward exactly this kind of experience in B2B, building on top of its current global integrations for external content to now include Amazon Business. Allowing end buyers to find and select Amazon Business content in the same native shopping experience they use for their internal catalogs is a logical step toward delivering the needed balance between the consumer-like experience today’s employees expect and helping improve the compliance and financial results that procurement can deliver.”

In B2C e-commerce, Amazon has been known to deliver a consistent, consumer-centric buying experience. In India, the e-commerce giant kicked off the annual autumn festival sales, the “Great Indian Festival”, on October 3 and tied up with HDFC Bank to offer 10{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} automatic discounts on purchases made during the sale period. Amazon is reported to have over 30{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} market share in the country’s online retail market.

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