Amazon targets £96bn business supplies market

Amazon has taken aim at another lucrative market in its never-ending expansion drive - and this time it is setting its sights beyond consumers.

It has announced the launch of Amazon Business to offer companies a wide range of supplies, including "ordinary office supplies and storage solutions as well as more specialist products such as microscopes and test-tubes", says the BBC.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK office supply market was worth around £96.5bn in 2015, "only slightly lower than the £119bn spent by consumers".

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This isn't Amazon's first foray into this market: it has built up annual revenues of $1bn (£800m) since moving into this sector in the US two years ago, while it launched in Germany last year.

It already provides business customers in the UK with cloud computing solutions through Amazon Web Services, The Guardian reports.

The company will use its scale and established distribution reach to gain an edge on rivals: Amazon said it will make 100 million products available, while companies will have the option of a range of reporting and analytics tools and get free next-day delivery on all orders over £30.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at stockbrokers Hargreaves Lansdown, said the new service was "a more natural extension of their business than video content or expanding into groceries".

He also told the BBC that the added competition would reduce prices and that "Staples and Office Depot were the businesses most likely to be affected".