Amazon Business adds a tool to show what your buying really saves

Amazon Business has added a reporting tool called Value Intelligence. It tries to show what a company's buying really saves, not just the price on the invoice. It puts savings, time saved and spending that broke company rules into a single report.

What it does

The tool lives inside Amazon Business Analytics and is available to eligible customers. It sorts purchasing performance into three areas: cost savings, operational efficiency (how much time and effort buying takes) and purchasing compliance (whether people buy within approved rules).

It uses a company's own purchasing data alongside independent third-party benchmarks. Amazon says the calculations are transparent and that customers can review and adjust them. Shelley Salomon, Amazon Business worldwide vice president, said procurement is about more than price, but price gets reported because it is the easiest thing to measure.

Who it is for

Large companies usually have whole departments for buying. Smaller ones face the same problems with fewer people. Picture a growing business where several employees order office supplies, tech accessories and equipment. It can be hard to tell whether the buying rules actually save money.

Value Intelligence could help an eligible business look at the discounts it gets, estimate efficiency gains and check whether people follow buying guidelines. Those findings could feed into budgets or into a decision about moving more purchases to Amazon Business.

Limits to know

• It draws on Amazon Business activity only. Purchases from other suppliers must be tracked separately.
• Estimated time savings do not automatically mean lower costs or more revenue.
• Amazon does not name its third-party research providers or show detailed examples of how the benchmarks are applied.

The option to review and adjust assumptions matters here. Checking the time-saving numbers against how your team actually works should give a more realistic picture.

What is not known

Amazon has not spelled out eligibility requirements or said whether extra charges apply. Interested businesses are told to contact their Amazon Business account team. The material gives no price and no rollout timeline.