SpaceBound grows B2B footprint to 40% of total Amazon sales

Making technology accessible for all
In 1987, Patricia Miller and Anthony Saliba co-founded SpaceBound with a mission to connect customers with the right technology solutions for their needs and at prices within their budget. Their business-to-consumer retail model gradually expanded into business-to-business as the company saw growth opportunities in serving business, government, and educational customers. Today, the woman-owned business is committed to providing the latest technology products and critical IT services to a wide range of consumer, business, and government customers.

Reflecting on the company’s journey, Patricia recalls some early challenges of reaching new customers. “As a small business, one of the main challenges was finding new ways to drive bottom-line growth through new channels. We recognized that Amazon’s reach, credibility and economies of scale could significantly impact our online sales.” SpaceBound started selling on Amazon.com in 2004 and considered it a no-brainer to take advantage of Amazon’s B2B store when Amazon Business launched nearly a decade later.

Standing out from the seller crowd
Selling on Amazon Business has opened the door to new industries and customer segments for SpaceBound. “One of the many benefits of selling on Amazon Business is the ability to distinguish SpaceBound from other vetted sellers with certifications,” says Patricia. “As a woman-owned small business, we appreciate the opportunity to display such certifications that assist buyers who are looking to procure from sellers that meet specific diversity or quality criteria and have also been certified under strict government requirements.” Many business customers set aside budget to spend with sellers that meet their supplier diversity or social corporate responsibility thresholds. To help empower those customers to meet their goals, Amazon Business recognizes several national and state level certifications to help surface relevant sellers to customers.

In addition to diversity certifications, SpaceBound is able to showcase their Section 889 attestation, which enables the U.S. federal government to purchase from them. Amazon has an existing agreement with the General Services Administration (GSA) that permits federal agencies to procure commercial off-the-shelf items through Amazon Business; furthermore, GSA has allocated a portion of spend to small businesses. “Displaying our small business [i.e., Women Owned Small Business (WOSB)] certification, Section 889 certification, and GSA certification on Amazon Business not only gives federal agencies the confidence to buy from us, but it also allows us to do business with the government without needing to obtain individual contracts. That saves us valuable time and costs.”

B2B sales expands to nearly half of total Amazon sales
SpaceBound has put a great deal of effort into targeting business customers, such as implementing business prices and quantity discounts on 85% of their B2B selection and creating case packs to generate large-volume sales. “Thanks to the many programs and initiatives that Amazon Business has rolled out to reach businesses, we have seen consistent year over year growth in our B2B sales,” reports Patricia. “From 2020 to 2021, our Amazon Business sales grew 60%, representing 40% of our total Amazon sales.”

With Amazon Business sales up 160% in January, compared to January 2021, SpaceBound has already proven that 2022 is off to a promising start. The small business may be 35 years old, but its journey with Amazon Business is just beginning. “After 18 years of success with Amazon, we continue to look forward to further expansion with Amazon Business by taking advantage of their pilot programs. We also value the collaboration we have with our dedicated account manager who continues to challenge us and introduce new opportunities to serve our joint customers.”