Amazon Business Cuts Costs and Boosts Rewards: Here's What SMBs Need to Know

Amazon Business just made running a small or medium-sized company a lot more affordable. The platform announced a major expansion of its Business Prime membership perks, introducing both a rewards program and significant membership fee cuts that could put real money back in business owners’ pockets.

The New Business Prime Rewards Program: Money Back on Every Purchase

Starting with an exclusive rollout to Business Prime members, the new Business Prime Rewards program lets entrepreneurs earn up to $1,000 annually just by shopping through their business accounts. Here’s how it works: members accumulate reward points on qualifying purchases and can redeem them at checkout as a payment method (100 points = $1). The 2% cash back on Amazon private label brands like Amazon Essentials sweetens the deal even more.

The program tracks everything in a personal rewards dashboard, making it easy to monitor available points, redemption history, and special earning opportunities. Members can boost their points balance by completing actions like testing new features or adding team members to their account. Reward points remain valid for 12 months after issue, though they can’t be applied to digital items or gift cards.

Membership Costs Slashed: Nearly 95% Discount on First Year

Amazon Business introduced introductory pricing that substantially reduces entry barriers for growing companies. New members joining Business Prime Essentials pay just $9.99 for their first year—representing a nearly 95% reduction from the standard $179 annual fee. Existing Business Prime Duo members can also upgrade to the Essentials tier at the same discounted rate.

For those already subscribed to Amazon Prime, accessing Business Prime Duo remains completely free. This tiered approach lets companies start small and scale their team permissions as they grow without heavy upfront investment in their amazon business account cost.

Understanding the Two Business Prime Options

Business Prime Duo serves single-user operations with fast business delivery, competitive shipping options, survey and analytics tools, plus 5% cash back or 90-day payment terms for qualified purchases.

Business Prime Essentials scales to organizations needing multi-user access, supporting up to three team members. Beyond everything Duo provides, it unlocks Spend Visibility for budget tracking and Guided Buying strategies to streamline procurement workflows. New Essentials users earn quick rewards simply by adding more team members or establishing a Guided Buying plan.

The Broader Business Growth Mission

This rewards initiative sits within Amazon Business’s wider effort to support entrepreneurial growth. The company operates the Small Business Success Studio, an on-demand learning platform offering educational resources for business owners. Earlier in the year, Amazon distributed $250,000 in grants to 15 small business entrepreneurs through its Small Business Grant program.

Since launching domestically in 2015, Amazon Business has grown to serve over 6 million customers across 10 countries. The platform now processes more than $35 billion in annualized gross merchandise value and counts 96 Fortune 100 companies, 66 FTSE 100 firms, and 37 DAX-40 businesses among its client base.

Why This Matters for Business Decision-Makers

By lowering barriers to entry through reduced membership costs and introducing tangible cash-back benefits, Amazon Business is directly addressing small business profitability concerns. The combination of reward points, discounted membership tiers, and a simplified purchasing experience positions the platform as a cost-reduction tool for entrepreneurs managing tight budgets and procurement headaches.

For companies considering their options on amazon business account cost and seeking integrated expense management, these updates make the financial case clearer.