Amazon Enterprise Business Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Amazon Business Account (BA) is an enterprise-wide application for purchase of Amazon products at an institutional level. It provides a single platform for departments to make needed Amazon purchases. It eliminates the need for staff and departments to purchase with their personal Amazon.com accounts or for colleges/units to establish their own Business Accounts or pay for Prime Memberships.

Although originally planned as an SRM Ariba e-catalog, the Enterprise Amazon Business Account instead is an independent platform accessible through myUK Enterprise Services tab. It utilizes a University employee’s linkblue ID and password for Single Sign-On (SSO) providing for access ease and convenience.

The Enterprise Amazon Business Account is in response to input and feedback from departments for a dedicated, centralized channel to buy needed items from Amazon. Departmental and unit Business Officers and Procurement Services also need tools providing for proper visibility, management, and oversight of Amazon purchases. The application improves compliance for Amazon purchases at the institutional level by ensuring that appropriate items are purchased and overall supplier engagement is properly managed.

Enterprise Amazon Business Account is separate from Amazon.com which is also referred as the “consumer platform”. It is designed specifically for business entities offering more items than Amazon.com with additional features such as business and tier pricing, tax exemption management, approval workflows, Guided Buying policies, and business analytics.

The shopping and navigation experience on Amazon Business is virtually identical to that of Amazon.com. Users can perform searches in an identical approach and platform aesthetics are virtually the same. The checkout process is similar to that of Amazon.com with a streamlined step-by-step flow. Checkout will hold delivery addresses and payment information history for convenient repeat transactions identical to that of Amazon.com.

Departments will have access to millions of additional products available only to Amazon Business customers. Business pricing is frequently better value and available only for Amazon Business customers. It also includes quantity discounts on eligible items. Automatic tax-exemption is applied on items sold by Amazon and participating third-party sellers, as applicable. It also includes access to the University account on mobile devices through the Amazon Business Mobile App as well as a specialized Amazon Business Customer Service team. Deployment and availability of the mobile app is planned for post Go-Live.

All users on the centralized account will receive free two-day shipping on eligible items. Prime-eligible items are fulfilled by Amazon. Business Prime does not include additional benefits such as Amazon Fresh, Pantry, Video, or Music. Keep in mind you may want to search for and buy Prime-eligible items when available. The University is providing Prime benefits, as applicable, for all orders placed on the Enterprise Amazon Business Account. Business Prime automatically applies to orders, where applicable; there is no charge for Prime benefits to departments.

No. Business Prime shipping benefits can only be used with purchases on the Enterprise Amazon Business Account via myUK Enterprise Services tab.

Employees will access the Amazon Business account through a dedicated tab in myUK / Enterprise Services tab alongside other applications.

When accessing Enterprise Amazon Business Account through myUK for the first time, University staff and faculty should consider two factors:

1. Whether they have been added to their respective departmental/group workflow, and

2. Whether the employee has any type of Amazon personal or other account type that utilizes the linkblue version of their University email address as their login ID. Amazon uses this as the Shopper’s unique identifier, e.g., jsmith4@uky.edu.

Both are one-time considerations and only relevant to first-time access.

Employees holding the procurement card holder role, with exception of those in Athletics and UK Healthcare (Hospital), will be onboarded automatically into the Enterprise Amazon Business Account in conjunction with the Go-Live date and placed into their departmental groups.  Athletics and UK Healthcare (department numbers prefixed with H or M) areas are planned for onboarding at a later date.

After onboarding, these initial Amazon Shoppers should access the platform directly through myUK / Enterprise Services tab.

Staff and faculty who are not procurement card users have opportunity to browse products on the platform and create/download Shopping Lists.

Other staff and faculty, along with any future procurement card holders who plan to perform Amazon Shopping and create orders, must first be assigned to their departmental group within the platform. This can be done by their departmental Amazon Approver or you may request support from Procurement Services.

Upon their first visit to the Enterprise Amazon Business Account, if an employee has no account with Amazon of any type using the linkblue version of their email address, they should transition seamlessly into the Business Account from myUK Enterprise Services tab access.

Employees who have personal or other Amazon accounts using the linkblue version of their UK email address may encounter account conversion/migration tasks requiring attention on their first visit. Information is available on the Procurement Services Learning and Training Resources page to manage account conversions/migrations.

Since the Enterprise Amazon Business Account recognizes the linkblue blue version of your email address as your unique identifier when on the platform, you will need to convert your personal account to a non-UK email address (e.g., gmail, etc.) on your first visit. Once you click the Amazon menu item in myUK Enterprise Services to access the platform, Amazon recognizes this and will present you with steps to divert your personal account to an alternate email address. Visit the Learning and Training Resources page for a help guide or contact amazon@l.uky.edu for assistance.

Since the Enterprise Amazon Business Account recognizes the linkblue blue version of your email address as your unique identifier when on the application, you will need to migrate your departmental Business Account into the larger institutional platform along with deregistering the older account. Once you click the Amazon menu item in myUK Enterprise Services to access the platform, Amazon will recognize this and present you with steps to migrate your existing Business Account bringing along your order history, etc.

Contact amazon@l.uky.edu for assistance with migrating departmental business accounts.

If you have an existing Amazon account of any type using a vanity email, you are not required to convert or migrate it for any reason. Enterprise Amazon Business Account only recognizes an employee by the linkblue version of their email account. If your Amazon account using your vanity email address is for work purposes only, you can convert it and migrate your orders history into the larger institutional account, if desired. Visit the Learning and Training Resources page for a help guide or contact amazon@l.uky.edu for assistance.

These employees may work with their local Business Officer (Amazon Approver) to be added to their group or they can request access by completing the Onboarding Web Form on the Procurement Services website. Completion of the form helps facilitate placement into your departmental group and the employee can receive support in the event they encounter login/migration issues during their first visit.

Many items on the platform are without restrictions and can be placed into a cart seamlessly to order and without issue. Due to millions of items being available on the platform, Guided Buying policies are in place to monitor certain commodities that may conflict with existing contracts, University policies, state procurement code, etc. This shores up required institutional compliance measures and ensures orders are conducted in an appropriate manner.

While many items are available unrestricted on the platform, some items may also be available from other University contracts. These are notated by a yellow icon. Shoppers may still place soft-blocked item(s) into their cart for consideration for purchase.

Please place a text note on your cart during checkout with information for Approvers when ordering soft-blocked items.

When performing comparison shopping and providing notes for soft-blocked items, please keep mind the value of your time vs potential product savings.

A minor portion of items are restricted from placement into a cart for purchase. These are notated with a red icon. These include obvious items such as weapons and security products as well as items that conflict with University exclusive contracts, etc.

A Procurement Services Buyer can assist you with sourcing needed items as appropriate.

When an employee from your area creates and places an order, you will be notified via email. The email will show a summary of line items within the order. While you can click into the order number within the email notification, best practice is to access Amazon Business through myUK Enterprise Services tab and approve from there. Once on the landing page, you can simply click on the top Hello menu and select Approve Orders.

Amazon Approvers in general are based on the same structure as the Level 1 Approvers in SAP/SRM Shopping Carts/PRD with your department number as a reference. Your department number ties Amazon Shoppers in your area to you as an Approver.

Since the Amazon Approver structure mirrors that of the Level 1 Approvers in SAP/SRM Shopping Carts/PRD, this depends on the departmental approver structure there. If you are the only person who approves Shopping Carts and PRDs for your area, you will be the sole approver in Amazon Business as well. If you have multiple approvers for your department number for Shopping Carts and PRDs, those same persons can approve Amazon Shopping Carts alongside you.

The departmental workflow in Amazon Business has only the Level 1 approvers from SAP/SRM/PRD; there is not a second departmental or college approval required. As soon as the department approves an order, it immediately moves to Procurement Services next for review/approval.

Departmental approvers can set up a delegation while they are out for their Amazon orders to automatically forward to another approver or manager in their area. Steps can be found in the Amazon Approver help guide on the Procurement Services Learning and Training Resource page. Any alternate approvers must have access to the platform and not have their linkblue email address affiliated with any personal Amazon.com accounts.

Departmental approvers will be able to manage their own groups and members. You will be able to add new members by sending them an invitation or remove members from your group(s), if desired. Steps can be found in the Amazon Approver help guide on the Learning and Training Resources page.

Staff and faculty who are not procurement card users have the opportunity to browse products on the platform and create/download Shopping Lists. Shopping Lists can then be provided to another person in the department to make the actual purchase. Guides for creating and handling Shopping Lists are available on the Learning and Training Resources page. This user type will not be able to create and place orders.

Employees can request their local Amazon Approver to add them to departmental group workflow which will allow them to create and place orders. 

If an employee has accessed the platform to browse products and later needs assigned to their departmental group, contact Procurement Services for assistance. 

Approvers can approve or reject individual line items within an order. If any lines are rejected, the shipping costs automatically re-calculate.

Yes, as an Approver, if you are also a procurement card holder, you can create Amazon Business Shopping Carts on the platform. Your carts will workflow to Procurement Services as normal for Buyer review/approval.

Each order, once approved by the department, will move through Procurement Services for review and approval. This ensures needed institutional oversight and compliance and that requested items are not in conflict with existing contracts, University policies, state procurement code, etc.

Once approved in Procurement Services, an order immediately places with Amazon Business for fulfillment and the Shopper is notified by email.

Amazon holds the price on Shopping Cart items for 7 calendar days from the time of checkout until order placement.  Approvers are encouraged to review/ approve their carts expediently. Procurement Services makes efforts to review carts within one to two business days of receipt.

If your order is not approved within 7 days, the order will automatically be canceled; however, the items in your order will not be deleted. If your order is canceled, you may submit the order again for approval.

University procurement card is the only payment method that should be used; no personal or non-University credit cards should be used for payment.

All tax exemption information and certificate are maintained and managed on the platform at the institutional level and no additional tasks are needed by departments regarding tax exemption. The only time that sales tax may be applicable would be for shipments from states with whom the University does not hold tax exempt status. In general, there should be no sales tax applicable on Amazon Business orders.

Yes, your delivery addresses and payment information are held within your settings on Amazon Business in the same way as with Amazon.com for ordering ease and convenience.

No. Enterprise Amazon Business is only for use with official University purchases utilizing a University procurement card.

Items must be shipped to official work location(s) unless the department has an approved UFS exception form otherwise. The Business Officer ensures non-business addresses are substantiated properly for remote work and/or “assigned work location(s)”.

Access Amazon Business through myUK Enterprise Services tab as normal. From within your account, navigate to Your Orders. The default view will display all orders “Paid For By You”.

You can view real-time delivery details for all pending orders, including estimated delivery date and carrier information. Access through myUK Enterprise Services tab as normal; from within your landing page, navigate to Your Orders > Track Package.

Yes, you can create Lists. To begin, hover over Lists in upper right corner of your screen and select Create a List:

1. Select This list is for: you from the dropdown menu

2. Select list type: Shopping List or Reorder List

3. Name the list

4. Privacy: Private

To return an item, access the Enterprise Amazon Business account. Navigate to “Your Orders” to find the item(s) you want to return.  From Your Orders:

1. Select Return or Replace items
2. Choose a reason for return
3. Print label and authorization
4. Prepare package and return label

Resources for departments related to the Enterprise Amazon Business Account include:

• Amazon Business Information Page on the Procurement Services website
• Dedicated section on the Procurement Services Learning and Training Resources Page, including Help Guides and Quick Reference Cards
• Amazon Business Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
• Amazon web forms on the Procurement Services website:
  •  Amazon Business Account Web Form – General inquiries or assistance
  •  Web Form Request for Amazon Access – Placement into a departmental group

• Assistance/support email: amazon@l.uky.edu

Procurement Services provides support for general inquiries related to an order until placement with Amazon Business. This includes Business Account access, group assignments and workflow, restricted (soft- and hard-blocked) items, cart approval status, etc.

Departments should contact Amazon Business Customer Support after order placement for assistance related to delivery, shipping status, returns, pricing discrepancy, etc. 

Dedicated US-based Business Customer Support can be reached via email, chat, and phone. Use this method for anything relating to an order, transaction, charge, or shipment. Help is available through the top menu of the Amazon Shopper’s landing page.

Phone: (888) 281-3847

Amazon Business offers dedicated resources related specifically to delivery issues for Business Account users:

Package Escalation:         Email amzl-address-info@amazon.com or phone (844) 370-7615

Plan to provide at least one TBA tracking number, if available, and the estimated number of packages that may have been involved, if known. If needed, you could also reference your original Amazon Business order number.