Amazon UK to supply industry and labs
22 Sep 2015
Amazon today launched an online industrial and scientific supply store in the UK, which it says will stock half a million products.
Supplies will include laboratory and additive manufacturing products as well as 3D printing, cleaning, health and safety products, and test, measurement and inspection devices.
Participating brands will include 3M Industrial, Kimberly Clark Professional, DuPont, Horiba, 3D Systems, Adam Equipment and Wheaton.
Raoul Heinze, director of the Business, Industrial and Scientific Supplies Store for Amazon EU, said: “We’re delighted to offer business owners a great selection of supplies and products at great prices, all in one store.”
The company, which made its name selling books online, is now rapidly expanding into new areas.
In the US, the company has been selling a similar range of industrial and scientific products under the banner Amazon Supply, but earlier this year created the Amazon Business marketplace for its expanding line up of business-to-business products.
“We have high expectations for the EU launch of the Business, Industrial & Scientific Supplies Store, having seen years of success in the US,” said Oskar Kaszubski, global director of commercial Innovation at Kimberly-Clark Professional.
As Amazon has continued to expand its presence in Europe it has also hit some regulatory hurdles. An ongoing European Commission investigation into its e-book business is examining whether clauses in its contracts prevent publishers from offering more favourable deals to competitors.
The online retailer is also being probed by the EU over its tax arrangements in Luxembourg.
