Amazon in iBuyNU
Published May 26, 2020
Updated July 9, 2020
We are excited to announce that PPS has been working to implement an Amazon Business Prime Catalog in iBuyNU. The purpose of implementing Amazon Business in iBuyNU is to complement all of the Preferred Vendor catalogs already in iBuyNU. The Preferred Vendor catalogs in iBuyNU cover millions of SKUs with deeply discounted pricing and should be used whenever possible. Adding Amazon will help fill in some of the gaps from a product availability perspective that still exist. All purchases from Amazon will need to go through NUFinancials and iBuyNU once the catalog is active, in order to ensure these purchases are approved and budget checked. That means other channels currently being used to buy from Amazon will need to be discontinued (such as the use of personal funds and reimbursements as well as the Corporate Card).
We are adopting a suggested buying strategy with the Amazon business catalog. Items/categories we know you can purchase at deeper discounts from other preferred vendor catalogs in iBuyNU have either been blocked or restricted within the Amazon catalog. This is to help ensure you are consistently getting the best price.
You will have the same shopping experience as you do when shopping at Amazon.com. The look and feel is the same with additional benefits, which include:
- Free 2-Day shipping on Prime-eligible items.
- Automatic tax exempt purchasing on items sold by Amazon.com LLC and participating 3rd party sellers
- Business-specific pricing, including quantity discounts on eligible items
- Access to a specialized Amazon Business Customer Service team
Amazon Business products will immediately be available when utilizing federated search within iBuyNU. However, the first time you access the Amazon Business Punchout directly, you will be prompted to create an account using your Northwestern University email address. If you have been using your Northwestern University email address for the Amazon Business account linked to your Corporate Card or have been using it on a personal Amazon account, you will be asked to take some additional steps to establish your account. This account set up is a one-time process. You will not be prompted to enter credentials after this initial set up.
Procurement will be monitoring usage and adjusting as necessary to stay in line with the initial goal, which is to make sure preferred vendors are being used first and foremost.
Learn more
For questions, contact procurement@northwestern.edu.