Skip to main content

Amazon Business Report: e-Procurement to Increase in 2021

Analysis  |  By Melanie Blackman  
   June 14, 2021

Healthcare stakeholders said that increasing procurement efficiency is the top priority for the industry this year.

More than one-third of healthcare respondents plan on making more than 50% of purchases online in 2021, according to an Amazon Business report released Monday morning.

The Seattle-based tech giant’s e-commerce survey was created to better understand the transformation of business-to-business e-procurement because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly one-third of respondents said that "accessing suppliers that meet the needs of their business" was the top pain point of 2020.

According to the study’s authors, e-procurement is evolving to better meet the needs of the healthcare industry by providing access to a "much broader range of suppliers" compared to traditional procurement methods.

"Diversification of supply is the focus now and is a huge priority. We are slowly watching the tide rise," Petra Schindler-Carter, general manager and director for Amazon Business, said in the report. "Now we are in a position where healthcare customers care most about whether we have the products that meet their specifications, which can be a matter of life or death."

As part of the study findings, more than half (52%) of the healthcare industry respondents said that increasing procurement efficiency is the top priority for the healthcare industry for 2021.

Other top procurement priorities for the healthcare industry in 2021 include:

  • Supporting remote work for their employees
  • Improving sustainability
  • Reducing costs
  • Increasing supply chain diversification

Related: Can a Subscription Model Fix Primary Care in the US?

Related: Amazon and Walmart have an Rx for healthcare. The cure won't be easy.

Melanie Blackman is a contributing editor for strategy, marketing, and human resources at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.

Photo credit: Palo Alto, CA, USA - Feb 18, 2020: Closeup of the Amazon logo at Amazon campus in Palo Alto, California. The Palo Alto location hosts A9 Search, Amazon Web Services, and Amazon Game Studios teams. / Editorial credit: Tada Images / Shutterstock.com


Get the latest on healthcare leadership in your inbox.