Sustainable Procurement at Scale: How Amazon Business and EcoVadis Make Responsible Purchasing Easier

For most procurement leaders, the strategic case for supply chain sustainability is already clear: lower risk, fewer disruptions, stronger compliance, and measurable progress toward ESG commitments. The question is no longer why, but how to execute at scale.

Most large companies have strong oversight of the sustainability performance of their top strategic suppliers, supported by structured onboarding, supplier reviews, contractual controls, and formal assessments. But those standards are much harder to extend into the long tail of everyday business purchasing, where decisions are decentralized, fast-moving, and lightly governed.

Sustainability is increasingly embedded in responsible sourcing, yet less consistently reflected in responsible purchasing, where day-to-day buying decisions happen across the organization.

The partnership between Amazon Business and EcoVadis is designed to close this gap by bringing sustainability insights directly into the purchasing experience, making it easier to scale responsible purchasing at every level.

Addressing the long tail of sustainable procurement

Beyond the top tier of strategic partners lies a much larger, messier reality: the long tail of everyday business purchasing.

Thousands of decentralized purchases happen every day across global organizations, from laptops and monitors to office supplies and other business essentials. These purchases are often fast, fragmented, and lightly governed. Individually they may be small, but collectively they represent a significant portion of procurement activity and a major blind spot in supply chain sustainability.

Why sustainable procurement breaks down in day-to-day purchasing

Many companies have strong sustainability ambitions, reflected in supplier codes of conduct, ESG policies, supply chain sustainability targets, and reporting commitments.

But those ambitions are often hard to translate into practice when purchasing is spread across thousands of employees making fast, decentralized decisions.

When someone needs to order a headset, desk chair, or replacement equipment, the priority is usually speed. They want to find the right product quickly and complete the purchase with as little friction as possible.

They are unlikely to:

• Log into a separate sustainability portal
• Review supplier sustainability scorecards
• Analyze certification documentation before placing an order

This creates a persistent gap between sustainable procurement policy and day-to-day purchasing behavior. Sustainability may be a strategic priority, but if the more sustainable option is harder to find or harder to buy, adoption will remain inconsistent.

Procurement leaders face a familiar trade-off: speed versus control. Embedding sustainability intelligence directly into the purchasing workflow helps remove that trade-off.

Bringing sustainability intelligence into the Amazon Business experience

Amazon Business already helps organizations buy millions of products through a familiar, efficient interface. By integrating EcoVadis sustainability intelligence directly into the store, that efficiency is now paired with trusted, third-party data.

EcoVadis medals and badges recognize companies that have been rated and demonstrated strong performance across four key sustainability themes:

• Environment
• Labor and Human Rights
• Ethics
• Sustainable Procurement

As announced in the official release, EcoVadis sustainability rating performance is now a key search criterion on Amazon Business stores, allowing buyers to more easily identify sellers with strong sustainability credentials.

This enables buyers to make faster, more informed decisions without leaving the purchasing environment to conduct additional research.

Three ways this integration supports sustainable procurement at scale

The integration supports sustainable procurement through three key capabilities embedded within the Amazon Business purchasing process.

1. Guided buying policies

Amazon Business administrators can configure purchasing policies that highlight or prioritize sellers recognized by EcoVadis.

This allows organizations to align employee purchasing behavior with broader procurement and sustainability goals. When sustainable suppliers are surfaced as preferred options, employees can make more responsible purchasing decisions without additional research or administrative steps.

Guided buying helps translate sustainable procurement policy into real purchasing behavior.

2. Sustainability credentials at the point of purchase

The second element of the integration focuses on visibility.

EcoVadis medals or badges appear next to products sold by recognized suppliers. These visual signals allow buyers to quickly identify suppliers that have reached certain performance levels on their EcoVadis sustainability rating.

This matters because small signals at the point of purchase can significantly influence decision-making.

Instead of navigating separate systems or sustainability databases, buyers can see sustainability recognition directly alongside product listings, helping them make more informed and responsible purchasing decisions with minimal effort.

3. Sustainability analytics and reporting

The third component of the integration focuses on measurement.

Sustainable procurement becomes truly strategic when organizations can track purchasing behavior and monitor progress toward sustainability goals.

Amazon Business analytics allow organizations to track purchasing patterns, including spending with recognized sustainable suppliers. This helps procurement teams understand how decentralized purchasing decisions contribute to broader supply chain sustainability objectives.

Better analytics support stronger reporting and allow organizations to continuously refine procurement strategies.

What this means for procurement leaders

For procurement teams, this relationship represents a practical step forward in operationalizing sustainable procurement.

First, it reduces friction. Sustainable suppliers become easier to identify within the purchasing process employees already use.

Second, it extends supplier evaluation signals beyond strategic sourcing events into everyday responsible purchasing decisions.

Third, it improves the buyer experience by embedding sustainability information into familiar procurement workflows rather than requiring additional tools or research steps.

Finally, it improves visibility into sustainable purchasing patterns through procurement analytics. Together, these capabilities help organizations scale sustainable procurement more effectively.

What this means for sellers on Amazon Business

The opportunity is not only for buyers.

For sellers, sustainability performance is becoming an increasingly important differentiator in competitive marketplaces.

Buyers are looking for credible signals that demonstrate responsible business practices. EcoVadis medals and badges provide that signal by showing that a company has been independently assessed and demonstrates strong sustainability management practices.

Within Amazon Business, this recognition helps sellers stand out and build trust with buyers that prioritize sustainable procurement and responsible sourcing.

The launch has already attracted attention across the Amazon ecosystem. When sharing the announcement, Shelley Salomon, VP of Global Amazon Business, highlighted how the integration helps buyers more easily identify sellers with verified sustainability performance.

As sustainability expectations continue to grow, suppliers that can demonstrate credible sustainability performance will be better positioned to compete.

Making responsible purchasing the easy choice

The most effective sustainability initiatives are the ones that fit naturally into existing workflows. When sustainability requires additional effort, systems, or approvals, adoption tends to remain limited.

But when sustainability signals are embedded directly into the purchasing process, better decisions become easier.

This is the idea behind the Amazon Business and EcoVadis integration: helping organizations scale sustainable procurement and responsible purchasing decisions without slowing procurement down.

Learn more about the integration

The partnership between Amazon Business and EcoVadis was first showcased during the Sustain conference session “Making Sustainable Purchasing the Easy Choice at Scale.”

In the session, leaders from Amazon Business and EcoVadis discussed how embedding sustainability signals into procurement workflows can influence purchasing behavior across entire organizations.

You can watch the full presentation here.

Frequently asked questions

What is sustainable procurement?
Sustainable procurement, also referred to as responsible purchasing or responsible sourcing, is the practice of integrating environmental, social, and ethical considerations into procurement decisions alongside cost and quality. It helps organizations reduce supply chain risk, improve compliance, and advance broader ESG and sustainability goals.

What is the difference between responsible sourcing and responsible purchasing?
Responsible sourcing typically refers to the evaluation and selection of suppliers based on sustainability and ethical criteria, often during strategic sourcing processes. Responsible purchasing, on the other hand, focuses on day-to-day buying decisions made across the organization. Both are essential to achieving sustainable procurement at scale.

How do companies evaluate supplier sustainability?
Organizations evaluate supplier sustainability using a combination of assessments, certifications, audits, and scorecards. Platforms like EcoVadis provide standardized sustainability ratings, enabling procurement teams to compare suppliers based on ESG performance.

Why are supplier sustainability ratings important?
Sustainability ratings provide credible, third-party insights into supplier performance. They help procurement teams identify responsible suppliers, strengthen supply chain transparency, reduce risk, and support regulatory compliance and reporting.

How does Amazon Business support sustainable procurement and responsible purchasing?
Amazon Business enables organizations to manage purchasing at scale. Through its integration with EcoVadis, buyers can identify suppliers with verified sustainability performance directly within the purchasing workflow, making it easier to embed responsible purchasing into everyday procurement decisions.

Related resources

• Watch the Sustain session:
  Making Sustainable Purchasing the Easy Choice at Scale
• Read the announcement:
  EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment Now a Key Search Criterion on Amazon Business Stores
• Learn more about EcoVadis Ratings