What is the difference between B2C and B2B?
What is the difference between B2C and B2B? this is a question often asked.
First what do B2C and B2B mean as knowing this will give most of the answers.
1. B2C means Business to Customer or Consumer as in the end
user or the car showrooms who sell complete Ford motors to people off the street.
2. B2B means Business to Business as in the suppliers of
parts for cars to Ford to make the complete cars.
The customer requirement is different for each. One, B2C
deals with business transactions to the end consumer, the
customer.
The other B2B deals with other businesses as the end customer
and so the marketing and selling is different as the target
market is different.
Another difference may be the type of order, a customer in a
B2C relationship may order or buy only one item or small
quantities.
The B2B customer may order on the thousands or millions,
depending on the size and scale of the business. A small
family or one man operation may order small quantities but
mainly large firms will want to place larger orders and
therefore deal with other companies that can supply those
type of numbers.
Regularity or guarantee of delivery is also important as JIT
or just in time delivery may be required.
How products are paid for may vary as well, small companies
or end user type customers may use cash, cheque or credit
card. B2B may have credit lines and open orders paid by
invoice monthly.
How you browse a product line may be different, B2C may have
a brick and morter shop, catalog, website etc. B2B may have a
factory, business type brochure marketing and sales
information, contracts etc.
When it comes to internet transactions the type of website
will be different.
B2B will concern itself with supply chain management. A B2C
website may be a portal type website like Amazon allowing the
end consumer to search every product available, information,
price, tax etc by catagories and reviews and allow many items
to be added to a shopping cart and finally purchased and paid
for with delivery all arranged.
Many B2C businesses exist now as just e-commerce websites
with just the bricks and morter being the warehousing and
distribution and management. The end user never walks into
any building itself.
A B2B business will deal mainly with other businesses. To use
Amazon as an analogy again, the B2C side is the website, the
B2B side is their relationship with the suppliers of the
goods that they sell via the B2C website, the suppliers of
books, music, electronic goods etc that they stock in the
warehouse ready to sell on the website.
Technology is now allowing these lines to be blurred to a
greater extent, a B2B business may take individual orders
from someone who found them on the website and enquired of
there goods. Supplus stock can be listed in trade directories
and sold to other companies or individuals who want them
worldwide. Goods may be made in China, sold in the US direct
through public or private business auctions or trade deals
done over the web.
An new classification is the C2C or customer to customer who
may find a wholesaler and sell via their own website or
auction to other customers either small businesses
individuals.
Some C2C bussinesses are more efficient and able to sell more
goods at a profit than many B2C or B2B companies in the same
market. The internet is levelling the playing field
especially for digital goods that can be delivered online.
Apple with iTunes have shown just how big a digital market
can grow.
B2C and B2B and C2C are all interchangable now to some extent
over the internet depending on what you want and how you want
it and how much.
Author Rob Macleod
from b2bsee
