What is B2B eCommerce? Definition & Example

ByHoang Nguyen Bao

Have you ever heard of the term B2B ecommerce, yet having no idea about What is B2B eCommerce and Are there other types of ecommerce lying around? Read this article to your heart to find your answer.

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What is B2B in e-commerce? B2B ecommerce stands for Business-to-Business, i.e. the form of wholesale with each large volume through online business channels. In short, B2B ecommerce is defined as an online transaction between businesses.

For B2B ecommerce, there is a wide variety of buyers and sellers including wholesalers, manufacturers and distributors. The behavior of these objects is much different from the behavior of the customer B2C (ie retailer).

Due to the large volume of orders and online transactions, B2B ecommerce requires careful preparation as well as trust from all parties involved. Most transactions are slower, the buying process is longer, and the consideration time is also longer compared to B2C ecommerce.

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Surprisingly, there are many different definitions when it comes to ecommerce like B2B, B2C, etc. Each type will have its own unique characteristics.

In this article, we only mention their definitions for casual readers. If you want to learn more, you can read more in-depth articles available in the knowledge base of BSS Commerce, which is already included in this article for your convenience.

1. B2C eCommerce

Unlike B2B and B2C eCommerce is a form of online business for retail customers, not wholesalers. B2C accounts for most of the proportion in the structure of e-commerce.

2. B2G eCommerce

Similar to B2B and B2C, B2G ecommerce (business-to-government) is one of the three most basic sales models of online commerce.

Instead of targeting wholesale or retail customers, B2G’s main customers are state agencies or state-owned companies. B2G’s clients are highly demanding due to their large budget and funding projects. B2G eCommerce means B2G businesses conducting online transactions.

2. B2B2B eCommerce

B2B2B ecommerce (Business-to-Business-to-Business) is simply another way of calling B2B ecommerce. This is how to call businesses that focus only on wholesalers, not retail customers. At B2B2B ecommerce, you will find some of the most popular features of online wholesale.

3. B2B2C eCommerce

B2B2C (also known as Business-to-Business-to-Consumer) is usually mentioned as a sub-type of sales models. When a business operates both wholesale and retail through ecommerce channels. These businesses target both B2B and B2C customers.

Sometimes B2B2C ecommerce is also referred to as the process of doing online business from one wholesale business to another and eventually distributing products to retail customers.

Both definitions are correct in their way, depending on the situation that can be understood B2B2C ecommerce is a form of business or product distribution cycle.

4. D2C eCommerce

The term D2C ecommerce (direct-to-consumers) is used when a wholesale business (usually manufacturers) instead of selling products to other wholesale distributors, they sell products directly to end-users through an official website.

The end-users which we just mentioned are the customers who directly use the product/service and at the same time send feedback directly to the manufacturer.

5. B2M eCommerce

B2M ecommerce (business-to-many) is pretty close to the definition of B2B2C ecommerce. A B2M business operates both wholesale and retail, distributing products to all types of customers in the market as long as they are interested in the company’s products.

6. B2E eCommerce

B2E ecommerce (business-to-employee) is a business strategy, not a sales model. Instead of targeting wholesale or retail customers, a business implementing B2E means that the business sells and distributes products online to customers who are employees in the company’s network.

This article help you understand what is business to business e-commerce? We hope that it has been useful for you. BSS Commerce is one of the leading Magento extension providers and Magento development services in the world. With experienced and certified Magento developers, we commit to bringing high-quality products and services to optimize your business effectively.