Magento 2 B2B vs. B2C eCommerce: What’s The Difference?
Magento 2 is used for both wholesale and retail purpose, yet what’s the differences between Magento 2 B2B and B2C? Is there any tips on moving from Magento B2B to B2C? Let’s find out.
What is B2B?
GRAB NOW our complete list of Magento 2 B2B features for Commerce edition!
B2B stands for Business-to-Business, a form of business working through the distribution and wholesale of products/services from one company to another.
Unlike B2C, B2B companies prefer improving customer experience to create long-term business partnerships than focusing on products.
Since their target audiences are other businesses on the field (usually B2C companies), a B2B company will aim at selling their product/service in packages or bundles. They also offer incentives and advice to handle customer needs appropriately.
Understanding the B2B enterprises that will need specific functions to improve the sales process, Magento 2 introduces Magento 2 Commerce & Commerce Cloud Edition for large organizations, enterprises, and store owners.
When it comes to Magento 2 B2B, we understand that we refer to the Magento 2 platform for wholesale purposes.
What is B2C?
In contrast, B2C stands for Business-to-Consumer, which means the typical business of selling products to consumers. To make it clear, the B2C target audience is usually larger than B2B audiences.
For the B2C segment, Magento already has the Magento 2 Open-source Edition available on the website, which is entirely free to download and install.
The Differences of Magento 2 B2B & B2C
In general, there’s quite a lot of differences between Magento 2 for B2B businesses & B2C customers in both the eCommerce perspective and the distinct features from Magento 2 Commerce and Magento 2 Open-source.
To understand about Magento 2 B2B eCommerce editions, click HERE
In eCommerce
| Comparison | Magento B2B eCommerce | Magento B2C eCommerce |
|---|---|---|
| Market Size | Usually smaller than B2C. | Broad market with lots of choices for product selection. |
| Customer Base | Smaller. It has enormous clients, which means high requirements with possible competitions. | Wider in all aspects. |
| Customer Relationship | Long-term. Aim at a continuous mutual beneficial relationship. | Depends. Customers make various choices and have a range of freedom before becoming loyal to the brand. |
| Sales Process | Highly customizable sales method. | Standardized sales & operational process. |
| Product Price | Personalize pricing, quotation, and special offers based on needs. | Standardized pricing with no differences per customer. |
| Order Value | High order value, which comes with tight requirements to satisfy. | Medium-size. The average order value is usually lower than B2B orders. |
| Purchase Decision | Considered by (usually) a dedicated team. Decided by a business representative. Based on the functional needs & wants. | Personal decision making. Based on emotional-driven factors. |
| Payment Option | Numerous options for faster checkout and supports. | Limited with a default set of options. |
| Conversion | Long conversion time and low conversion rate. | Shorter and quicker than B2B conversion. |
In Features
TAKE A LOOK at extra B2B functions available for Magento 2 Open-source edition.
It can be seen that Magento 2 B2B (or Commerce edition) contains all the essential functions of the Open-source version for B2C customers, which means for B2C businesses, it’s their choice for whether using the Commerce edition or Open-source one according to the demand.
However, for B2B, Magento 2 Commerce is definitely the superb one since it has specific features serving wholesale customers that Open-source edition can only get by using extensions such as:
Company account: Create a company account and assign positions for a better management process.
Shared catalogue: Custom catalogue for shares within the company members or different catalogue pricing for each company.
B2B quote: Allow customers to send a request for quotes if possible for faster negotiations.
Quick order: Provide a quick order form for B2B customers to place orders faster.
Requisition list: Allow wholesalers to create a requisition list for faster adding to cart and convenient re-purchase for second-time order placement.
Purchase orders: Advance issue the purchase order (PO) number to let B2B customers conveniently checkout by PO via their choice of account payable systems.
To learn more about Magento 2 Commerce, we recommend you have a look at this post.
You’re running a Magento site, want to move to B2B model, yet still hesitated on the fee/price of converting into Magento commerce? Check our more-functioned & economical solution: Magento 2 B2B/Wholesale Package!
Find it hard to keep track of Magento B2B features & choose the right solutions? Check out this guide:
