eCommerce business owners, when trying to differentiate yourself from your competitors you must first make the conscious decision to pursue either B2B or B2C channels. However, most people don’t really know what the difference is between the two. So we have put together four key distinctions to make the choosing process a little less difficult for you.
- B2B merchants sell directly to other businesses while B2C merchants sell directly to consumers. This is by far the most important distinction because if you fall somewhere in between, it can be seen as confusing to consumers.
- B2B transactions require a more complex system because it must be able to accept orders in different formats, integrate order captures directly with the invoice system. B2C transactions require a less complex system because all that is generally needed is for a busineess to display products with pricing on a website, provide a way to record and personalize consumer details, and a payment processing system.
- B2B businesses can really customize their product and/or service packages to micro-targeted consumer groups. They can also integrate their system with suppliers and logistics partners to streamline processes. For B2C merchants, the integrations only occur when they’re at a level of sales that creates the necessity for contracts with supplies and logistics partners.
- B2B eCommerce merchants cannot have a lot of flexibility in how they want to price products and services because they curate personal relationships with the consumers and compete in a focused target market. Meanwhile in B2B they tend to work with lower price points involved since they are dealing with a large range of products and a shorter sales cycle.
So, when thinking B2B vs. B2C, these differences are crucial in selecting the right platform, content marketing, and 3rd party providers. Just make sure to pay attention to the little details just so you don’t waste time and money that could have been spent on growing your eCommerce business.
