What is b2b commerce? B2B commerce is a term that refers to any kind of business that runs online between two companies. Business-to-business transactions are key to a company's function, as companies rely on other companies to function, regardless of their reliance on the supply of equipment or consumables, or services such as manufacturing and distribution. As commerce, in general, goes online more and more, so do B2B transactions. Types of b2b commerce: There are many types of B2-B commerce and relationships that can be done online. Here is an example of a typical B2B trading company:
- Manufacturers: Manufacturing is an important feature for all physical merchandise companies, and many companies outsource manufacturing to third parties because of the high cost of owning and operating a manufacturing facility. Often in countries like China where labor costs are low.
- Wholesalers: In wholesale, one company buys goods from another company in bulk, sells those goods to consumers at retail prices, and collects the difference. There are many companies that sell items in bulk (often from China) at a discounted price. There are also marketplaces, such as Alibaba, that help connect resellers and wholesalers.
- Distributor: distribution is another important aspect of business and is increasingly being done online as the Internet has become one of the largest marketing channels. B2B retailers use online channels such as SEO and social media to promote their products and services on behalf of their business customers.
- SoftwareasaService (SaaS): SoftwareasaService is an inter-company software model developed by Salesforce that has become one of the fastest-growing B2-B business models for technology companies focused on digital commerce. With SaaS, a company licenses and accesses the software it creates, and the other company pays the company a recurring monthly or annual fee to continue to access the software.
- B2B e-commerce is more complex than B2C for the following reasons:
- Buyers of B2B need to consult multiple departments before making a purchase, but consumers of B2C only have to consider themselves.
- Buyers of B2B are long-term oriented. In short, we spend more time researching and procuring recommendations.
- B2C customers tend to make impulse and emotional purchases. Buyers of B2B trade-in qualifying purchases, which amplifies all failures.
- The impact of a low-value B2C purchase mistake is much less.
- Buyers of B2B tend to be repeaters, so companies need to consider the long life cycle of their buyers. B2C consumers often purchase the product only once.
- B2-B buyers make company-wide purchase decisions, so there are fewer referrals than B2C buyers.