Business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce involves one business selling products or services to another business online. These transactions can happen through eCommerce websites, specialized B2B marketplaces, or even face-to-face at events like trade shows or industry conferences.
Unlike business-to-consumer (B2C), every purchase is made on behalf of a company. That means the buying process often involves contracts, approvals, tax setup, and personalized support. Today, B2B eCommerce goes way beyond just placing wholesale orders through a basic website.
Types of B2B Business Models
Wholesale: This model involves selling products in bulk at discounted prices to other businesses, rather than selling individual items directly to consumers.
Manufacturers: These businesses create finished products by combining raw materials and components, often using machinery and labor. In a B2B setup, they sell their goods to other manufacturers, suppliers, or wholesalers.
Distributors: Acting as the link between manufacturers and the market, distributors help promote products and move them through the supply chain to boost sales.
B2B2C: The business-to-business-to-consumer model removes the traditional middleman and allows businesses to sell directly to the end consumer, while still working through a B2B relationship.
B2B vs B2C eCommerce: What’s the Difference?
B2B eCommerce refers to transactions between two or more businesses, while B2C eCommerce involves sales from a business to individual consumers. One of the biggest differences is the size and value of the orders. B2B transactions often include hundreds of items and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Due to the large scale associated with these types of purchases, B2B eCommerce retail often requires its own set of tools and technology to support complex, high-volume transactions.
Customer Experience
Both B2B and B2C eCommerce rely on user-friendly websites or platforms where buyers can browse products, add items to a cart, and make purchases. Though there are many similarities in the buying process for both business models, rather than a single person making quick (and sometimes impulsive) decisions, B2B eCommerce transactions often involve multiple stakeholders, approvals, contracts, and longer decision-making timelines.
Lead Times
B2B transactions often include longer lead times due to production, logistics, or custom orders, while B2C transactions are typically faster, with many businesses offering same-day or next-day shipping. Since B2B transactions occur more frequently and are usually much larger than B2C orders, this can have a significant impact on the way you design your website and on inventory and fulfillment processes as well.
Customer Relationship Management
Just like B2C, B2B eCommerce platforms use personalized recommendations, targeted promotions, and tailored content based on user behavior and preferences to engage customers. However, unlike B2C which focuses on practices such as loyalty programs to encourage repeat business, B2B retailers usually maintain longer customer relationships, often with dedicated account managers and ongoing support.
Digital Marketing & Analytics
Both B2B and B2C businesses use digital marketing tools like SEO, email marketing, social media, and paid ads to engage their audience. Tracking customer behavior, trends, and marketing performance is also important in both B2B and B2C eCommerce to improve the customer experience. However, rather than emotional appeals that target a consumer’s lifestyle and impulses, B2B marketing relies more on logic, ROI, and long-term value.
Checkout Options & Features
Both models focus on streamlining the checkout process. B2B might include options like invoicing or net payment terms, and require features like bulk ordering, custom catalogs, approval workflows, and account-specific pricing. However, both types aim to make transactions as smooth and painless as possible.
Market Trends and Statistics
According to Research and Markets, the global B2B eCommerce market was valued at $19.34 trillion in 2024 and is projected to reach $47.5 trillion by 2030. A survey from McKinsey found that 39% of B2B buyers are comfortable placing self-service orders costing over $500,000, and 73% will even spend $50,000 or more online. These statistics continue to trend upward as time goes on, signaling an increase in B2B revenue online for the coming years. Due to technology shifts and streamlined processes online, B2B eCommerce has allowed businesses to reduce costs and increase efficiency, leading to steady market growth over time.
How to Get Started
Business-to-business (B2B) eCommerce may offer significant opportunities to reduce costs and build long-term customer relationships. Features designed specifically for B2B, such as quick reordering, account hierarchies, contract pricing, and custom catalogs make the buying process more efficient and user-friendly. The challenge is finding an eCommerce platform that includes these features by Default.
B2B retailers have a unique set of needs and complexities that make running an online store different from your average eCommerce retail experience. Special pricing, bulk orders, and increased fulfillment and production times are only a small fraction of the many unique challenges B2B retailers face, so if you’re looking to get started, you’ll need an eCommerce platform that can keep up.
To schedule a consultation with Virid to discover how our platform can help you reach your B2B eCommerce goals, contact us today.