What Is An E-Commerce Website (B2C)?

B2C, or business-to-consumer, is the type of commerce transaction in which businesses sell products or services to consumers. Traditionally, this could refer to individuals shopping for clothes for themselves at the mall, diners eating in a restaurant, or subscribing to pay-per-view TV at home. More recently, the term B2C refers to the online selling of products, or e-tailing, in which manufacturers or retailers sell their products to consumers over the Internet.

It is one of four categories of e-commerce, along with B2B (business to business), C2B (customer to business) and C2C (customer to customer).

The B2C model is likely the model that most people are familiar with. If you’ve ever purchased an item online for your own use, you’ve e-tailed. Pretty much any product can be sold through e-tailing, also known as virtual storefronts. The concept was first developed in 1979 by Michael Aldrich, an English inventor, who connected a television set to a transaction processing computer with a telephone line and coined the term “teleshopping.”

Generally a B2C E-commerce site has a shopping cart element built in. Affiliate Marketing is providing a service or products via online websites so these are also considered to be B2C.

The next examples are of website I supported for a couple of years.

Here is an example of a B2C Informational Website. This website supports the services and products available at the brick and mortar store. Click on the image to see a larger image.

Here is an example of a B2C Shopping Cart Website. This website supports selling products online. The shopping cart being used is Miva Merchant. There are many other available shopping carts. Click on the image to see a larger image.

What Is A Portal Website (B2B)?

Business-to-business (B2B) are generally websites or instant messaging tools used and developed within corporations. B2B websites would generally be implemented in a consulting role to organizations.

Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Contrasting terms are business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-government (B2G). B2B branding is a term used in marketing.

The overall volume of B2B (Business-to-Business) transactions is much higher than the volume of B2C transactions. The primary reason for this is that in a typical supply chain there will be many B2B transactions involving sub components or raw materials, and only one B2C transaction, specifically sale of the finished product to the end customer. For example, an automobile manufacturer makes several B2B transactions such as buying tires, glass for windscreens, and rubber hoses for its vehicles. The final transaction, a finished vehicle sold to the consumer, is a single (B2C) transaction.

B2B is also used in the context of communication and collaboration. Many businesses are now using social media to connect with their consumers (B2C); however, they are now using similar tools within the business so employees can connect with one another. When communication is taking place amongst employees, this can be referred to as “B2B” communication.