B2C commerce
B2C commerce is a business selling to individual consumers. The term describes the buyer relationship, not a particular shop technology.
Understanding individual consumers as the buyers
B2C commerce means business-to-consumer trade: a business sells goods or services to individual consumers for their personal needs. The seller can be a manufacturer or a retailer; sales can happen online or in a physical shop. The classification describes the relationship with the buyer. A low order value, a fast checkout or particular software is not a prerequisite. A business can also supply other businesses alongside this activity.
A fictional sports shop sells backpacks from several brands. A customer buys a backpack for private hiking trips through the intended guest-order process. The workflow needs appropriate contact and delivery information; a company account with an internal purchasing reference would not be a necessary step in this case. A planned review would check whether the order can be completed clearly without such irrelevant mandatory fields. If the same shop is also to serve business customers, their different accounts and workflows would need deliberate planning rather than being imposed on every individual customer.
Sources
Related terms
- E-commerceE-commerce describes trade through digital ordering channels. Payment and delivery need not take place online as well.
- B2B commerceB2B commerce is trade between businesses. Digital workflows need to connect the company, ordering person and applicable terms correctly.
- Direct-to-consumerD2C is a brand’s direct sale to consumers. Shop and ERP integrations must distinguish sales channel, customer type and access rules.
- Delivery capabilityDelivery capability describes whether a specific request can be fulfilled. A stock value alone does not fully answer questions of quantity, destination and time.
- Order historyOrder history shows previous orders within an agreed account scope. Old prices, current availability and current processing remain separate information.
- Dealer portalA dealer portal gives affiliated dealers digital access to agreed information and workflows. Its scope and company assignment need to be clear.
Articles on this topic
E-Commerce with ASES
Online shops, marketplaces and B2B portals