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B2B e-commerce, short for business-to-business electronic commerce, is the sale of goods or services between businesses via an online sales portal. In general, it is used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a company's sales efforts. Instead of receiving orders using human assets (sales reps) manually – by telephone or e-mail – orders are received digitally, reducing overhead costs. [1]
B2B and B2C e-commerce may look the same, but they are quite different. Business buyers and retail consumers have different purchasing needs. [2] The differences can be:
Supply chains are more important to B2B transactions. Manufacturing companies obtain components or raw materials from other companies and then sell to a wholesaler, distributor, or retail 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. [3] Wholesalers and distributors still have a supply chain, but their chain consists of finished products.
Generally, B2B and B2C web stores both have search, navigation, detailed product information and personal account history pages. However, in some ways, B2B greatly differs from B2C. Most B2B businesses have complex ordering processes, large collections of attributes and elaborate back-end systems. Moreover, in a B2B scenario, buying is part of the customers’ jobs. He needs to make sure he buys all the necessary products or components for keeping his company up and running. Thirdly, since organizations can be very large, they need a lot of products or components to keep their business going. Therefore, B2B buyers often place large orders. B2B purchases are also characterized by recurring orders instead of single purchases. Because of that, companies make deals based on their monthly or even yearly demand. They closely collaborate, and each B2B customer can have specific prices for certain products. Lastly, multiple people are involved in B2B purchases. For instance, a company can have multiple buyers or buying centres. They are responsible for finding the right products and making the right deal with resellers. Because multiple people are involved in a single deal, B2B is more fact-based instead of based on emotions. It's not about the nicest packaging, but the best deal for the company. In general, the ratio is leading.
The characteristics mentioned above can be summarized as follows:
B2C | B2B |
---|---|
Single buyer | Multiple Decision Makers |
Fixed consumer prices | Customer specific prices |
Direct payments | Payment on credit sales |
Stocks (for a.s.a.p shipments) | Smart shipments (i.e. truckloads) |
Low frequency purchases | Reoccurring purchases |
Single visits | Long-lasting relationship between customer and manufacturer |
Buying because you like it | Buying as part of the job |
Consumer | Buyers as part of an organization with a relationship defined by a contract, terms and conditions |
B2B transactions can be processed online in various ways, of which Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and B2B e-commerce is most often used. Although EDI and B2B e-commerce both have their own, distinctive features, they are frequently confused. [4]
EDI is the electronic transfer of purchasing information between the buyer and seller. EDI transmits the information from the buyer's purchase order to the seller's sales or customer service department for conversion to a sales order. EDI is well suited for placing large, recurring orders to supply raw materials to manufacturers. [5] For instance, following the example above, an automobile manufacturer regularly needs to order a specific brand and size of tires for a certain car model. When manufacturing a certain number of that type of car, the buyers can use EDI to place an order for the number of tires needed. So, the seller need not worry about providing product information – like a description, images, or pricing –for reordering purposes. [6]
Although, like EDI, sales orders are processed online, with B2B customers can order occasionally and in irregular order quantities. Also, B2B e-commerce enables the display of many different types of detailed figures and images. It is possible to exhibit a full range of products or parts. Therefore, a web store provides the opportunity to cross- and upsell. [5]
The B2B e-commerce market is growing rapidly. In 2014, 63% of industrial supplies buyers made their purchases online. The US market was projected to grow from $780 billion in 2015 to $1.1 trillion by 2020, [7] but recent data suggests that it is even larger. In 2022, just over 10% of B2B product sales, totaling $1.676 trillion, were made through e-commerce websites. This growth trend is expected to continue strongly until at least t 2026. [8] The European Union Enterprise policy aims to "enhance trust and confidence" in B2B electronic markets. [9]
In the US, B2B e-commerce is expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2023. [10] This growth is being driven by a number of factors, including the increasing adoption of cloud computing, the growth of mobile commerce, and the rising demand for end-to-end supply chain solutions.
The phrase mobile commerce was originally coined in 1997 by Kevin Duffey at the launch of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum, to mean "the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer's hand, anywhere, via wireless technology." [11] Mobile e-commerce for B2B is becoming increasingly popular.[ citation needed ] B2B has features different from mobile e-commerce for B2C.[ citation needed ] Whereas B2C is mostly classic catalogue browsing, mobile e-commerce for B2B requires specific features, which include:[ citation needed ]
E-commerce is the activity of electronically buying or selling products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. E-commerce is the largest sector of the electronics industry and is in turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor industry.
Marketing is the act of satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce.
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. A period during which goods are sold for a reduced price may also be referred to as a "sale".
Electronic business is any kind of business or commercial transaction that includes sharing information across the internet. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, groups, and individuals and can be seen as one of the essential activities of any business.
Disintermediation is the removal of intermediaries in economics from a supply chain, or "cutting out the middlemen" in connection with a transaction or a series of transactions. Instead of going through traditional distribution channels, which had some type of intermediary, companies may now deal with customers directly, for example via the Internet.
Database marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses databases of customers or potential customers to generate personalized communications in order to promote a product or service for marketing purposes. The method of communication can be any addressable medium, as in direct marketing.
A purchase order, often abbreviated to PO, is a commercial document issued by a buyer to a seller, indicating types, quantities, and agreed prices for products or services required. It is used to control the purchasing of products and services from external suppliers. Purchase orders can be an essential part of enterprise resource planning system orders.
Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the retailer directly or by searching among alternative vendors using a shopping search engine, which displays the same product's availability and pricing at different e-retailers. As of 2020, customers can shop online using a range of different computers and devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones.
Business-to-business is a situation where one business makes a commercial transaction with another. This typically occurs when:
Business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or organizations. It allows them to sell products or services to other companies or organizations, who either resell them, use them in their products or services, or use them to support their work.
Guided selling is a process that helps potential buyers of products or services to choose the product best fulfilling their needs and hopefully guides the buyer to buy. It also helps vendors of products to actively guide their customers to a buying decision and thus increases their conversion rate.
Consumer-to-business (C2B) is a business model in which consumers (individuals) create value and businesses consume that value. For example, when a consumer writes reviews or when a consumer gives a useful idea for new product development then that consumer is creating value for the business if the business adopts the input. In the C2B model, a reverse auction or demand collection model, enables buyers to name or demand their own price, which is often binding, for a specific good or service. Inside of a consumer to business market the roles involved in the transaction must be established and the consumer must offer something of value to the business.
Business-to-employee (B2E) electronic commerce uses an intrabusiness network which allows companies to provide products and/or services to their employees. Typically, companies use B2E networks to automate employee-related corporate processes. B2E portals have to be compelling to the people who use them. Companies are competing for eyeballs of their employees with eBay, Yahoo and thousands of other web sites. A huge percentage of traffic to consumer web sites comes from people who are connecting to the net at the office.
In a supply chain, a vendor, supplier, provider or a seller, is an enterprise that contributes goods or services. Generally, a supply chain vendor manufactures inventory/stock items and sells them to the next link in the chain. Today, these terms refer to a supplier of any goods or service. In property sales, the vendor is the name given to the seller of the property.
Customer to customer markets provide a way to allow customers to interact with each other. Traditional markets require business to customer relationships, in which a customer goes to the business in order to purchase a product or service. In customer to customer markets, the business facilitates an environment where customers can sell goods or services to each other. Other types of markets include business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C).
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce or eCommerce, or e-business consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with widespread Internet usage. The use of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.
Sterling Commerce was a software and services company providing Omni-Channel Commerce, B2B including Electronic data interchange (EDI) translation software and one of the first B2B Integration platforms and managed file transfer ("MFT") products such as Connect:Direct. Sterling Commerce was headquartered near Columbus, Ohio in Dublin, Ohio. SBC Communications acquired Sterling Commerce, then SBC merged with AT&T, who sold Sterling Commerce to IBM. Sterling Commerce's Columbus, Ohio campus is now an IBM facility.
E-commerce or electric commerce in Southeast Asia is the buying and selling of products and services over the internet in the countries of Southeast Asia. These practices reached Southeast Asia during the dot-com mania in the 1990s. After the dot-com bust, local e-companies have seen promising growth in this sector.
There are many types of e-commerce models, based on market segmentation, that can be used to conducted business online. The 6 types of business models that can be used in e-commerce include: Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Consumer-to-Business (C2B), Business-to-Business (B2B), Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C), Business-to-Administration (B2A), and Consumer-to-Administration
Pakistan's e-trading mainly involves buying and selling goods, and services using internet or telephone, through the use of electronic means such as computer, fax machine, cellular phone, automated teller machines (ATMs), and other electronic appliances with or without using the internet. Online banking, e-tickets, share trading in stock exchange are few examples of e-commerce of modern advancement. The unique feature of online trading is that an investor logging in from anywhere, can conduct transactions with nearly any device, via the internet. Inexperienced Traders are also able to familiarize themselves with helpful investment tools, which are widely available on the internet.