B2B and B2C are two very common terms in business and marketing. So, what is B2B? What is B2C? What is the difference between B2B and B2C? Readers, please follow the following article by Ms. Uptalent to see.

1- B2B economic model

B2B stands for “Business to Business”, which means “Business and business”. It is a term used to refer to a form of business and business-to-business trading. In particular, commercial transactions between two companies may be transactions between suppliers and manufacturers, manufacturers and wholesalers or wholesalers and retailers.

Currently, the B2B model is favored by many companies due to the various advantages, guarantees and exceptional efficiency they enjoy. However, to achieve consistent sales performance, managers must establish an effective and self-evolving sales process. In this process, salespeople can close deals based on pre-established frameworks.

2- B2C economic model

B2C stands for “Business to Customer”. B2C can be understood as transactions between businesses and customers. In particular, the target customers of this form are individual buyers.

Basically, this model can be applied to any business aiming to provide products and services directly to consumers.

Compared to B2B, decision making in B2C is quite simple. Because transactions do not involve multiple people and only have to go through one step. Additionally, B2C has a fairly large target market, you will need to serve millions of consumers. Therefore, you need to make an effort to turn “buyers” into “buyers”.

3 to 9 differences between B2B and B2C

Both B2B and B2C are important forms of business for businesses. Therefore, understanding the difference between these two models will help you implement effective sales activities and achieve your company’s sales goals.

Here are the points that show the differences between B2B and B2C:

3.1- Target customers

For B2B, the main customers are companies and businesses, they buy products to create other products or resell. B2C customers are consumers, they buy goods to use them.

The difference in customers requires companies to have a form of marketing adapted to each economic model. Specifically, with B2B you will need to focus on the decision maker, while with B2C you will need to focus on finding consumer tastes and satisfying their needs.

3.2- Negotiation and transaction process

To sell to businesses (B2B model), you will need to carry out a series of actions including negotiating prices, delivery methods and determining product specifications and specifications. Meanwhile, with B2C – selling to consumers, you won’t have to do all of the above.

This is why retailers easily put their catalogs of products and services on the Internet and open an online supermarket. At the same time, this is also the reason why the first e-commerce applications were only about complete products with simple features and easy pricing.

>>>> You are interested in: What is B2C? Discover the B2C economic model

3.3- Integration problems

B2C companies will not have to integrate their systems with customers. Meanwhile, B2B companies need to integrate their systems with purchasing companies to ensure their systems can communicate with each other without human intervention.

3.4- Marketing process

Since B2B and B2C have different customers, the marketing process will also be different.

Specifically, B2C customers are interested in product benefits. So, when doing marketing, businesses should emphasize benefits, experience, sales closing techniques, and sales techniques. Meanwhile, B2B customers not only care about benefits, but also about brand reputation and long-term relationships, so in addition to improving sales techniques, businesses also need to focus on building brand reputation and customer relations.

If you are not clearly aware of the differences between B2B and B2C customers, you will not be able to implement effective marketing activities. You can even waste budget or lose customers by implementing a poor marketing strategy.

3.5- Sales process

In general, the purchasing process of the B2B model will be more complicated than that of the B2C model. Here are 3 main differences in the sales process of these two models:

First, the characteristics

+ With B2C:

Product directed

Maximize transaction value

Large target market

Step-by-step buying process, shorter sales cycle

Brand recognition is created through repetition and imagery

Merchandise and focus on purchasing activities

Purchasing decisions are emotional, based on desires, circumstances or price

+ With B2B:

High-profile relationships

Maximize relationship value

The target market is small and focused

Multi-step buying process, longer sales cycle

Brand recognition is created by personal relationships

Activities build awareness and understanding

Purchasing decisions are rational and based on economic value

Second, the objective

+ With B2C: The goal of B2C is to convert visitors to a store or website into buyers.

+ With B2B: Like B2C, the goal of B2B is also to convert prospects into customers. However, this process often takes longer and is more complicated.

Third, approach

+ With B2C: Businesses will use a series of activities to encourage customers to purchase products such as coupons, product displays (in-store and online), offers,…, to attract customers. The activities will only take place for a short time, so you need to quickly get customers interested in the product.

+ With B2B: Businesses will need to focus on relationship building and promotion through marketing activities such as email, telephone, website, sales staff, etc., during the sales cycle.

3.6- Order value and number of potential customers

With the B2B model, companies often sell to other companies, so the order value is always higher than with B2C. However, in terms of number of customers, the B2C model has a larger number of potential customers. Therefore, in the B2B model, creating a source of potential customers is very important.

3.7- Duration of the sales cycle

This is a clear difference between B2B and B2C models. While B2B has a sales cycle that lasts from one to several months, or even up to a year, B2C takes place in a very short period of time. Advertising messages and images will be continually updated to promote purchasing decisions and generate revenue for businesses.

3.8- Decision-making process

Targeting different B2B and B2C customers also makes the decision-making process of each model different.

+ With B2C: customers in the B2C model will make purchasing decisions as soon as they believe that the product meets their needs and provides them with benefits.

+ With B2B: B2B customers care about many factors such as the usefulness of the product, its suitability, its price and the reputation of the supplier. Therefore, the decision-making process of B2B customers is based on reason, must go through many approval stages, and is influenced by many topics. Sometimes the person who transacts with you regularly isn’t necessarily the person who makes the purchasing decision.

3.9- Customer needs

While B2B addresses specific customer needs, B2C focuses on solving basic customer needs.

In short, the main difference between B2B and B2C is how they influence customer emotions when making a purchase. If individual customers buy based on comfort and quality, business customers want to increase profits and reduce costs.

Therefore, if your business follows the B2B model, you should focus on marketing programs and materials that help customers determine product value in order to make purchasing decisions. On the contrary, if your business applies the B2C model, you must create attractive materials, improve the experience, product quality at a good price to motivate customers to buy.

Hopefully, through the information in the article, readers will have a better understanding of B2B and B2C. At the same time, you also recognize the difference between B2B and B2C so that you can have a marketing strategy tailored to each business model. Good luck!

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