What Is B2C?

B2C definition

The term B2C (business-to-consumer) represents the process in which a business sells products or services directly to consumers, who are the end-users. It’s a type of commerce transaction.

The companies that sell products or services directly to consumers are called B2C companies. For example, in the past, this term referred to people who bought clothes for themselves from the store, or who dined at a restaurant.

But nowadays, B2C is about online selling of products or services – businesses are selling their products to consumers through the internet.

Other types of e-commerce categories

There are four categories of e-commerce: B2C (business-to-consumer), B2B (business to business), C2C (customer to customer), and C2B (customer to business). B2C is the most popular. It became well-known in the 1990s.

For any B2C business, it is crucial to keep good relations with their customers because otherwise, they will not come back. So you have to be aware that the consumer relationship is an essential element.

Types of online B2C business models

There are five types of online B2C business models:

• direct sellers (the most common model – people buy products/services from online retailers),
• online intermediaries (they don’t own products/services, they are the ones that put buyers and sellers together),
• advertising-based B2C (this type of business model uses free content in order to bring visitors to a website),
• community-based B2C ( businesses that build online communities to help marketers promote their products/services directly to consumers – Facebook, for example),
• fee-based B2C (which refers to direct-to-consumer websites that take a fee in order to give consumers access to their content).

What is B2C marketing?

We can also talk about B2C marketing (business-to-consumer marketing), which represents all the tactics and strategies that companies use to promote their products or services to consumers.

Generally, B2C transactions are more impulsive and spontaneous, consumers are looking for products or services that are based on an immediate need, so they buy them more quickly. In order to be successful, B2C campaigns have to create an emotional reaction.