Business-to-business (B2B) is a term commonly used to describe commerce transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as business and individual consumers (B2C) or business and government (B2G).
B2B is also commonly used as an adjective to describe any activity, be it B2B Marketing, sales, or e-commerece, that occurs between businesses and other businesses rather than between businesses and consumers. Similar to B2B, B2G is often meant to refer to B2G Marketing.
The volume of B2B 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 component or raw materials but only one B2C transaction, because the sale of the finished product to the end customer is only a single transaction.
An example of a B2B transaction is an automobile manufacturer buying tires for its vehicles. The additional purchases of glass for the windows, paint, and steel would all be additional B2B transactions. The final transaction, a finished vehicle being sold to the consumer, would be considered a (B2C) transaction.
Beginning in November through December 1999 and into January and February 2000 there were a lot of newspaper and magazine reports, offline and online about B2B being the new focus of e-business and how this area would grow very fast.
We can find many newspaper articles about B2B issues and many of them include projections as to how big the market will grow - which may not be meaningful since since whether it is $5 trillion or $7 trillion - it's still a lot of money
In the following space, you will find separate articles on B2B at three separate times from E-commerce Times. Each story has a different perspective on B2B. Why?
WTGR
"The Stamford, Connecticut-based GartnerGroup sees the online B2B market reaching seven percent of a predicted $105 trillion in total global sales transactions.... The study reports that companies who develop B2B marketplaces -- so-called "e-market makers" -- will be a key
driving force for B2B e-commerce."
"A nationwide poll of U.S. industrial firms shows that most are not engaging in extensive business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, according to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). .. The study echoed a recent report from Deloitte and Touche showing that 70 percent of U.S. retailers lack a cohesive e-commerce strategy."
"No one questions the importance of B2B e-commerce, yet relatively few manufacturers are participating in it," said NAM president Jerry Jasinowski.
Jasinowski added
"our survey shows that most manufacturing companies are still at a rather basic level when it comes to integrating the Web into their corporate business activities. While 80 percent claim they have a Web site, the vast majority offer only an information storefront."
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