INTRODUCTION

E-COMMERCE

E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity

of electronically buying or selling of 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 in
turn driven by the technological advances of the semiconductor
industry, and is the largest sector of the electronics industry.

What Is Electronic Commerce (Ecommerce)?

Electronic commerce (ecommerce) refers to companies and

individuals that buy and sell goods and services over the Internet.
Ecommerce operates in different types of market segments and can
be conducted over computers, tablets, smartphones, and other smart
devices. Nearly every imaginable product and service is available
through ecommerce transactions, including books, music, plane
tickets, and financial services such as stock investing and online
banking. As such, it is considered a very disruptive technology

Understanding Ecommerce
As noted above, ecommerce is the process of buying and selling
tangible products and services online. It involves more than one party
along with the exchange of data or currency to process a transaction.
It is part of the greater industry that is known as electronic business
(ebusiness), which involves all of the processes required to run a
company online.

Ecommerce has helped businesses (especially those with a narrow

reach like small businesses) gain access to and establish a wider
market presence by providing cheaper and more efficient distribution
channels for their products or services. Target (TGT) supplemented
its brick-and-mortar presence with an online store that allows
customers to purchase everything from clothes and coffeemakers to
toothpaste and action figures right from their homes.

Providing goods and services isn't as easy as it may seem. It requires

a lot of research about the products and services you wish to sell, the
market, audience, competition, as well as expected business costs.

Once that's determined, you need to come up with a name and set up
a legal structure, such as a corporation. Next, set up an ecommerce
site with a payment gateway. For instance, a small business owner
who runs a dress shop can set up a website promoting their clothing
and other related products online and allow customers to make
payments with a credit card or through a payment processing service,
such as PayPal.

Special Considerations

Ecommerce has changed the way people shop and consume products
and services. More and more people are turning to their computers
and smart devices to order goods, which can easily be delivered to
their homes. As such, it has disrupted the retail landscape. Amazon
and Alibaba have gained considerable popularity, forcing traditional
retailers to make changes to the way they do business.

But that's not all. Not to be outdone, individual sellers have

increasingly engaged in ecommerce transactions via their own
personal websites. And digital marketplaces such as eBay or Etsy
serve as exchanges where multitudes of buyers and sellers come
together to conduct business.

History of Ecommerce

Most of us have shopped online for something at some point, which

means we've taken part in ecommerce. So it goes without saying that
ecommerce is everywhere. But very few people may know that
ecommerce has a history that goes back before the internet began.

Ecommerce actually goes back to the 1960s when companies used an

electronic system called the Electronic Data Interchange to facilitate
the transfer of documents. It wasn't until 1994 that the very first
transaction. took place. This involved the sale of a CD between
friends through an online retail website called NetMarket.

The industry has gone through so many changes since then, resulting
in a great deal of evolution. Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers
were forced to embrace new technology in order to stay afloat as
companies like Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, and Etsy became household
names. These companies created a virtual marketplace for goods and
services that consumers can easily access.

New technology continues to make it easier for people to do their

online shopping. People can connect with businesses through
smartphones and other devices and by downloading apps to make
purchases. The introduction of free shipping, which reduces costs for
consumers, has also helped increase the popularity of the ecommerce
industry.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Ecommerce

Ecommerce offers consumers the following advantages:

Convenience: Ecommerce can occur 24 hours a day, seven days a

week. Although ecommerce may take a lot of work, it is still possible
to generate sales as you sleep or earn revenue while you are away
from your store.

Increased selection: Many stores offer a wider array of products

online than they carry in their brick-and-mortar counterparts. And
many stores that solely exist online may offer consumers exclusive
inventory that is unavailable elsewhere.

Potentially lower start-up cost: Ecommerce companies may require a

warehouse or manufacturing site, but they usually don't need a
physical storefront. The cost to operate digitally is often less
expensive than needing to pay rent, insurance, building maintenance,
and property taxes.

International sales: As long as an ecommerce store can ship to the

customer, an ecommerce company can sell to anyone in the world
and isn't limited by physical geography.

Easier to retarget customers: as customers browse a digital storefront,

it is easier to entice their attention towards placed advertisements,
directed marketing campaigns, or pop-ups specifically aimed at a
purpose.

But there are certain drawbacks that come with ecommerce sites, too.
The disadvantages include:

Limited customer service: If you shop online for a computer, you

cannot simply ask an employee to demonstrate a particular model's
features in person. And although some websites let you chat online
with a staff member, this is not a typical practice.
Lack of instant gratification: When you buy an item online, you must
wait for it to be shipped to your home or office. However, e-tailers
like Amazon make the waiting game a little bit less painful by
offering same-day delivery as a premium option for select products.

Inability to touch products: Online images do not necessarily convey

the whole story about an item, and so ecommerce purchases can be
unsatisfying when the products received do not match consumer
expectations. Case in point: an item of clothing may be made from
shoddier fabric than its online image indicates.

Reliance on technology: If your website crashes, garners an

overwhelming amount of traffic, or must be temporarily taken down
for any reason, your business is effectively closed until the
ecommerce storefront is back.

Higher competition: Although the low barrier to entry regarding low

cost is an advantage, this means other competitors can easily enter
the market. Ecommerce companies must have mindful marketing
strategies and remain diligent on SEO optimization to ensure they
maintain a digital presence.
Business-to-business

Business-to-business (B2B or, in some countries, BtoB) is a situation

where one business makes a commercial transaction with another.
This typically occurs when:

A business is sourcing materials for their production process for

output (e.g., a food manufacturer purchasing salt), i.e. providing raw
material to the other company that will produce output.

A business needs the services of another for operational reasons (e.g.,

a food manufacturer employing an accountancy firm to audit their
finances).

A business re-sells goods and services produced by others (e.g., a

retailer buying the end product from the food manufacturer).

B2B is often contrasted with business-to-consumer (B2C). In B2B

commerce, it is often the case that the parties to the relationship have
comparable negotiating power, and even when they do not, each
party typically involves professional staff and legal counsel in the
negotiation of terms, whereas B2C is shaped to a far greater degree
by economic implications of information asymmetry. However,
within a B2B context, large companies may have many commercial,
resource and information advantages over smaller businesses. The
United Kingdom government, for example, created the post of Small
Business Commissioner under the Enterprise Act 2016 to "enable
small businesses to resolve disputes" and "consider complaints by
small business suppliers about payment issues with larger businesses
that they supply."
Business-to-Business companies represent a significant part of the
United States economy. This is especially true in firms of 500
employees and above, of which there were 19,464 in 2015,[2] where
it is estimated that as many as 72% are businesses that primarily
serve other businesses.

Business to business model

Vertical B2B model

Vertical B2B is generally oriented to manufacturing or business. It

can be divided into two directions: upstream and downstream.
Producers or commercial retailers can have a supply relationship with
upstream suppliers, including manufacturers, and form a sales
relationship.[9] As an example, Dell works with upstream suppliers
of integrated circuit microchips and computer printed circuit boards
(PCBs).

A vertical B2B website can be similar to the enterprise's online

store.[9] Through the website, the company can promote its products
vigorously, more efficiently and more comprehensively which
enriches transactions as they help their customers understand their
products well. Or, the website can be created for business, where the
seller advertises their products to promote and expand transactions.

Horizontal B2B model

Horizontal B2B is the transaction pattern for the intermediate trading

market. It concentrates similar transactions of various industries into
one place, as it provides a trading opportunity for the purchaser and
supplier, typically involving companies that do not own the products
and do not sell the products. It is merely a platform to bring sellers
and purchasers together online.[10] The better platforms help buyers
easily find information about the sellers and the relevant information
about the products via the website.

Understanding Business-to-Business (B2B)

Business-to-business transactions are common in a typical supply

chain, as companies purchase components and products such as other
raw materials for use in the manufacturing processes. Finished
products can then be sold to individuals via business-to-consumer
transactions.

In the context of communication, business-to-business refers to

methods by which employees from different companies can connect
with one another, such as through social media. This type of
communication between the employees of two or more companies is
called B2B communication.

Special Considerations
Business-to-business transactions require planning to be successful.
Such transactions rely on a company’s account management
personnel to establish business client relationships. Business-to-
business relationships must also be nurtured, typically through
professional interactions prior to sales, for successful transactions to
take place.

Traditional marketing practices also help businesses connect with

business clients. Trade publications aid in this effort, offering
businesses opportunities to advertise in print and online. A business’s
presence at conferences and trade shows also builds awareness of the
products and services it provides to other businesses.

Example of Business-to-Business (B2B)

Business-to-business transactions and large corporate accounts are
commonplace for firms in manufacturing. Samsung, for example, is
one of Apple's largest suppliers in the production of the iPhone.
Apple also holds B2B relationships with firms like Intel, Panasonic
and semiconductor producer Micron Technology.

B2B transactions are also the backbone of the automobile industry.

Many vehicle components are manufactured independently, and auto
manufacturers purchase these parts to assemble automobiles. Tires,
batteries, electronics, hoses and door locks, for example, are usually
manufactured by various companies and sold directly to automobile
manufacturers.

Service providers also engage in B2B transactions. Companies

specializing in property management, housekeeping, and industrial
clean-up, for example, often sell these services exclusively to other
businesses, rather than individual consumers.

B2B e-commerce
Late in 2018, Forrester said the B2B e-commerce market topped
$1.134 trillion—above the $954 billion it had projected for 2018 in a
forecast released in 2017. That's roughly 12% of the total $9 trillion
in total US B2B sales for the year. They expect this percentage to
climb to 17% by 2023. The internet provides a robust environment in
which businesses can find out about products and services and lay the
groundwork for future business-to-business transactions.

Company websites allow interested parties to learn about a business's

products and services and initiate contact. Online product and supply
exchange websites allow businesses to search for products and
services and initiate procurement through e-procurement interfaces.
Specialized online directories providing information about particular
industries, companies and the products and services they provide also
facilitate B2B transactions.
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.

B2B buyer characteristics

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.[4] 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 the customers’ job. He needs to make sure he
buys all 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 with each other, and
each B2B customer can have its 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,

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.

Smart shipments (i.e., truckloads)
shipments)

Low frequency
Reoccurring purchases
purchases

Single visits Long lasting relationship between customer and manufacturer

Buying because you like

Buying as part of the job
it

Buyers as part of an organization with a relationship defined by a contract,

Consumer
terms and conditions

ratio is leading.
The characteristics mentioned above can be summarized as follows:
B2B marketing strategies.
There are multiple approaches to achieving these goals through B2B
marketing.

Paid social. To build awareness of your offerings, you can place

sponsored posts on social media channels.

Organic media. A strong voice on business-focused social media

platforms like LinkedIn can help you position yourself as an expert in
your industry.

Paid search. You can place ads on search engines that highlight your
products and services when buyers search for relevant terms.

Organic search. By designing web pages that target SEO terms that
your buyers are likely to search for, you can attract them to your site
and educate them about your offering.

Content marketing. Blogs, thought leadership, eBooks and product

tutorials can boost SEO, build brand awareness and help your
customers evaluate products.

The benefits of B2B marketing.

If you’re at the very start of your B2B marketing journey, you might
still be evaluating its merits. Make no mistake, a detailed, productive
B2B marketing strategy requires effort and commitment — but it’s
worth it.

There are several benefits of introducing a B2B marketing strategy,

including:

Build awareness. Businesses and potential clients need to know who

you are, what you can deliver, and how they can work with you
Generate leads. One of the major benefits of B2B marketing is to
generate leads, and a comprehensive strategy can put you in front of
prospective buyers. Word of mouth tactics have a limited ceiling.

Drive traffic. Marketing content, hosted on your own website as well

as on influential third-party websites such as LinkedIn, will help to
drive traffic towards your business.

Improve your rankings. if potential buyers search for support from a

business like yours online, will they find you? Will your business
rank high enough, when it comes to organic search? If you’re not
even in the top 10-20 search results returned, your chances of
engaging are low. Effective content marketing can improve your
search rankings and, in turn, your visibility.

Reduce customer churn by building relationships. It can be counter-

productive chasing new leads and new business all the time. An
effective B2B marketing strategy can help to establish you as one of
the experts in your field, helping to establish long-lasting
relationships with clients.

Provides great customer insight. A B2B digital marketing strategy

can provide superb insight into how other business interact with you.
What’s the most read content on your site? How are business
engaging with your strategies?

Case Study (B2B Marketing

Campaigns by IBM)

IBM is one of the oldest and largest computer companies in the

world. And while its history is checkered with successes and failures
— not to mention at least one near-death experience — it’s always
bounced back. So how does a big B2B company continue to succeed,
even when they’re down on their luck?
They used clever, carefully-planned marketing campaigns every step
of the way. These are three of IBM’s biggest marketing triumphs that
have helped the company keep its doors open for more than a
century.

#1. Watson on Jeopardy

You may have heard of Watson, IBM’s supercomputer named after

the company’s founder, Thomas J. Watson. The supercomputer
project flew under the pop culture radar until 2011, when IBM
announced that it’d play Jeopardy against two of the game’s former
champions, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings.

You can check out the first round below.

Not only did Watson play, it won — and by a huge margin. The
supercomputer won $1 million total, which IBM split in half and
donated to two charities. But the surprising part about the game
wasn’t just Watson’s victory — it was how quickly the machine
calculated answers to questions and stated them in colloquial English.

With that kind of power, it’s not surprising that there was more to
Watson than the column that IBM set up for the game show. Its brain
was much, much larger than that. Although today, it can pretty much
fit in a desk drawer.

So why did IBM launch a huge marketing campaign about their

supercomputer playing a gameshow?

The results

Watson’s appearance on Jeopardy made it an instant celebrity. IBM

wanted their initial investment to pay off eventually, and it did.
Watson has found a home in healthcare.

It serves as a lung cancer specialist and an expert in the incredibly-

complicated insurance niche of utilization management. As a lung
care specialist, it pulls on huge stores of historical data to show
nurses and doctors different degrees of confidence in a decision about
lung cancer. It can interpret symptoms and recommend drugs.

It’s so accurate that — according to IBM — 90% of nurses who use

Watson take its advice. In utilization management cases, Watson
provides accurate advice roughly 90% of the time. Best of all,
Watson’s cloud connection allows it to store and share data with
other “instances” of itself, meaning that hospitals with Watson can
automatically store and share data to improve patient care.

Watson isn’t the room-sized computer you saw above, either. IBM’s
computer scientists have improved Watson over the past few years,
and it’s now smaller and faster than ever. Today, the supercomputer
is the size of three stacked pizza boxes, and it can easily fit in a
company’s server room.

For IBM, Watson is the future. And it could very well be the future
of institutionalized medicine, too. Because of that, it’s already started
earning IBM a fortune, and it’ll probably continue over the next few
decades.

What they did right

IBM made Watson famous before the supercomputer was even ready
for regular work. Then, they optimized Watson for B2B applications
— specifically, healthcare and insurance. And now, they’re
expanding Watson’s capabilities for additional industries.

IBM followed a simple formula of creating an innovative product

(Watson), promoting it by accomplishing a world-wide first (a
computer winning Jeopardy), and orienting it to clients who needed
the product’s power the most (healthcare providers). While executing
this plan took years, the overall approach couldn’t be more textbook.
Make something new, promote it, and sell it.

#2. Smarter Planet

Smarter Planet is a sprawling marketing campaign that’s designed to

promote technology and data interconnection throughout the world.
The campaign is focused on technology and how it can help people
around the world. This encouragement and collection of new ideas is
similar to TED talks, but controlled entirely by IBM.

This is a massive campaign for any company, and it probably

wouldn’t work for smaller companies just based on its sheer size. But
the smartest part about this campaign is that it can attract the
attention of a wide audience. Still, the company is focused on its
primary customer base: Other businesses.

The main page for Smarter Planet highlights nine industries where
businesses can use their technology, which just so happen to be
goldmines of potential clients.

Essentially, Smarter Planet is an effective way of promoting IBM’s

ideology among consumers and appealing to new clients at the same
time, making it an excellent overall campaign. But can such a huge,
sweeping, generalized program actually deliver results?

The results
From a production standpoint, the results of this campaign include an
incredible quantity of high-quality content, like IBM’s Wild Ducks
podcast. From a communications standpoint, the results of this
campaign include speeches, interviews, op-eds, advocacy, and general
discussion. And from a business standpoint, Smarter Planet has been
paying off for years.

IBM started the initiative in 2008, and in 2011 they achieved a 16-
year high in revenue: $106.92 billion. So for five straight years, IBM
enjoyed a huge increase in revenue. And revenue isn’t even the
CEO’s top priority.

What they did right

IBM established one of the largest, most inclusive marketing
campaigns that the world has ever seen. They drew in potential clients
by creating and publishing high-quality content tailored to specific
industries and showed those industries how their technology could
help. Every kind of content they showed discussed positive results —
or the potential for positive results — of IBM’s involvement with a
company, government, or non-profit organization.

That made the campaign a hybrid of corporate initiative, content

marketing, charity work, and brand building, just to name a few.
Overall, IBM went big — really big — but still maintained its focus
on its primary clients. The fact that it led into some of IBM’s best
years (in terms of revenue) speaks worlds about its success.
 FINDINGS
Business to business services (b2b) is considered as the latest
trend of growing business through technological advancements. The
technology and business concepts are evolving rapidly with the
industrial developments. New ways of doing business and new market
opportunities are getting identified each day in the modern business
world. Business to business (b2b) services are one such improvement
in the business concepts. It can be identified as a form of transaction
between businesses where the goods or services will be transferred
from one business to another business with the intention of reselling
or manufacturing process.Business to business (b2b) services can be
commonly seen in supply chain management business where the
companies purchase products such as raw material and other
components for their manufacturing process. This is done with the
intention of selling the finished products to the end customer through
the b2c (business to consumer) method. The business to business
(b2b) method allows organizations to communicate and collaborate
with many other organizations for the fulfillment of the requirements
in the production process. Unlike the b2c companies who sell to
consumers directly and c2b companies, business to business (b2b)
services has an entirely different target audience for their products.
They usually aim at the organizations in the manufacturing business
and offer finished parts that are used to manufacture products, raw
materials, services, and consultation services. The business
opportunities provided by the business to business (b2b) services
allow the business organizations to expand the customer reach
without limiting it to a small segment. Business to business marketing
strategy creates a way for businesses to widen their audience. The use
of technological advancements and the frequent use of the internet
allows businesses to engage with the customers and reach the
potential customer bases in a wide range of possibilities. Use of the e-
commerce as the key method of expanding b2b services has become
the latest trend as it creates many new opportunities for business
expansion.The possibility of selling the products and services to a
manufacturing company and the possibility of purchasing the raw
material from a constant supplier can create favorable business
situations for both the selling company and the buying company. It
creates easy and profitable business relationships and helps each
business to grow rapidly as there are no disruptions in buying and
selling between the businesses. This business-to-business (b2b)
partnership allows the businesses even to create an impact on the
market if necessary in terms of product and price controls. Business to
business market can create an impact on customer buying behavior. It
can create a trend by making an impact on the market. This is a way
of creating an image of necessity in the customer’s minds about the
company. With the increasing use of the internet, social media, email,
telecommunication systems, and other customer-oriented platforms,
the b2b companies can create a trend and create the product as a
necessity in the customer habits. Through this, the product becomes a
niche in the market and the consumers believe that they must
purchase the product. When there is a constant buyer for a product or
a service, it helps the business to reduce their acquiring costs as well
as many other fixed costs. In the same way, if there is a constant
supplier of raw materials or consultancy services, the buying
company has less burden on finding new suppliers. Apart from that,
the b2b connections help the businesses to reduce holding costs and
reorder levels. By creating business to business (b2b) services, the
businesses can support each other to grow and thrive in the industry.
They help each other to find new opportunities, to creatively invent
new business options, and to conquer the market by supporting each
other by creating win-win situations and achieve competitive
advantage. B2B ecommerce provides a perfect platform for
organizations to launch comprehensive analytics campaigns. Through
ecommerce, organizations can easily measure and evaluate marketing
campaigns, sales effectiveness, product mix, inventory turns,
customer sales effectiveness and customer engagement. Services are
dominating the global market economy and B2B markets are
estimating for the lion’s share of it. A growing number of businesses
are connected with each other in order to unite and do something epic
together. They are winning the last relationships with each other’s
customers. The result of it all is that B2B firms have relied on the
B2B services too. Marketing is becoming more and more important in
companies in the industrial sector, which is why it is important to
open the horizons and let an enormous range of possibilities, and
people connect with each other. In B2B, customers are investigating
the ways they could keep time and money in their production process,
while in B2C they are trying to please and satisfy the consumer or
create the necessity for him\her to buy an item. Also, B2C is
segmented by the language, sex, age when in B2B the segments are
the types of od sectors and size of companies.
Conclusion
B2B (business-to-business), a type of electronic commerce (e-
commerce), is the exchange of products, services or information
between businesses, rather than between businesses and consumers
(B2C). A B2B transaction is conducted between two companies, such
as wholesalers and online retailers.B2B marketing differs
significantly from its B2C variant. The main focus here is on
identifying the target group and directly addressing it with smaller
and more targeted measures. Personal contact and a flawless
reputation are also extremely important. In addition, any advertising
should not be too pushy, especially if you hope to win new customers.
If a company’s name and services are known, this is often enough,
since customers can then find any information, they require via B2B
portals and the company’s own corporate website. Social media can
help generate leads, but will mostly play second fiddle to content and
SEO marketing efforts.
 Business to Consumer (B2C)

What Is Business-to-Consumer (B2C)?

Business-to-consumer (B2C) is a type of business transaction where a
company sells products or services directly to consumers who are
end-users of its products or services.
B2C sales can be seen in everyday transactions. For instance, when
you purchase a new phone or clothes, eat out at a restaurant, or pay
for gas.
Consumer behavior is the primary driver in the B2C markets. B2C
companies must maintain good relations with their customers that
they return. They must understand what their customers want and how
to motivate them to make a purchase.
This drive is what built the B2C sector. However, it is also one of the
major challenges for B2C companies because they have to be up-to-
date with suitable products and services for their customers.
Customer knowledge will increase the loyalty of customers and
reduce any cost associated with their transfer to other competing
businesses.
B2C is different from business-to-business, in which the exchange of
products or services is between businesses rather than between
businesses and consumers.
They also differ from their marketing campaigns because B2B is
designed to demonstrate the value of a product or service to other
businesses. B2C, on the other hand, must elicit an emotional response
to their marketing strategies in their customers.
The rise of technology has changed the way B2C transactions are
performed. Today, consumers can easily purchase everything online,
from books to clothes to food and beverages.
 Evolution of B2C
Hundreds of thousands of domain names were registered when the
internet grew in the 1990s. However, there were issues with security
on some online sites.
It then led to the development of Secure Socket Layers (SSL)
encryption certificates by Netscape that ensures trust in a site and
allows consumers to be more comfortable accessing the internet.
E-commerce grew significantly in the late 1990s. Amazon’s revenues,
for instance, jumped from $15.7 million in 1996 to $610 million in
1998.
The growth of B2C online sales has created significant challenges for
traditional “brick-and-mortar” services and businesses that are losing
physical store sales to online competitors.
Many brick-and-mortar retail businesses are continually establishing
their online presence to stay competitive in their respective industries.
On a positive note, consumers see this as much more accessible and
convenient.
Types of B2C Models
There are common types of B2C models, which are as follows:
Direct Sellers
Direct sellers are retail sites or stores where consumers purchase
directly from the seller.
Manufacturers, small businesses, and producers could be the direct
sellers that market their products and services to their customers.
For example, if customers want to purchase an iPhone, they can go
directly to the manufacturer’s website, check product information,
and order it.
Online Intermediaries
Online intermediaries are “go-betweens” companies that put buyers
and sellers together without owning the products or services.
These companies usually set up a platform that connects buyers with
independent sellers. Their profit comes from charging a small
percentage of each sale from vendors.
Examples of online intermediaries are Amazon, eBay, Trivago,
Expedia, and Etsy.

Advertising-Based
Advertising-based companies advertise their products or services on
platforms with significant reach.
Businesses use traffic-driving strategies like content marketing and
accordingly choose the platform that would be the most effective to
advertise their products or services.
With this, businesses ensure that more people are getting aware of
their products or services and would click on the ads to make a
purchase.
In this case, B2C advertising-based companies profit from selling
advertising space, and sellers generate revenue by getting the leads
converted.
Youtube and Reddit are popular platforms that use their sites for
advertising products or services from other companies.
Community-Based
Businesses use online communities, such as Facebook, Instagram,
LinkedIn, Twitter, and online forums, to help them market their
products directly to site users.
They often use platforms that host people with shared interests, ideas,
or opinions and host targeted advertisements that help brands and
businesses promote and sell their products or services directly to
customers.
Fee-Based
Fee-based B2C companies, such as Spotify or Netflix, require users to
have a premium subscription to allow access to additional content.
Other examples of B2C companies are The Wall Street Journal, Hulu,
and The New Yorker.
Benefits of B2C
The following are the benefits of the B2C model:

Vast & Varied Market

The B2C market is large and varied. It gives the companies an
advantage of targeting a more significant number of consumers.

Even small businesses operating at home can sell their products or

services to customers on the other side of the world. This enables the
company to grow and increase business profit.

Reduced Cost
Operating costs would be reduced when using a website since fewer
physical resources and staffing would be required.

With the B2C model, companies can reduce additional costs related to
infrastructure, staffing, and electricity. They can also easily manage
inventory and warehousing with fewer people and resources.
 Examples of B2C Companies
The following are examples of B2C companies:

Amazon
Amazon specializes in e-commerce, digital streaming, cloud
computing, and artificial intelligence. When customers purchase
Amazon products, they are performing a B2C transaction.
Additionally, customers pay for the online service of Amazon.
Netflix
Netflix is a popular online streaming platform that offers its service to
mass-market consumers. Consumers can access various movies,
documentaries, and television services when they pay for monthly
subscriptions.
Netflix also produces original content. By offering self-produced
content to viewers, Netflix is performing a B2C transaction.
Spotify
Spotify offers a music streaming service to mass-market consumers
with its monthly subscriptions. Consumers can easily access millions
of songs, podcasts, and the latest albums.
Other popular B2C companies are Starbucks, H&M, Facebook,
Youtube, Alibaba, Airbnb, Uber, and eBay.
 The Best B2C Marketing Strategies
Effective B2C campaigns begin with extensive market research. To
craft effective messages and select the right campaign elements, B2C
businesses need to know who their customers are, what preferences
and pain points they have, what they want, and where to find them.
Marketing personas that represent specific market segments are often
used to assist marketers with the development of targeted promotional
campaigns.

Due to the rapid growth of eCommerce industry and the increasing

influence of social media channels, B2C marketing strategies are
constantly evolving. Yet, some of the most powerful strategies
include:

Social media marketing and advertising

Paid search advertising
B2C content marketing
Email marketing
Creative contests
Loyalty and reward programs
Affiliate marketing
SEO optimization
Giveaways and free add-ons
Influencer marketing
Mobile-first marketing
 Findings
With the B2C model, you can forego the additional costs of
infrastructure, electricity, staffing, etc. This helps you lower your
operational costs considerably. Moreover, you can easily manage
inventory and warehousing with lesser people and resources. This
eCommerce model gives you ample scope to reduce your product
prices too, as marketing costs are lower with a much wider reach.
B2C business model lets you communicate with the buyer in an
extremely personalized way with emails, SMS, and push notifications.
You can track results actively and also see which communication
method works best. This way, you can convert a more significant
number of visitors to your eCommerce website or social channel.
Since more people are now active on social media, you can reach
almost everyone’s mobile screen. This is far better as compared to
newspaper ads and billboard hoardings. The person who is viewing an
advertisement for your store or any product can reach the store in one
click and complete their purchase in seconds. Increased access
implies that your buyer will be able to purchase from anywhere and at
any time of the day. This way, you can move beyond the timing
barrier and operate 24*7 shops to sell more effectively. Product
images are real game-changers when it comes to purchasing
decisions. If your product does not look good enough or true-to-
description in photographs, it will not compel the buyer to make a
purchase. Hence, always ensure your pictures are authentic and are of
high quality. Product descriptions act as the sales pitch for your
product. So they must contain all necessary information such as the
name, model, price, color, special instructions, etc. Along with this,
you can also make your product descriptions catchy by including
reviews, real-time purchase data, etc. Usually, when customers come
to your website with an intent to shop, they don’t like to be distracted
with offers and additional features. Therefore, make sure that your
customers have a smooth journey from the product page until the final
payment. After adding the product to their cart, no additional offers or
promotions must be shown to buyers. Most companies tend to show
additional packaging and shipping costs and taxes on the checkout
page. The buyer might be lured to your product page looking at the
cheap product prices, but after looking at the final cost of the product
which includes all the hidden costs, they will abandon their cart with a
bitter experience. Therefore, include as many costs as possible in the
product pricing. If you have any extra charges, display them on the
product page itself. Today, we have a trend of free shipping. Most
companies cut down on additional expenses and their profits to
provide their customers with the benefit. You can also opt for these by
working with shipping solutions like Shiprocket. It helps you ship at
rates starting from Rs. 23/500 g. This way, you do not have to worry
about losing out on profits. Also, you can easily cover for losing out
any margins. Fast delivery is what drives the market. Businesses
waste tons on branding, whereas buyers have different priorities these
days. If you can provide a one-day or two-day delivery, a buyer will
choose your product even if the price is on the higher side. Thus,
associate with partners who give you an end-to-end fulfillment
solution, like Shiprocket Fulfillment, to ensure faster delivery of your
product. The most crucial aspect of any B2C eCommerce business is
the retention of customers and their loyalty to your brand. To achieve
this, you will need to engage with the buyer using strategic emails
talking about product offers, additional schemes, benefits, educational
content, etc. Moreover, you can also share these in the form of push
notifications. Be sure that you do not spam the user as that can lead to
a negative experience with your website or app.
 Conclusion
B2C is the process of selling products or services from businesses to
individual consumers.

It has evolved over time, and B2C companies have shifted their focus
to mobile users in recent years.

When deciding whether to use a B2B or B2C model, it is important to

consider the type of product or service being offered, the target
market, the price of the product or service, and the desired customer
relationship.

Generally, B2C companies need to focus on creating a strong brand

and providing an excellent customer experience.

B2B companies, on the other hand, need to focus on developing long-

term relationships and providing detailed information about their
products or services.

Each type of business model has its own advantages and

disadvantages, so it is important to choose the suitable model for your
company based on your specific needs and goals.