Business to Consumer (B2C) - Explained
What is B2C Marketing?
Written by J. Mance Gordon
Updated at April 17th, 2024
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What is Business-to-Consumer (B2C)?
Business-to-consumer (B2C) refers to direct commerce activities between a business and its customers. It is a business model in which businesses sell their goods and services to their customers without the need for an intermediary. B2C companies are interested in selling their products and rendering their unique services directly to the end-users. The term Business-to-consumer (B2C) became popular in the late 1990s. B2C also refers to internet transactions between a business and its customers. This is also called e-commerce, this type of commerce is done purely through the internet or electronic channels.
How does Business-to-Consumer Sales Work?
In many industries and countries, many businesses operate using the business-to-consumer (B2C) model. This means that sales of goods and services are offered directly to customers who need them. This business or sales model was first used in 1979, Michael Aldrich was the first business owner to use the model to reach out to customers. Examples of businesses that use the B2C model are bars, restaurants, cinemas, shopping malls and others. There are some businesses that engage the B2C model via the internet, these businesses sell their goods and services to their customers through the e-commerce channel. It is important to state that B2C companies have a good customer relations management model in place. This will help them maintain good relationships with their customers and in the end drive sales growth and profit margin. At a certain period, B2C businesses experienced a decline in the interest of investors in the model which in turn created a reduction in investment and funding by venture capitalists. Despite this trying period, some B2C businesses survived and became reputable amongst other B2C businesses, examples of such businesses are Amazon and Priceline.
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