Business-to-business, or B2B, describes a transaction, product or service, or business strategy as targeted to a business rather than the consumer. In contrast, if the target is the consumer, the term business-to-consumer, or B2C, applies. A business-to-business sale means a sale to another business, even of a product normally sold to consumers. For instance, Amazon.com might sell 1000 copies of a book to a Fortune 500 company in a business-to-business sale. Similarly, a business-to-business service is one targeted toward business customers rather than consumers. Outsourced payroll service is an example. A business-to-business organization gets revenues from other businesses, not consumers, such as Boeing. Not all businesses and services are exclusively business-to-business or business-to-consumer. Dell sells computers to both business-to-business and business-to-consumer. Similarly, an auto dealership can sell identical pickup trucks business-to-business and business-to-consumer. |
