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Online Selling: B2B Vs B2C

Two kinds of business communication designs are being used in the world today. These are the B2B or Business to Business and the B2C or Business to Customer communications. They have similarities but have differences, and each of them can be useful for different purposes or business structure needs.

Making Decisions

B2B system of communication takes on a more complicated shape compared to the B2C system because there are many factors need consideration, and there are many key people whose consultation can prove helpful before making a decision.

For instance, they need to find the customer, the budget, the middleman for communicating between one company and the store, business proposals, and many other factors that can be too complicated to hassle, but are needed when you go to a B2B system.

There are many roles to be fulfilled when it comes to a B2B, and there are things you need to get organized formally first before giving the final signal. In B2C however, making decisions is quite short because you only need to deal with the customer’s needs and not worry about the big bosses of a company and budget constraints to do so. B2C only concerns if the client has enough money or not.

Process of E-Commerce and Buying

B2C has a simpler approach when it comes to buying from an online store because you are not dealing with any middleman. However, in B2B, since you need to go through a lot of decision-making bodies and superiors, purchasing something from an online store can be complicated.

For instance, managers of different departments in a given company can have a lot of misunderstandings when it comes to buying something. In B2C, customers can quickly make decisions on their own and is quicker than B2B systems, where the passed information, could end up losing its meaning later.

But whether on B2B or B2C, ordering things online will always be as fast as possible, especially if you are a returning customer. Orders that are for wholesale will always have some more paperwork but will be cheaper.

Related: Top 5 tips to remember while selling online

Client Communication

Lack of information about the customer can lead to misunderstandings as not always everything is so clear. Let's review one more real life example.

There are a few things that can be misunderstood when it comes to placing orders by the customer. For instance, customers can quickly change their minds, and so the store has to make amends for some customers who have that kind of annoying attitude and mostly don’t play by the rules. This is very hard to deal with if you are on a B2C system.

However, in the B2B system of communication, things can get far worse than the B2C. Since it’s not just one customer you are communicating with, but a whole company of managers, secretaries and other employees and decision-making bodies that might all disagree with each other and can totally disrupt your peace and order within your store. The burden is also often tasked upon the lower employees such as the HR department and such, so it’s not easy either.

Proper communication is crucial in either B2B or B2C so that you will have a good deal with both parties. You can implement a CRM system if you opt a B2B communication system to get more organized.