Differences Between B2B and B2C

Here’s a question we’re asked frequently: We have a B2C site that our business customers use to buy from us. Is a B2B site really necessary?

Actually, a B2C and B2B user may both be customers of yours, but their similarity stops there! The way each user type behaves, their goals for coming to your site, and their expectations for a brand experience are as different as night and day.

In the B2C world, visitors come to a site to explore, discover new products, or research items for a future purchase. The visitor may turn into a terrific customer with a sky-high lifetime value, but it may take several visits and many days or weeks to get that first conversion — and that’s okay.

An important goal for all B2C sites is to begin building a relationship with a visitor from the moment he or she first arrives. The more time visitors spend on your site, the greater the chance they’ll become your customer. The more frequently they return, even if they just browse, the more loyal they’re likely to become.

B2B site users, on the other hand, are typically existing customers. In fact, users begin using a B2B eCommerce site only after they’ve negotiated a deal and signed a contract. These users expect to see content that is highly personalized to them: custom catalogs, custom pricing, preferred method of billing, and so on. Unlike B2C customers, the B2B users’ goals are to sign on, place their orders, and sign off as quickly as possible.

Key Features of a B2B Sites

The unique nature of a B2B customer relationship demands very specific features, including:

Differentiated Customer Pricing.

B2B users expect to see the orders they place reflect the custom pricing and volume discounts they’ve negotiated with your company. All orders must accurately reflect that differentiated pricing, or you can expect a phone call to your sales team!

Flexible Purchasing and Purchase Orders.

Contract negotiations often include terms for buying and paying for your goods and services. Some customers may wish to receive an invoice, while others may prefer to pay by credit card. Most businesses rely on purchase orders to track expenses to the right account and to analyze operating costs. B2B sites should offer workflows that let users enter P.O.s quickly and easily.

Bulk Ordering.

B2B orders tend to be large, and users don’t have the time or inclination to select orders from a catalog, place them into a cart, select a quantity and proceed through checkout. Their goal is to place their orders quickly, whether that’s re-ordering from a past order, uploading a spreadsheet with SKUs and quantities, or ordering via a grid (select desired products and sizes from a grid of SKUs).

Obtain Project Quotes.

B2B customers will often purchase items for projects they’ll deliver to their clients, such as a contractor who has been hired to design lighting for a restaurant or retail outlet. In these cases, the contractors may want to build a quote for a project that they can share with the clients and collaborate on changes. This task requires functionality that falls outside of the scope of B2C sites.

Store and Shared Shopping Lists.

B2B customers tend to have multiple buyers who’ll interact with your site, such as multiple buyers of a purchasing department, or lighting designers of a commercial design firm. In such cases, there is a standard set of items that each purchase or project requires, and it’s helpful to begin each order with a template or shared shopping list. A shopping list ensures that orders are complete and accurate, as incomplete orders can delay a project.

User-Level Permissions.

Unlike a B2C site, your B2B customers are keen to establish role-based user levels. A B2B site will typically have a corporate account with multiple tiers of buyers who have specific roles and permissions.

Marketplace Integration.

Business marketplaces like eBay and Amazon Business can be a great source of new leads for a B2B company. These sites attract a large number of contractors, repair shops, and builders who purchase items frequently there. By integrating a B2B site with these marketplaces, you can attract new customers to your brand — relationships that can grow and ultimately sign a contract with them.

B2C vs. B2B Sites At-A-Glance

Visitors

B2B
Open to any user worldwide

B2C

Access provided after customer signs contract
Frequent buyers who place high-value orders

Main Goals of Site

B2B

Promote product discovery and purchase
Establish a customer relationship
Promote brand loyalty
Newsletter/loyalty program sign ups

B2C

Automate existing business relationship
Promote self-service
Streamline order process to encourage repeat business

Content

B2B
One set of content for users to sort based on interest

B2C
Product catalog and pricing customized to each customer

Search Requirements

B2B
Help visitors sort products by a handful of attributes: gender, lifestyle, color, brand

B2C
With large product catalogs, help users filter by dozens of attributes

Key Metrics for Optimization

B2B

Time on site
Time on page
Page views per session
Repeat visits

B2C

Number of sign-ons
Re-orders

Privacy Compliance

B2B
Required to ask consent to use cookies

B2C
Password based, so no permission required

B2C and B2B Crossover

This isn’t to say that there aren’t situations where a business may need both a B2C and a B2B site. Any company that sells both to individual consumers and to businesses can certainly benefit from adding B2B functionality to their B2C site.

B2C-like search functionality is also helpful for a B2B site, especially if you have an exceptionally large product catalog. Professional buyers typically buy from many suppliers, which means they may be purchasing products you sell from a competitor. You can win more of their business — and simplify their lives — by enabling them to discover products in your catalog and consolidate their buying.

This year, industry experts have encouraged all businesses to establish direct-to-channel (DTC) capabilities so that they can sell directly to consumers without going through a middleman. This trend is a direct result of the pandemic and the way it has accelerated the retail apocalypse. With major retailers shuttering their doors, a DTC channel is now a requirement.

How BundleB2B Can Help

If you have a B2C site that your B2B clients use, it’s probably a good idea to expand your site capabilities to include those described above. Don’t worry, this is easier and more affordable than you think.

BundleB2B — a robust and flexible platform that offers a full suite of B2B features — easily integrates with your BigCommerce eCommerce site. It offers almost all of the features described in this post out-of-the-box, including corporate account management, customized pricing, shared shopping lists, and so on.

It also offers important white glove services, such as sales masquerading, which allows your sales team to log in on behalf of one of their customers, access their shopping lists, add products to the cart, and complete placement of the order.

BundleB2B is SaaS based, which means it offers a lower upfront cost, and is efficient to maintain.

Questions on how to deploy both B2C and B2B features on your site?

Differences Between B2B and B2C

Published by bundleb2b on January 8, 2021January 8, 2021

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