B2C transactions involve a business selling directly to the end user without intermediaries. The internet has enabled B2C e-commerce, making transactions more convenient. Some companies sell exclusively online, while others use social media data to customize the shopping experience.
A business-to-consumer (B2C) transaction is an exchange whereby a business serves an end product to the end user without intermediary entities such as retail outlets or intermediaries. Applications of the business-to-consumer concept have transformed the way companies interact with the marketplace. There is a marked operational difference between companies implementing the B2C model and companies using the business-to-business (B2B) model, the formerly prevalent technique of business-consumer interaction. The Internet was instrumental in shifting from the B2B, or retail, model to the B2C paradigm. Many of the most successful and recognizable business-to-consumer operations are implemented over the Internet and are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their approach to reaching consumers directly.
In the B2B or retail model, producing companies distribute their products to companies such as points of sale or distributors that sell the products to final consumers. Supply chains guide the product from its origins in a factory to the hands of the customer. Depending on the nature of the product and its accessibility to the customer, these chains can have a few links to several dozen links. Furthermore, the eventual transaction is between the customer and the last business in the chain, which means that businesses along the supply chain will earn marginal profits for their efforts. With a business-to-consumer setup, however, there is only one transaction, the only intermediaries being the carrier transporting the goods.
As complicated as it sounds, B2B was the best way to distribute goods at one point in time. The Internet, however, changed that by allowing companies to establish a virtual presence in cyberspace that consumers could use to purchase products directly. E-commerce and banking solutions that have enabled online transactions have simplified the process of paying for a product to just a few clicks, making business-to-consumer transactions incredibly convenient for both businesses and consumers.
It only took a few years for the business-to-consumer concept to take off, and there are many big brand companies that sell their products directly to consumers via the Internet. A more interesting trend is the rise of companies that sell their products exclusively online; A prominent example of such a business is Amazon. Some companies have adopted the business-to-consumer model, interweaving their shopping database with information gleaned from social networking sites. Dubbed the business-to-one (B21) model, these online outlets anticipate a customer’s tastes and preferences based on data from their social media profiles and customize the shopping experience accordingly.
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