Hi

In marketing to other businesses or individuals one of the most important things is to establish good relationships. In B2B or business to business this requires a commitment of time and good customer service prior to ever making that first sale. Customer service begins with a customer's very first contact with a company. It may take place with a phone call by a sales person or an engineer searching for a product or service from a B2B company.

Typically for a B2B company the process for a sale is longer than that of B2C, business to consumer counterpart. Most B2C customers are looking for the best price possible with a commitment of good customer service. For example, I find myself, that when it comes to purchasing a consumer product, I do extensive research online to check the specifications on a product and price from online sources. If that product is displayed on a website from a company with also a brick and mortar outlet, I am most likely to buy it locally, even if the price is slightly higher. If not found locally then I would look for the best price online, checking their return policy and customer service feedback information.

And for more information visit the source site:
http://pwebs.net/market ing/articles/marketing-b2b-b2c .htm

Answered by Deepak , an ibibo Master, at 7:38 AM on September 23, 2008

Well

Not long ago, on a panel with a number of Denver-area agency peers discussing the marketing landscape for 2006, one of them commented, "With all due respect, I really don't see the difference between business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) marketing. After all, you're still selling a product to a person."

That's a valid perspective, and one that is shared by many. After all, many of the fundamentals of good B2B marketing are grounded in B2C principles.

However, experience has taught us the differences run deep. And they're important. Take the decision-making process for example. Sure, most families consult on houses and cars, but no one ever gets fired for making an impulse buy while in the line at the grocery store. In fact, creating the interest that drives an impulse sale is one of the core tenants of B2C marketing.

Not so in B2B, especially decisions that involve some sort of technology. Take an enterprise software package as an example, maybe a customer relationship management system. While an individual or small team may own the final decision, there are a plethora of influencers and/or approvers. The information technology director who is driving the decision-making process will spend months getting input and buy-in from the sales, marketing and finance departments. After all, most B2B choices are multifaceted, they're costly and people have gotten fired for making bad decisions.

A long, complex sales cycle, with multiple influencers and very high stakes -- it stands to reason that those factors would have an impact on marketing. Add to that the growing pressure that marketing deliver tangible results, and you have a recipe for a different kind of marketing.

And for more information visit the source site:

http://www.bizjournal s.com/denver/stories/2006/04/0 3/focus2.html

Answered by Dinesh , an ibibo Master, at 7:37 AM on September 23, 2008

On the Internet, B2B (business-to-business), also known as e-biz, is the exchange of products, services, or information between businesses rather than between businesses and consumers. Although early interest centered on the growth of retailing on the Internet (sometimes called e-tailing), forecasts are that B2B revenue will far exceed business-to-consumers (B2C) revenue in the near future. According to studies published in early 2000, the money volume of B2B exceeds that of e-tailing by 10 to 1. Over the next five years, B2B is expected to have a compound annual growth of 41%. The Gartner Group estimates B2B revenue worldwide to be $7.29 trillion dollars by 2004. In early 2000, the volume of investment in B2B by venture capitalists was reported to be accelerating sharply although profitable B2B sites were not yet easy to find.

B2B Web sites can be sorted into:

* Company Web sites, since the target audience for many company Web sites is other companies and their employees. Company sites can be thought of as round-the-clock mini-trade exhibits. Sometimes a company Web site serves as the entrance to an exclusive extranet available only to customers or registered site users. Some company Web sites sell directly from the site, effectively e-tailing to other businesses.
* Product supply and procurement exchanges, where a company purchasing agent can shop for supplies from vendors, request proposals, and, in some cases, bid to make a purchase at a desired price. Sometimes referred to as e-procurement sites, some serve a range of industries and others focus on a niche market.
* Specialized or vertical industry portals which provide a "subWeb" of information, product listings, discussion groups, and other features. These vertical portal sites have a broader purpose than the procurement sites (although they may also support buying and selling).
* Brokering sites that act as an intermediary between someone wanting a product or service and potential providers. Equipment leasing is an example.
* Information sites (sometimes known as infomediary), which provide information about a particular industry for its companies and their employees. These include specialized search sites and trade and industry standards organization sites.

Many B2B sites may seem to fall into more than one of these groups. Models for B2B sites are still evolving.

Another type of B2B enterprise is software for building B2B Web sites, including site building tools and templates, database, and methodologies as well as transaction software.

B2B is e-commerce between businesses. An earlier and much more limited kind of online B2B prior to the Internet was Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which is still widely used.

B2C is short for business-to-consumer, or the retailing part of e-commerce on the Internet. It is often contrasted to B2B or business-to-business.

B2C is an abbreviated term for business to consumer marketing. Business to consumer marketing is when a business markets products to a consumer market. A consumer is a buyer of products that are not business related. B2C products include goods and services such as food, clothes, cars, houses, phone services, credit repair services, etc.

Answered by Nagendra , an ibibo Master, at 6:45 PM on September 22, 2008

B2B" is contemporary shorthand for a longtime sales practice called business-to-business. B2B transactions primarily target companies and other wholesale buyers, while transactions targeting individuals are called B2C, or business-to-customer. Many organizations have both B2B and B2C components, but it's not unusual for a company to specialize in B2B services or sales. In fact, the vast majority of products and services sold are considered to be B2B in nature.

One major reason for the popularity of B2B sales and services is sheer volume. An individual customer may visit a clothing manufacturer's website catalog and order two pairs of shoes or a sweater. The buyer for a national chain of clothing stores, however, may order 5,000 pairs of shoes and 2,000 sweaters. Without a B2B component, the manufacturer would have lost out on a very lucrative sale. This is why many companies provide B2B options alongside the B2C offerings at their websites and other outlets.

B2B sales are also generated by providing a specialized product line or service not available to the general public. This form of B2B transaction is very common in the manufacturing world. A company which produces shaving cream in cans, for example, may need a specific plastic nozzle. Several plastic injection molding companies would send sales representatives to pitch their particular designs. These nozzles would be useless for individual customers, but a manufacturer may order thousands of them.

With the growth in electronic communications, B2B has taken on even more importance. Instead of simply focusing on business-to-business sales, modern corporations are conducting other financial transactions online. B2B communications are now being used to promote investment, trade stocks and form financial alliances. Because the price of these transactions is far beyond the reach of most individuals, there is no equivalent business-to-customer option available. Some B2B transactions handled electronically can literally run into the billions of dollars.

Answered by Sharad Singh , an ibibo Master, at 6:03 PM on September 22, 2008

These terms were coined to differentiate Internet commerce businesses that sold to primarily to consumers verses those whose market are other businesses. These terms have expanded their definitions to refer to any business who sells primarily to the end customer (B2C) or to other businesses (B2B), both online and offline. Although the marketing programs are the same for each type of business (events, direct marketing, internet marketing, advertising, public relations, word of mouth and alliances), how they are executed, what they say, and the outcome of the marketing activities differ.

The first step in developing your marketing strategy for B2B is similar to the first step in a B2C strategy: identify who the customer is and why they need to hear your message. From there, the marketing activities diverge.

The following table summarizes the differences between B2B marketing and B2C marketing. Your marketing plan needs to take into account the differences and ensure you are developing the right types of activities for your particular market.

For more visit :

http://www.salesvantage.c om/article/909/Marketing-for-B 2B-vs-B2C-Similar-but-Differen t

Answered by Ashish Yadav , an ibibo Wizard, at 6:00 PM on September 22, 2008

The business-to-business (B2B) group includes all applications intended to enable or improve relationships within firms and between two or more companies. In the past this has largely been based on the use of private networks and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Examples from the business-business category are the use of the Internet for searching product catalogues, ordering from suppliers, receiving invoices and making electronic payments. This category also includes collaborative design and engineering, and managing the logistics of supply and delivery.

The business-to-consumer (B2C) group is a much newer area and largely equates to electronic retailing over the Internet. This category has expanded greatly in the late 1990s with the growth of public access to the Internet. The business-to-consumer category includes electronic shopping, information searching (e.g. railway timetables) but also interactive games delivered over the Internet. Popular items purchased via electronic retailing are airline tickets, books, computers, videotapes, and music CDs.

http://www.cheshirehenbury. com/ebusiness/ebdefinitions.html

Answered by Dan !!!!!! , an ibibo Specialist, at 5:14 PM on September 22, 2008

(B2B)Business to Business (Selling to other businesses)

Any business that sells mainly to other businesses is considered business-to-business or B2B for short. Other countries sometimes use B to B for short.

(B2C) Business to Consumer (Selling to consumers)

Any business that sells directly to consumers, for the most part is considered business-to-consumer, B2C, or B to C for short.

Companies can be both B2B and B2C at the same time. Target markets for each of these areas are handled differently. B2B generally takes more on the front end to make a sale, although places like office supply outlets create B2B accounts for their business customers, and businesses will generally keep coming back to a self serve eCommerce website to place additional orders without ever talking with a salesman.

No matter which company you are classified under, or the differences between B2B or B2C for closing a sale, the emphasis for marketing and advertising online is to get your message in front of the buyer or consumer. That generally means using the search engines to the best capabilities in both an Internet marketing emphasis and an online keyword advertising targeted campaign to maximize the power of the Internet.

Answered by Hem@nt .... , an ibibo Master, at 3:55 PM on September 22, 2008

Business - to - Business (B2B) transaction is a transaction (such as the placing of an order or the playing of an invoice) conducted by two business. A B2B transaction can be conducted in many ways, with or without the use of computers, but the term B2B is commonly used to describe transactions that occur, online or through a private corporate network such as extranet.

Business - to - Consumer (B2C) transaction is a transaction (such as the ordering of a product or the paying of a bill) conducted between the individual consumer and business. A B2C transaction can be conducted in many ways, with or without the use of computers, but the term B2C is commonly used to describe transactions that occur via the Internet.

Answered by Nishu's , an ibibo Master, at 3:45 PM on September 22, 2008

hi alokgupta!
Business-to-business (B2B) is a term commonly used to describe commerce transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as business and individual consumers (B2C) or business and government (B2G).

B2B is also commonly used as an adjective to describe any activity, be it B2B marketing, sales, or e-commerce, that occurs between businesses and other businesses rather than between businesses and consumers. Similar to B2B, B2G is often meant to refer to B2G Marketing.

The volume of B2B transactions is much higher than the volume of B2C transactions. The primary reason for this is that in a typical supply chain there will be many B2B transactions involving sub component or raw materials but only one B2C transaction, because the sale of the finished product to the end customer is only a single transaction.

An example of a B2B transaction is an automobile manufacturer buying tires for its vehicles. The additional purchases of glass for the windows, paint, and steel would all be additional B2B transactions. The final transaction, a finished vehicle being sold to the consumer, would be considered a (B2C) transaction.
and Business-to-business (B2B) is a term commonly used to describe commerce transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as business and individual consumers (B2C) or business and government (B2G).

B2B is also commonly used as an adjective to describe any activity, be it B2B marketing, sales, or e-commerce, that occurs between businesses and other businesses rather than between businesses and consumers. Similar to B2B, B2G is often meant to refer to B2G Marketing.

The volume of B2B transactions is much higher than the volume of B2C transactions. The primary reason for this is that in a typical supply chain there will be many B2B transactions involving sub component or raw materials but only one B2C transaction, because the sale of the finished product to the end customer is only a single transaction.

An example of a B2B transaction is an automobile manufacturer buying tires for its vehicles. The additional purchases of glass for the windows, paint, and steel would all be additional B2B transactions. The final transaction, a finished vehicle being sold to the consumer, would be considered a (B2C) transaction.
hope this inf helps

Answered by LAKSHMI V , an ibibo Master, at 3:21 PM on September 22, 2008