B2C – Business to customer
B2C business describes business and communication relationships between business people and end consumers.
What is B2C?
B2C relationships are a wide-ranging field and, in addition to the pure business relationship, also include points such as customer-oriented marketing with corresponding advertising strategies or communication standards. In contrast to commercial relationships (B2B – business to business), where rational and economic thoughts are usually in the foreground, end consumers are usually more emotionally driven when it comes to purchasing decisions. Of course, economic aspects also play a role here, but they have a different status. Whereas in business relationships things usually have to fulfill their purpose first and foremost, consumers often still have demands in terms of shape, color and other individual criteria. As a result, offers and advertising must be designed differently than in B2B relationships. The entire marketing strategy must be structured differently for end customers. Target groups must be analyzed and defined more precisely, sales channels may be different, and other aspects are also relevant when it comes to pricing.
B2C and affiliate marketing
So-called affiliate marketing plays an important role in B2C relationships. This is a sales model on the Internet in which a mostly commercial provider pays a commission to its sales partner if the deal is concluded positively. The provider makes its advertising material available, with which the sales partner approaches the consumer. The partner can now use this advertising on his website or, for example, address potential customers via e-mail marketing. By means of appropriate affiliate systems, it is possible to determine precisely on the Internet, through the use of links and codes integrated therein, via which sales partner the merchant’s site is accessed. Whether the commission is paid for each customer referred to the merchant site, for making qualified customer contacts, or only in the event of a successful sale depends on the provider. A well-known example of such commissions for clicks made are so-called sponsored links, as found in the form of advertisements next to search queries in search engines on the Internet.
B2C – Other areas of application
However, B2C is not only used in direct sales, but also refers, for example, to customer service in the context of telephone hotlines. In general, it can be said that a B2C relationship is established whenever traders come into contact with end consumers. Communication relationships in the B2C area also have different requirements than business contacts, as end consumers have different demands here as well. In general, it can be said that B2C relationships represent one of the largest sectors of the economy. Accordingly, it is important to find out in advance exactly how these relationships should be approached in order to achieve optimum success.
