B2b and B2c

In today's fast-paced world, the way of doing business has evolved to accommodate the global market. Traditionally the way of doing business was strictly through brick and mortar. However the Internet has changed the way businesses are reaching their customers. The use of technology has given businesses the ability to tap into additional markets. Two segmented markets that will be discussed in this paper are Business-to-Business (B2B), and Business-to-Customer (B2C), and their supply chains. In addition, this paper will define the terms, and explain how the supply chains differ from B2B and B2C.

According to learnthat.com a supply chain is essentially a distribution channel from which a product comes from sourcing or production to the consumer, its destination (learnthat.com). A real world example of this may be a customer in BestBuy that wants to purchase the latest Xbox 360 game console. The chain of events begins when the manufacture received the raw goods possibly some finished components from other manufactures to produce the product. Next, the product is shipped to BestBuy's distribution center. Then Best Buy's distribution center ships to an individual BestBuy location (brick and mortar). Finally, the customer purchases the Xbox 360, and possibly a few accessories. This is a supply chain and how a product is produced, and consumed by the consumer producing a partnership.

B2B, when people hear the ambiguous word they may think of the B2 bomber. In fact once people are aware of what it is, they may recall the days of a dairy sales man, which delivered fresh milk every morning. Now that those days are long and gone, business has emerged through B2B ecommerce. This is done when companies are buying and selling to one another online. In its infancy, B2B was just basic purchasing. B2B now encompasses the sales of supplies, and the supply chains in which it gets to the consumer.

B2C is business to consumer; it is traditionally a brick and mortar operation. A consumer goes to a physical location to make a purchase. In its infancy, B2C was thought as different websites offering products for a cheaper price, due to fewer overheads. A good example of this is eBay, or overtock.com to name a few. Today B2C offers a whole arrangement of buying, selling, and services. These services ranging from online banking, travel services, auctions, information, real estate, and recipes.

Supply chains between B2B and B2C may seem quite similar. Contrary to common belief there are differences. One of the main differences is the amount of channels or middleman a product must go through before reaching its destination. With