Business-to-Business

What Does Business-to-Business Mean?

Business-to-business (B2B) is an Internet business model that involves businesses that perform services or provide products for other businesses. Business information may also be shared. B2B is a form of e-commerce and it can involve businesses that manufacture a product, service or merchandise component that that is sold to another business, which then advertises or markets the product on its website for sale to consumers.

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B2B is sometimes referred to as business or industrial marketing.

Techopedia Explains Business-to-Business

B2B may include outsourcing, which occurs when a business hires a contractor with knowledge and experience in that business’s industry. The term B2B, however, is better known within the commercial trading realm, where wholesalers sell products to retailers, or a commercial original equipment manufacturer sells its products to wholesalers. Contained within a common supply chain execution are various business transactions. For instance, a home manufacturer will make purchases from lumber yards, window manufacturers, concrete businesses, etc. Each one of these transactions is considered to be a form of B2B.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…