In today's business world, e-business activities of various types contribute significantly to the efficiency of business processes, and to the recognition of products and services. The Internet plays a very important role in this process, as it offers numerous possibilities for communication with customers and performance of business activities. With the Internet fast becoming the platform of the day for conducting commercial activities and business transactions, it is important for companies to take advantage of information communication technologies, electronic commerce, mobile computing, and software agents. The internet has played a pivotal role in changing how business is conducted across the world. Due to economic globalization, Ebusiness has become a necessity for companies to remain competitive. It is usually possible to categorize most e-business solutions as either business-to-consumer (B2C) or a Business-to-business (B2B). This paper will explain the supply chain differences of B2C vs B2B and how they differ from one another. Supply chain management, whether in a traditional or E-commerce environment, involves distributing products, goods and services from point of manufacture to the delivery of the final product. Supply chain management, whether related to B2B or B2C retailers involves manufacturing, storage, distribution and delivery of products and services to consumers and other businesses. In addition, the supply chain philosophy ensures that customers receive the right products at the right time at an acceptable price and at the desired location. Increasing competition, complexity, and geographical scope in the business world have led to the continuing improvements in the capabilities of the personal computer and have made the optimization of supply chain performance possible. Electronic mail and the Internet have revolutionized communication and data exchange, facilitating the necessary flow of information between businesses, suppliers and customers within the supply chain (Helms, Marilyn, 2008). B2B supply chain management is slightly more complex than B2C transactions, as B2B wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers are typically working with larger corporate entities. For supply chain management to work in a B2B or in a B2C environment, the focus must be on providing customers with the utmost in quality services. This is especially the case since in today's economy what firms are mainly selling to each other is information, not just in the case of services such as banking and digital applications, but even when the product concerned is a physical product. The real value added comes from optimizing price and specification, as opposed to the physical transfer of the product (Vasarhelyi, Miklos, 2007).
Once a decision is made to develop a business, whom the customer will be is the next decision to be made. Whom will the company target as a customer? Will it be a business? Or will it be a consumer? Business-to-business (B2B) marketing has differences from business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing practices. This paper will outline these differences between the two types of e-commerce business transactions.
A supply chain is a system through which organizations deliver their products and services to their customers. The network begins with the basic ingredients to start the chain of supply, which are the suppliers that supply raw materials, ingredients, and so on. From there, it will transfer the supplies to the manufacturer who builds, assembles, converts, or furnishes a product. The chain now needs to get the product to the consumer by transporting the finished product from the manufacturer through a warehouse or distribution center. An example is that Wal-Mart has a nearby distribution center where products are delivered there and then split up to be delivered to a retail Wal-Mart. “Wal-Mart will take responsibility for breaking down larger loads and delivering the product to other Wal-Mart stores” (Ehring 1).
Understanding the changes in the market and the growth of e-commerce prompted the organization to invest heavily in its supply chain management forecasting and management system. The development of a network of distribution centers and Direct Fulfillment Centers to position the company to capitalize on the growing e-commerce market indicate a strong understanding of the need to adapt to changing market forces. The company spent over $300 million on new distribution center facilities in 2014 alone, and continues to expand to maintain efficiency in product movement (Cassidy,
Marketing ultimately depends on who you are delivering your message to. With Business to Business (B2B), an organization has to know the businesses needs, its current situation, competitors, trends, technology and costs. Business to Commerce (B2C) is also about knowing who you're selling to. You have to know their wants and needs, your competition, distribution, supply chains and costs.
Li & Fung is a global trading group sourcing and managing the supply chain for high volume, time sensitive consumer goods. The group is associated with strong brands such as The Limited, Gymboree, American Eagle, Warner Brothers, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Levi-Strauss. With the rise of the internet, and the thrive of the B2B intermediaries, this memo will discuss the Li & Fung's E-Commerce strategy and how to use internet to facilitate supply chain management.
In two distinct e-commerce business types, Business-to-business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C), there are many differences in the way they operate. Specifically in marketing, differences include how the marketing is driven and the values of the strategies, the size of the target market and length of the sales cycle, and even the buying patterns of the target consumers. Each of these differences will be better defined and explained in the following paragraphs.
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.
Business to business or B to B (B2B) different from business to consumer (B2C) in many ways:
In a continuance of the differences between B2B vs. B2C web sites, this week's paper will cover how the sites manage ethical, legal and regulatory issues.
Dell, one of the largest technological corporations in the world, sells personal computers, software, computer peripherals and other digital products among the world. According to the Fortune 500 list, Dell is currently listed as number 51. Dell is well known for its customer-oriented services such as supply chain management and electronic commerce. More specifically, the supply chain management (SCM) used by Dell allows customers to build their own PC online and successfully satisfies each customer’s specification. The selling and buying of products in Dell is conducted over electronic systems, for instance, online transaction process enables consumers attain various services through the Internet. Such considerate services advanced Dell among other computer retailers.
(Vladimirov, 2015). Business to Business (B2B) Ecommerce involves conducting business transactions between companies or government entities over the Internet or World Wide Web (Yazdanifard, et al., 2012). B2B transactions replace complex written and verbal negotiations over complementary services, prices, or products between repeat customers or trading partners or associates (McElheran, 2012). For the past few years, B2B online transactions in the United States reached over $56 billion dollars and over 70% of Internet revenue (Janita et al.,
Supply chain management has been defined as that process that involves the management of information, materials, and all the finances that are handled within and across the entire supply chain process (Christopher, 2016). The management is usually done through out the entire supply chain management from that moment when the suppliers are involved through all the manufacturing activities, different distribution activities, and the way that the products are served to the final product consumer (Turban, et al., 2002). The process also includes all the activities that different organizations offers to their customers as after sale services for purposes perfecting their services and products towards their highly valued customers (Christopher,
Technology is moving ahead of a rapid pace and reinventing the way business is done. E-business has the potential to affect every part of the value chain, from inbound logistics and operations through to outbound logistics, marketing and after sales support. Forecasts indicate that in 2001 e-business will top U.S. $ 434 billion and much of that will be in business-to-business transactions. The advantages are clear, e- business can help cut costs, link supply chains more efficiently and service markets more effectively. Scalability, flexibility, security, performance and back end integration are all vital issues, getting architect right is the key. While online services are growing, security measures are becoming more of a concern.
Evaluation of the potential of e-business as a channel to US’s consumer market: Levenburg (2013) asserts that for the retail businesses to maintain successful e-business approach, it is imperative they comprehend the novel channel. The fundamental comprehension of the multi-channel based transaction frontier is imperative to sustain a proper evaluation of e-business’s impact on the consumer market. It is imperative that retail businesses how the internet can be geared to deliver beneficial outcomes in regards to tapping into the consumer market. The changing operational structures are equally pivotal for evaluation especially the notion of supply chain operational shifts (Graig
E-business and e-commerce are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably, and sometimes they are used to differentiate one vendor’s product from another. In both cases, the e stands for "electronic networks" and describes the application of electronic network technology - including Internet and electronic data interchange (EDI) - to improve and change business processes (Bartels, 2000)