Introduction
As consumers, we are quite familiar with the consumer market and the channels that they operate under. Although the question that needs to be asked is whether business-to-business markets distinguishes itself from the consumer market? Does the approach to consumer markets differ in any way?
Business-to-business markets operate under considerably more channels than the consumer market, ultimately the demand of the consumer is crucial if business-to-business markets were to be successful. Products would start out as raw materials and then the process of extraction would begin, there are a number of channels that may need to exist before the consumer could pick the product off the shelf. The packaging and distribution are important factors in this process. This whole process is called the chain of derived demand, everything is pulled through as a result of the demand for the product.
Businesses that operate within the business-to-business markets purchase the materials with the objective of adding value, so they can ultimately move the product down the chain until the finished product reaches the general consumer. Marketing is reliant on the profitable satisfaction of needs, and both markets depend on the principle of delivering the right product to the right people, and at a right price.
Although there is evidence to suggest that there exist some similarities, it would be wise to also point out the factors that differentiate the two markets. Business-to-business marketing concentrates on meeting the needs of other businesses, the demand for the products made by these businesses is likely to be driven by consumers.
The factors that need to be further examined within both these markets include the importance of rel...
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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.
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Robert, F. Dwyer, and John F. Tanner. (2006): “Business Marketing: connecting strategy, relationship and learning” McGraw-Hill Education, 3rd edition. Page 71