What is meant by B2B?

If your business is focused on selling products or services to other companies, your model is called B2B, or business-to-business.

B2B, like all business models, requires some careful planning to be undertaken successfully. "B2B depends on its sales function and account management team to establish and strengthen customer relationships.

B2B e-commerce is a type of e-commerce. This type is the electronic exchange of business documents among businesses for the purpose of conducting commerce.

B2B e-commerce is used for contract manufacturing, customs declarations, global trade compliance, order management and supply-chain logistics.  Using B2B e-commerce can assist companies to improve communications among partners and enhance the purchasing experience from business to business.

B2B can be broken down into a number of categories:

The first category is company websites, where many companies can reach to other companies and their employees. Companies can also sell directly from this site, e-tailing to other businesses.

The second category is known as e-procurement sites where product supply and procurement exchanges. These sites serve a range of industries and focus on a niche market.

The third category is vertical industry portals that provide a subweb of information for a specific industry, such as health care, construction, education or other vertical markets.

The fourth category is Brokering sites that act as an intermediary between service providers and a potential business customer.

The final category is information sites which provide specialized information sites on specific industries for companies and their employees. These are often used as trade and industry standards organization sites.