B2C (Business to Consumer)

E-commerce, which is the nickname for “electronic commerce,” is the buying and selling of goods and services over electronic systems, most notably via the Web. While bank transfers of electronic funds and other types of exchanges technically fall under the e-commerce umbrella, e-commerce is commonly used to refer to purchases made via a Web site, and this is how the term will be used throughout this book.

While some B2B sites do have e-commerce capabilities on their site (companies that sell ink and print toner to other companies, for example, might utilize
e-commerce functionality, as might distributors with a large catalog of products that they sell to retailers), e-commerce is most often used by companies who sell directly to the consumer. B2C (business to consumer) involves a business marketing and selling products and services to a consumer.

B2C companies count on consumers executing relatively quick online transactions (the length of time it takes a buyer to make a decision is typically proportional to the price of the item being purchased. For example, it will take buyers longer to decide which car to purchase than to decide which bar of soap to buy.) Th erefore, B2C companies concentrate on the following goals when developing online sales and marketing strategies:
• Reinforcing their brand name
• Gaining a consumer’s trust
• Building consumer loyalty to the brand
• Showing that their product or service fi lls a consumer’s needs
• Diff erentiating their products or services from competing brands

• Making the decision-making process quick and easy
• Maximizing consumer dollars spent per purchase through add-ons
• Creating a pleasant overall shopping experience
• Providing quality customer service throughout the decisionmaking and purchasing process (this is usually a short-term interaction that ends upon completion of a given transaction, as opposed to the ongoing relationship necessary on the B2B side)

As e-commerce continues to improve and grow, so do the features e-commerce sites off er their shoppers. Chapter 9 of this book will analyze the various features of a typical e-commerce site and how they add to and improve the shopping experience.