B2B Logistics Vs B2C: What Is The Difference?

People often think there is no difference between fulfilling a single order and an order to the retail store. But that is not the case! It is because B2B and B2C business orders are different. Business-to-consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) demands other processes and operations for order fulfillment.

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Each of the order delivery that you make should represent your brand value, without which you will be losing your customers. You can get in touch with the B2C and B2B logistics companies to understand the difference if you start fresh. They will educate you upon navigating the difference between fulfillment services for both.

But before you do that, this article intends to give you clarity on how B2C and B2B deliveries differ from one another. The logistics approach is also different for them both, and you will know more about it further in the article.

What are B2B and B2C Order Fulfillment?

B2C (Business-to-Consumer)

B2C or business-to-consumer orders are fulfilled to reach the end-consumer directly. The order value is at a lower average for B2C orders than that of B2B orders. The order fulfillment process for the B2C orders is also simple, as there are fewer requirements and regulations upon processing single orders.

B2C comes with a set pricing model displayed to all customers. The promotional and seasonal activities might alter the fixed price for a particular product, but that is occasional! Moreover, the payment processing is also optimized and seamless in B2C concerns, as there is an online checkout process for customers to make easy payment transactions.

Customers will be directly buying the products listed on your website. Hence, their entry barrier is more minor upon order fulfillment aspects for B2C aspects. The B2C business and logistics model makes people quite comfortable with the idea of online shopping. You can also hand over your orders to a third-party logistics firm for fulfillment concerns if you are a start-up firm.

The role of B2C Logistics Company will be to ensure that the orders reach the consumers without damage, with accurate documentation, and on time. Some of the logistic firms will also handle returns and refund concerns. Hence now you can distinguish B2C’s meaning from that of B2B.

B2B (Business-to-Business)

The B2B or Business-to-Business order fulfillment products are delivered to either a retailer or a business. In these cases, the orders are generally substantial for clients with colossal inventory to sell them off. Under B2B, the companies place orders and not any single consumer! It is because ordering bulk products is efficient for their operations, as they don’t want to make frequent orders for the same products.

While the logistics companies carry out B2B shipping, they take superior accuracy during the fulfillment services. Some businesses might have compliance demands to be met, such as product restrictions, parcel labels, barcodes, tax rules, specific invoicing, SKU codes, and others. To fulfill B2B orders, the shipments are expected to cost more and have a longer delivery time.

When you hand over the B2B orders to third-party logistic firms, they must ensure the fastest possible delivery with a high-reliability quotient. Within the B2B business models, one business is dealing with another, for which they expect the fulfillment to be optimized for better efficiency and cost-cutting.

Differences Between B2B and B2C Order Fulfillment

The difference between B2B and B2C in eCommerce and their fulfillment aspects is based on pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase stages. These elaborations will help you understand why their order processing differs and why it matters.

At the Pre-Purchase Stage

The B2B orders are mostly bulk for the subparts, raw materials, and others. But the B2C orders are primarily for smaller items such as headphones, clothes, kitchen goods, etc. Therefore, the B2B contracts turn around more profits for the companies than B2C orders as there is a possibility that a single consumer will buy a product only once.

The pricing for the B2B order fulfillment aspects is based upon the requirements and needs of the receiving business client. The order is processed only after both companies agree upon the price. But, it is not the same with B2C, as a specific fee is already set for a product and is listed over the website.

At Purchase Stage

Before signing up any B2B business contract, the receiving party does a lot of research upon finding the best for their requirements. They keep emotions and feelings out of the decision-making process. But it is not the case with B2C orders! The customers do not get into much planning before making the buying decision. They do it based upon emotions and feelings upon what they see!

B2B payment schemes are often on credit and go by the invoicing process! But with B2C orders, the transaction is straightforward, depending upon the options available over the site.

At the Post-Purchase Stage

The order fulfillment and the shipping methods for B2B orders include larger shipments, and shipping those orders is entirely different from B2C orders. The cost of shipping B2B orders is high with special trucks, ships, or aircraft. But B2C orders are small and are shipped with all of the other single customer orders in a collective shipment truck. Hence, the shipping cost is less, and customers get the product within a week of placing the order.

Conclusion

When deciding which type of eCommerce is right for your business, it's important to know the differences between B2B and B2C models. In this post we outlined three key points that differentiate these two types of logistics strategies. From there you can determine if a "drop ship" or "fulfillment by Amazon" model is best for you--or if an integrated strategy might be a better fit. To learn more about Simplify Your fulfillment services, click here!

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