Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) Management

E-commerce is the exchange of money for goods or services between companies and end consumers. The most common definition of ecommerce is that of a web based catalogue from which buyers can order products and sellers can receive payments. Ecommerce has two broader forms .i.e. Business to Business and Business to Consumer. The main idea behind business-to-business (B2B) is to handle sale and purchase of goods and services between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Business to Consumer (B2C) ecommerce caters businesses with the system that permit them to deliver buyers to the merchants and gain from the commission rewards provided by the merchants.

Business-to-business (B2B) depicts to perform transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. B2B ecommerce always benefit the company to save or make the money. B2B is also used in the context of communication and collaboration. Many business houses are using the help of social media to connect with their consumers (B2C); when communication is taking place amongst employees, this can be referred to as B2B communication.

Some ways companies have benefited from B2B ecommerce as under: ● Managing inventory more efficiently. ● Adjusting more quickly customer demands. ● Getting products to market faster. ● Cutting the cost of paperwork. ● Reigning in rough purchases.

Many organizations are implementing electronic commerce in numerous ways and receiving tangible benefits. But as electronic commerce matures and develops, these ways are likely to change based on the accelerating adoption rate. Based upon review, three models are starting to appear in the marketplace.

A single company establishes a common transactional method for conducting business with its major customers or key suppliers. This offering is common across all business units within the company and includes common tools, techniques, and infrastructure.

Two companies establish a common business process to conduct business efficiently and effectively between the two firms. The two firms establish and share this common practice jointly, both within their firm and outside their organization with this predetermined trading partner.

Two or companies establishing a strategic relationship partnership based on all major interactions between the organizations. This includes transactions, processes, and any other collaboration between the two organizations. From technology perspective this includes linking the CRM, ERP and SCM system of the two organizations. With the help of this method each organization can actually monitor sales activity, production schedules, inventory management and technical services exchange.

B2B websites can differ from each other based on the functions that they perform. Below are some of the basic types of B2B ecommerce websites that you can select from:

In many cases, the target customers for B2B ecommerce companies are other companies. This is the reason, these suppliers set up company websites that allow them to showcase their products or services. These B2B ecommerce websites may also include options for user registration, real-time inventory, and dealer/distributor locator and distributor logins.

1.4.3 Broker Sites:

Business to Customer describes activities of business serving end consumers with products and/ or services. Individuals visit an organization‘s website before they buy the product. They click on a shopping link which sends them directly to a list of hundreds of the top online merchants. The purchase is made as if they had gone to the merchant directly. The purchase is sent to buyer and the referring organization gets a commission on every sale. Business to Consumer Ecommerce provides organizations with the system that allows them to deliver buyers to the merchants and gain from the commission rewards provided by the merchants.

B2C consist of various elements such as cataloguing, order planning and generation, cost estimation and pricing, order fulfillment and delivery, product

card processing.

For this purpose a technique must be required to fulfill all needs of the consumer. To do shopping online, there be need of some catalog, which will describe the quality, price and brand of the item.

The order planning and generation enables initiation of individual orders as well as block orders in an easy to use and flexible manner. Each order goes through a complete life cycle. The status of an order indicates in what stage of the lifecycle an order resides. .i.e. initiated, validated, validated with warning, sent or cancelled.

before setting the pricing, there must be a complete study of cost estimation. Pricing is the bridge between customer needs and company capabilities. Pricing at the individuals order level depends on understanding the value to the customer that is generated by each order, evaluating the cost of filling each order. After ordering, estimation of cost can be done first and then set the pricing procedure.

When price setting is over, Accountability of the products and their cost is maintained. It is the basic and major step in the accounting system. After an acceptable price quote, the customer enters the order receipt and entry phase of ordering. Order receipt is necessary for the billing of the different products.

After setting the price of the product, the major operation is order selection and to set the priority for the selection of the final goods. Customer service representatives are responsible for choosing which orders to accept and which to decline. This step is used for a healthy customer environment. In this phase prioritized orders get slotted into an actual production or operational sequence.

After completion of order scheduling, the next step is to fulfill and deliver the order. During this phase the actual provision of the product or service is made.

● Anonymous consumers can login to a secured part of web site to conduct make purchases. All activity conducted by the customer is protected by the Secured Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol which provides business and the customer with peace of mind. ● Customers can review products and services which business offer and check on their availability and price. ● Allow customers to review their own account showing prior purchases, payments, credits issued, or adjustments to their account. ● As customers browse the web site they can add products they need to their shopping cart and then initiate check out process which will require credit card information to be provided. E-mail confirmations can be generated automatically after receipt of order and after shipment. ● Customers who need to know the status of their order can check your web site at any

links to carriers such as FedEx, UPS, etc.

B2C companies divide into five major categories: direct sellers, online intermediaries, advertising-based models, community-based models and fee-based models. 1.8.1 Direct Sellers: Direct sellers, such as online retailers, sell a product or service directly to the customer via a website. One can further divide direct sellers into e-tailers and manufacturers. E-tailers are electronic retailers that either ship products from their own warehouses or trigger deliveries from other companies and stocks. Product manufacturers use the internet as a catalog and sales channel to eliminate intermediaries. 1.8.2 Online Intermediaries: Online intermediaries perform the same function as any other broker. The business allows non-B2C companies to reap some of the benefits. Brokers offer buyers a service and help sellers by altering the price-setting processes.

Popular websites rely on advertising-based models. These websites offer a free service to consumers and use advertising revenue to cover costs. They draw a large number of visitors, making them ideal advertising streams for other companies. Advertisers will pay a premium to sites that deliver high traffic numbers.

Community-based models combine the advertising method that relies on traffic at sites that focus on specialized groups to create communities. Community sales and advertising take advantage of social and network marketing by focusing on specific groups that want specific products. 1.8.5 Fee-Based Models: Pay-as-you-buy or paid subscription services fall under fee-based models. The most common of these are online subscriptions to journals or movie sites such as NetFlix. These companies rely on the quality of their content to convince consumers to pay a usually nominal fee. built for B2B ecommerce and offer personalization, B2C capabilities, and service are now available to help B2B organizations meet the challenge of a skittish economy. Organizations that adopt such a platform today will gain the flexibility and agility they need to cut costs, retain customers, and grow. At the same time, B2B ecommerce technology will increasingly become a necessity for organizations that wish to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage.

Fundamentals of Ecommerce by Kalakota http://www.123helpme.com/preview.asp?id=21816 http://www.elyamccleave.com/?p=253 http://bizwebonline.blogspot.in/2010/03/what-is-seo.html http://www.sli-systems.com/blog/2012/02/differences-between-b2b-and-b2c-e-commerce.html http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8n0wFyKGYJE/TZf6wQTILZI/AAAAAAAAAAw/pGCAhj99i5o/s1600/B2B%2BModels.jpg&imgrefurl=http://20101918nd.blogspot.com/2011/03/week-four.html&h=832&w=1075&sz=75&tbnid=Yk1ilZU8wYRVYM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=117&prev=/search%3Fq%3Db2b%2Bmodels%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=b2b+models&usg=__IRRfo-efFQWf7wbvfYI3_mV3468=&docid=oeWPgDlZNxIhLM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=G8u5UMzIBon_rAfigYEg&ved=0CEcQ9QEwBA&dur=3410

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, DAV College for Women, Ferozepur Cantt