The B2B2C e-commerce model has become the new ‘competitive advantage’ for multiple manufacturing setups in recent times. This has a lot to do with the fact that a good B2B e-commerce platform can completely transform a business and put it in front of the prospects in all its glory.
Such digital presence takes away the dependency on third parties or intermediaries to reach customers, making you self-reliant for ensuring the same. You give them a single point of contact through which they can also make their purchase, which is brilliant news from the customers’ perspective.
Initially, business setups followed either the B2B model or the B2C model. But changing market dynamics and newer definitions of demand and supply gave rise to the B2B2C business model, which is more like an evolved and clubbed version of these two separate models.
Keep reading on to understand the different examples of the B2B2C e-commerce business ecosystem.
What is B2B E-Commerce?
In simplest terms, the answer to this question- what is B2B e-commerce can be:
B2B e-commerce or business-to-business electronic commerce refers to the sale of products or services among multiple businesses through a digital sales portal, which can be a website, an app, or both. It ensures a better sales effort by bringing increased efficiency and effectiveness in operations.
Models to Understand B2B2C E-Commerce Better
- Manufacturer, Distributor, and B2C Customers
This is one of the simplest models exhibiting B2B2C e-commerce. It involves a manufacturer running its e-commerce store, offering a catalog of complex products with impeccable and robust content. The customer or end-users then purchase the products they want through the self-service feature(this feature is something the best B2B e-commerce platform will have).
The distributors also have a key role in this model, as the manufacturer will be outsourcing its order fulfillment to the distributor. This allows manufacturers to do away with the task of managing inventory in their warehouses. The manufacturer will receive the final payment against the order and will then pay a commission to the distributor.
It’s a pretty good model for involved parties as:
- Manufacturer, Physical Store Dealer, B2C Customer
This is an exceptional model for manufacturers selling to different B2C dealers. It brings to the fore a very simple buying process for all the involved parties, while also ensuring that the manufacturer gets important customer information as well.
The model involves selling products to dealers, not through the traditional channels(as it leads to loss of visibility and customer handling aspects), but through the use of a B2B e-commerce software to be used by the dealers.
A customer then walks into the physical store, where the dealer closes the sale through personal interaction or with the help of the manufacturer’s e-commerce web site.
With this model, the dealer gets their share, while the control is still in the hands of the manufacturer in terms of customer information, so that even if the dealer operations take a hit at any point in time, they can themselves target the particular segment.
- Manufacturer, E-Commerce Store, B2B or B2C Customers
Let’s keep the e-commerce store in the discussion here to be Amazon, one of the biggest players offering an omnichannel e-commerce experience.
A manufacturer ships a particular product to Amazon, where Amazon further ships it to the final customer. Several distributors also sell the same product on Amazon, which can lead manufacturers to lose control of the brand as a whole.
This sense of loss of control can be fatal to manufacturers in the long run, and a tool like SAP CPQ can be a good solution to the issue.
A tool like SAP allows manufacturers to keep control of relationships with the distributors but also get back their presence on Amazon through direct selling. Also, the integration between Amazon, SAP, and their e-commerce store allows manufacturers to get closer to the end customers while also selling with the distributors.
Conclusion
With Epicor, you can take the prowess of your B2B2C e-commerce platform to a whole new level, and put it in the reckoning for the best B2B e-commerce platform for sure. Epicor is the B2B e-commerce software for you!