Difference Between Designing for B2B and B2C

In this article, we will discuss the differences between B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Customer) interfaces. First, let’s understand what is a B2B interface and a B2C interface.

B2B vs. B2C Interface

What is a B2B interface?

Businesses use this interface for their enterprise clients and to trade with their business partners. An example of this type of trade can be a wholesaler and a retailer. These interfaces automate the process of communication between two or more organizations and the process of buying and selling becomes more efficient and clear. In the B2B interface organizations, members interact virtually with other organizations to buy their raw materials for the manufacturing of their products. For example, an automobile company buys parts from other organization and assemble them in their own organization to sell their manufactured products.

What is a B2C interface?

Businesses use this interface to directly sell their products to the customer. For example, an e-commerce website sells its products directly to the end-user with the help of a website. These interfaces are more attractive and they have a variety of products as they have a large customer base and their demand is also different. These interfaces sell goods and services for the personal use of a customer.

Let’s see the differences between both the interfaces:

Design Considerations	B2B	B2C
Need	It is designed specifically for enterprise clients or for other businesses buying products/services from a different business. So, this is called business-to-business.	It is designed to sell goods and services to the customer or public for their personal use. It is known as Business-to-consumer.
Definition	It is a form of transaction between businesses such as one involving a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer.	It is a form of business between companies, for example one which involves manufacturers and distributors or another where wholesalers and retailers are involved.
Examples	Alibaba, allows other businesses to buy products, and auto-industry companies sell auto-components to other business owners.	e-commerce which sells its products directly to end-users.
Intuitive navigation	B2B sites should be easily navigated, so that users can easily reach their destination needs.	In B2C, navigation should be made to distinguish between product types.
Content	Content should be meaningful and proper explanations should be mentioned. As the orders are huge or in bulk, proper instruction should be provided.	less content is needed as customers focus on the product more. No one is going to read a paragraph before buying a cloth. Short and catchy headlines should be mentioned.
Customer support	As the transactions are huge,expensive so expert customer support should be provided for different purposes such as installations,monitoring. Relation between client and business is long lasting and build on trust,so a dedicated support team will encorage clients to be with the business for long term. Here call-To-action include everything like chat,phone number and emails.	There is huge customer crowd so to support everyone basic call center or Bot and technician should be provided for quick resolution of problems. But the customer support should be friendly and eager to resolve customer issues.Since trust is needed everywhere.
Pricing model	As the orders are huge, we should not fix the cost,it should be made on client needs for this a simple Estimated Pricing Calculator can be used.	Prices can be fixed as the customer have the choice to buy or not. For deals sale tags can be used to reduce cost of the product.As it will attract the customers.

Conclusion

B2B and B2C interface have a different customer base and need .In order to fulfill the needs of their respective customers they should focus on the usage of their company interface. If it is for a business partner it should mention all the details in a descriptive way and a good customer support would be beneficial to reach out the business easily.

While in B2C the content should be short and catchy, It should be based on how to attract a large customer base within minutes.