What does B2B mean? We explain it - with examples

The business world is peppered with quite a few terms, the meaning of which is not known to everyone despite being widely used. We explain what the abbreviation stands for and why it is so important.

Among traders: B2B describes a certain form of business orientation.

The type of customer plays a role in many ways, for example, strategically, but sometimes also from a tax perspective.

What does B2B mean? Basic understanding explained by way of example

B2B stands for "Business to Business". This refers to a business relationship between purely commercial parties such as companies.

• It is also important in this context the opposite B2C, which stands for "Business to Customer" (commercial party to the end customer).
• An illustrative example: if a company sells office furniture to a commercial customer such as a law firm, an editorial office or a management consultancy, it is a B2B sale, since the buyer is also not private, but commercial.
• If, on the other hand, the products are sold to private consumers, this falls under B2C.

The distinction between these cases is overriding, as it affects virtually all industries and business areas, as well as the applied disciplines. After all, from a strategic point of view, it is not the same to do marketing from a B2B or from a B2C point of view, for example. Eine Grundkenntnis der Begriffe ist somit nicht nur für Betriebswirtschaftler von Bedeutung.