What is “Business-to-Consumer” (B2C)?
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) describes companies that sell directly to individual end-consumers — as opposed to Business-to-Business (B2B) companies that sell to other businesses. B2C spans retail, consumer apps, subscription services, food delivery, e-commerce, financial products, and direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. The defining characteristic is the customer is a person, not an organisation.
B2C characteristics
- Shorter sales cycles: individual decision-making; no procurement committee.
- Smaller individual transaction values: compensated by volume.
- Marketing-led acquisition: brand, content, ads, influence, performance marketing.
- Emotional purchase drivers: design, aspiration, social signal matter more than feature sheets.
- Higher churn / repeat dynamics: subscription B2C requires constant engagement.
- Mass communication channels: social, paid digital, broadcast, influencer.
B2C vs. B2B
- Customer: individual vs. organisation.
- Deal size: small + frequent vs. large + infrequent.
- Sales motion: self-serve and marketing vs. sales-team and pre-sales.
- Buying timeline: minutes to days vs. weeks to quarters.
- Loyalty dynamics: emotional + brand vs. switching cost + integration depth.