Definition
Business that sells products or provides services to end-user consumers.
Information
While business-to-consumer activity exists both online and offline, the acronym B2C has primarily been used to describe the online variety.
B2C businesses played a large role in the rapid development of the commercial Internet in the 1990s. Large sums of venture capital flowed to consumers in the form of free online services and discounted shopping, spurring adoption of the new medium. When the capital markets turned sour, however, the B2C companies were among the first to fall, and they fell fast. Many companies tried to follow the herd of investors by undergoing a B2C to B2B makeover.
For awhile after the .com bubble, B2C was used infrequently except when it was followed by “…is dead.” However, with more people online, new technologies and new online revenue models, many types of B2C companies are now flourishing online.
see also: Digital Marketing Tools
Related Terms
view all terms in the Business and eBusiness glossary or all terms in the Digital Marketing glossary
