Difference Between B2B And B2C Order Fulfilment
If you are fulfilling order requests for a retails store or a single end customer. The B2B and the B2C will see the same concept for you. It may seem to you that it is not much different between B2B and B2C. However, there are numerous differences between both concepts.
B2B refers to Business order fulfilment, and B2C refers to Business to consumer order fulfilment. Both the categories of order fulfilment are very different and require different operations and processes to be conducted. Each delivery which your Business needs to reflect your brand name, whether you are delivering it to a single customer or an entire business. Otherwise, you might end up losing your potential customers.
Suppose you are associated with or work with suitable third-party logistics courier service providers. In that case, you must understand and perfectly understand the key differences between supply chain logistics, fulfilment services, inventory management, and warehouse management for the B2B and B2C order fulfilment and the complexities of fulfilling orders.
Meaning of Business-To-Business Order Fulfilment
B2B is also known as B2R, which means Business to retailers. Here, the products are shipped to big Businesses in a higher volume. The volume of orders is much higher than the orders fulfilment to B2C. The retailer business keeps their inventories up to date to fulfil all orders by the customer. They keep their inventories in full in bulk to fulfil the frequent orders of customers.
As the B2B order fulfilment, the Business has a certain complication and huge needs to be fulfilled like SKU codes, products restriction, tax rules, parcel labels, particular invoicing structure, barcodes, warehousing, and others. As the order volume is large in B2B, it takes a lot of time and money to deliver it to the Business. Therefore, accuracy and efficiency of order fulfilment are important in B2B. You need to be more familiar with many things as the orders need to be fulfilled in huge volumes and far locations.
Suppose you are choosing third-party logistics for your B2B order fulfilment. In that case, you need to make sure that the third-party logistics provider you choose provides you with reliable and fast delivery options. The order fulfilment should be done with utmost accuracy and cost-effectiveness within a given time frame. Mismanagement and delays by the logistics bring in inefficiency and affect the reputation of the organization. And they may face heavy losses and penalties due to this.
Meaning of Business To Consumer Order Fulfilment
As we understand from the term, the B2C orders are directly delivered to the end customer. As the orders come from single customers, the average order number of B2C orders is automatically much lower than the B2B orders. The B2C order fulfilment is much easier than order fulfilment in B2B. There are not many rules and regulations in fulfilling a single order. These types of orders always have fixed prices and will display the same to every customer. The prices may change according to some season sales and discounts. The payment process in B2C is easier and more convenient as most of the payments are done in advance through online modes.
As ecommerce sells the products directly to the consumer, there are no restrictions on these deliveries. Therefore, it is very easy and quick to deliver this product to the end-user. These days many customers prefer to shop the products online rather than shopping them from physical shopping of the products.
Suppose you are shipping your B2C order through third-party logistics. In that case, you must choose the logistics providers who are shipping the products with complete safety in a given period to the customer with meeting all their expectations and needs.
Difference Between B2C And B2B Order Fulfilments
There are different stages in order fulfilment, and in both the concepts, all these stages occur—the major difference between the concepts found in these stages. Therefore, if you are willing to start a new business, it is important to understand the key difference and then start the Business to know what will be more beneficial to you.
There are three stages of order fulfilment-
- Pre-purchase
- Purchase
- Post-purchase
1. Pre-purchase- The stage when the seller decides on a different aspect and finalizes everything about the products before sending them to the market to sell.
• Price of the product- In B2B purchase, there are the scope of negotiation in the price of the products. The price of the product is quite complex and cheap as they are sent in a huge quantity. Whereas in B2C, the prices of the products are pre-decided, and there is no scope for changes. The prices are fixed and might change during a sale or discount.
There is complete sales assistance provided to the other business or retailer while fulfilling a bulk order. The seller assists the buyer on every step of their order. On the other hand, in B2c, there are no such extra sales assistance; everything is clearly stated on the description of the product on the website.
2. Purchase- This is when the buyer purchases the product from the seller, and all the formalities are completed to send the order to the customer.
• Selling and buying process- The selling process takes more time in B2B as there is a huge quantity of orders to be completed than B2C order fulfilment. B2B order fulfilment needs more accuracy and time, approvals, packing time, loading, unloading, and other formalities. In B2C, the customer check on different e-commerce websites places an order, and the order placement is done.
• Order size- The size of the order is large in B2B and less in B2C. in B2C order fulfilment, the purchase is direct through the ecommerce website to consume in fewer quantity whereas, in B2B, different retailers place the order to stock their inventories to either sell them to the customers.
• Payments- There are different ways of getting the payment in these modern times; the payment in B2C is done in advance through different online payment modes or done through cash on delivery. Whereas in B2B, there are huge payments that are done in cash or through online modes. The payment could be one-shot or even in instalments.
3. Post-purchase- After purchasing, the whole procedure comes in this stage.
• Shipping or order fulfilment- In this stage, the orders are shipped in both concepts. In B2C, orders take less time, take less money, and are shipped directly with less effort. In contrast, in B2B, order fulfilment takes more time, more energy, accurate transportation, and accuracy is required.
• Returns or refunds- There must be a chance of returns and refunds in both types of Business. But there are fewer chances of returning products and requests for a refund as the order in B2B is placed according to the buyer’s need and choice. On the other hand, there are more chances of returning products and refunds in B2C because the customer purchases the order by seeing the pictures or videos.
Conclusion
We are well equipped with all the details related to the B2B and B2C order fulfillment. Therefore, it is easy for you to choose and understand both the concepts. Furthermore, you can also see the clear difference between the procedure of fulfillment of the order.
