how the supply chain differs on a B2C versus B2B site

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When people hear B2B or business to business they might recall the classic image of an old style ice salesman traveling from business to business delivering ice in order for them to keep their merchandise cold. Fast forward 60 years and now B2B eCommerce occurs when companies are buying from and selling to one and other online. B2B eCommerce has evolved past just basic purchasing. It now encompasses supply chain management as more organizations continue to outsource parts of their supply chain to their trading partners (Varon, E., 2001).

B2C is pretty straight forward with the title business to consumer, it conjures thoughts of a customer going into a store and making a purchase. When most people think of B2C e-commerce, they many different websites that offer products for sale, these sites include Overstock.com Target.com, Wal-mart.com, Amazon.com, etc. However, these are just the tip of the iceberg. B2C eCommerce now has matured and includes a myriad of online services. These services can/ do include online banking, travel services, online auctions, health information, real estate as well as some less reputable sites (Patton, S., 2001).

The B2B and B2C supply chains might appear to be similar however, that assumption cannot be further from the truth. The main difference between the two is the amount of channels a product must flow through before reaching the end user. With B2B there are less total channels however they are greater in size when compared to the greater amount of smaller channels with B2C. (Marketing Profs, 2005)

For example: A new car manufacturer is looking for tires to put on their new line of cars. They would deal directly with a tire manufacturer to get their product. The channels would simply be from the car manufacturer - tire manufacturer - raw supplies dealers. Now ...