What Does B2B, B2C & B2G Mean?

One of the many definitions of business is "the buying and selling of commodities and services." Whether that business is conducted directly to another business, to a consumer or to the government, the basis of the transaction starts from a business.



In today’s face paced business world, some marketing terms have been shortened. A business to business (buying and selling) transaction now known as B2B; a business to consumer transaction (selling) is defined as B2C; and B2G represents selling a product and/or providing a service to the government.



B2B = Business to Business

There are far more transactions per day in the B2B world than B2C. Even something as common as a pair of pants has been assembled from a variety of business-to-business transactions. But to the consumer, it is just one transaction.



The jeans manufacturer must purchase ink, cotton, rivets and labeling from several different businesses. Ink might have been purchased from South Carolina; cotton from Mississippi, rivets from Indiana and the labeling from overseas. This doesn’t include the B2B transactions of hiring a clothing designer, a manufacturer to sew the material together or hiring a trucking company to distribute their products.



B2B can also revolve around business-to-business transactions ONLY. This means the business NEVER sells to the consumer — only to businesses.



B2C = Business to Consumer

The average consumer is unaware of the steps required before a pair of jeans can be placed in their shopping cart. In fact, most consumers only concern themselves with the three things:



1. Is my size available?

2. Do they fit?

3. How much do they cost?



Essentially, any product available online, in a retail store, street vendor or by catalog is a part of the B2C process.



B2G = Business to Government

This area of business deals directly with the government. The government agency could be federal, state or local and can include the military. Some B2G companies sell their products and/or services to B2B and more rarely, to the B2C market. B2G usually involve negotiated contracts as the result of RFPs, RFIs, RFQs.