C2B ecommerce stands for Consumer-to-Business. It is a business model that allows people to sell products or services to companies. In this case, therefore, it is people who create value, which a company can use to undertake a process or acquire a competitive advantage.
This approach is the opposite of the traditional business setup, but at the same time it is the one that more embraces both the social and marketing trends that are growing lately. In fact, in many sectors, starting from food products to the insurance field, companies try to involve the public so that it is precisely this that changes the offer or in some cases even the very image of the brands.
So we can say that the unidirectionality of the market and of advertising is reversed, in the case ofC2B eCommerce as it is now, but in the near future it could become dual or work exactly like a network. A bit like it does there blockchain.
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Examples of C2B ecommerce
Although the underlying concept may project beyond what exists today, the configuration of C2B eCommerce it involves different approaches, some of which have always been present. What changes is the structure on which companies and individuals rely.
- One case is that of platforms such as Upwork. Here, thanks to the platform, freelancers (private suppliers) get in touch with companies, and vice versa, to offer their services.
- Another case of C2B eCommerce is the affiliate, where private individuals bring traffic to companies in exchange for percentages on purchases or subscriptions.
- Then there are online reverse public auctions. We are talking about a type of auction in which the roles of buyer and seller are reversed compared to traditional auctions. Thus the seller posts an advertisement for a product or service that he wishes to purchase, and buyers bid to supply the product or service at the seller's asking price.
- Again, the social pages of individual influencers (who are private individuals to all intents and purposes) channel a substantial portion of users through their content and image. This audience can in turn be involved by letting them know about a particular product or company, which will pay the influencer to talk about it. Then the influencer becomes a private provider of a service he offers to the company.
This last example represents a market trend that favors the development of C2B eCommerce.
Social media as enhancement of the individual in the market
Speaking of consumers in the strict sense is becoming increasingly obsolete, as is thinking of a one-way market where the company makes its offer and the public can only answer yes or no. The next step is the negotiation, which is a practice as old as the world. A real step instead are the companies that carry out targeted market surveys on people to understand what they want and how it is provided to them.
The evolution is to propose a highly flexible and personalized offer, regulated by different parameters, mediated by advanced means of communication and by automated processes which facilitate and screen requests. To some extent this is possible and this is what is happening.
This represents theC2B eCommerce: a dual exchange between people and companies, which aim to become a network, so that the market becomes even more dynamic and adapted to what is really needed at that particular moment.
Social media is already a means that best expresses this approach, and they have been doing it since they became monetizable.
In fact, if previously they were only used to meet schoolmates or to share one's photos, today they become the media where the individual can create a trend, contribute and establish a value, which can be sold arbitrarily and which is aimed at a of users that in some cases manages to exceed that of small and medium enterprises.
The individual's potential therefore increases, and companies end up taking cues, adapting and becoming customers of individuals. Of course, they can also do this by strategically healing their own corporate social page.
Advantages of C2B ecommerce
This configuration guarantees various advantages, especially for individuals.
Flexibility is the first, without a doubt. In fact, companies and sellers can define their own parameters of earnings, the duration of the services, the frequency of payment or the dates of delivery of the product.
Then private sellers have unlimited earning potential, because they can work as long as they want and provide their services and products to as many companies as they choose. So they are not employees of a single company. In the case of influencers, this availability is limited by their image. In fact, influencers often have a defined and precise audience, precisely because their image proposes certain values and not others.
For example, if I have an Instagram page of vegan recipes, I can't start selling meat on behalf of a company…
Furthermore, it is not certain that an influencer can propose several companies in competition with each other. But this remains to be seen, because there are cases of pro and con comparisons that balance the balance and allow users to choose. Again with a view to enhancing the individual in the market, in fact, the perspective of competition between the companies themselves is also changing.
This concept represents another advantage of the business model of theC2B eCommerce.
Kilobit Consulting
We are a network of internal but also external professionals, who are therefore independent and who have their own personal projects, including C2B eCommerce. If you don't know where to start to start a sole proprietorship, you can ask us for advice in the first phase. In fact, we can prepare a social strategy for you, provide you with the creation of audiovisual content, support you in marketing campaigns and help you build your image at 360°, which in all respects becomes a brand.
Contact us to know more.