As consumer demands for customization grow, manufacturers are taking notice of an emerging business model called B2B2C. As opposed to B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-consumer,) a B2B2C model emphasizes the need for manufacturers to cut out the middle man in their sales processes.

What is B2B2C?

B2B2C stands for Business-to-Business-to-Consumer. B2B2C focuses on creating a better customer experience and buying journey for the end consumer. In a B2B2C model manufacturers create processes that allow for the consumer to customize products, and for resellers to easily sell products in a way that matches production capabilities.  It’s a shift from mass produced goods to mass customization.

Why B2B2C: What are the benefits of B2B2C sales models?

Enterprise buyers (B2B) seek out options to provide the highest levels of customization to their consumers (B2C).  They look for those solutions among the manufacturers they source product from (B2B2C). In a recent interview, Kris Goldhair of KBMax explains how CPQ plays a part in the B2B eCommerce and B2B2C business models.

He explains that enterprise buyers are looking for:

“…a tech-driven process that allows them to quickly design or customize the required product, see the price upfront and order in a short series of clicks. This landscape for the consumerization of business purchasing—increasingly being referred to as B2B2C—places more pressure on sales teams, who want to accommodate buyer preferences, but aren’t always privy to what that takes on the production side.”

The problem with this, Goldhair explains, is that most sales processes are outdated.  They create friction for the salesperson and require a lot of effort and time in order to put together custom quotes and often come with long lead times for manufacturing custom products, resulting in prolonged sales cycles.

CPQ aims to solve this problem by offering a technology solution that allows enterprises to reach their B2B2C goals:

  • Sell manufacturers’ customized products directly on their website
  • Streamline sales, engineering and manufacturing processes
  • Provide product visualization and 3D modeling for consumers based on customization
  • Automatically quote consumers based on customizations