7 Challenges of the B2B2C model and how to overcome them

If there is one business model that has translated into crazy growth for many enterprise brands, it is - B2B2C ecommerce.

Look around and there is proof galore! 

Brands like Nykaa, Urban Company, BigBasket, or any of our go-to brands are nailing the B2B2C model, making the enterprise ecommerce battle even more INTENSE and INTERESTING. 

Gone are the days of simple B2B and B2C models, B2B2C is the model every other large brand is betting on.

Here is how brands are pivoting to hybrid models:

Source: Statista

The above graph shows that the sum total exceeds 100%. It is so because most enterprise brands are now willing to experiment with different business models. The most remarkable thing about this graph is how enterprise brands are re-aligning their business models and pivoting to hybrid business models. They are no longer experimenting with just one model, most brands looking to scale rapidly are deploying multiple hybrid models at the same time. 

To understand the market better let us first understand the model itself and what makes B2B2C the winning formula for so many brands.

What is the B2B2C ecommerce business model?

The B2B2C model refers to a business set-up where the brand/business collaborates with other business partners to reach the end buyers. It combines the B2B and B2C models to enable the brands to sell to their customers via the businesses that are already selling to the end buyers. 

Say there is a brand A, it connects with other businesses to use their products and services to cater to the end customers. Brand A can seamlessly collaborate with multiple businesses as its sellers. The brand here does not necessarily have to produce the products or services it is selling to the customers. The partner seller B2B2C ecommerce companies serve as a connecting line between the brand and the end users. They get better visibility, trust, logistics or any assistance from the parent brand A to help scale the business. 

Why B2B2C model is gaining popularity

Let us first see some more interesting insights into how brands are gravitating towards B2B2C.

• 25.49% of enterprise brands pivoted successfully to a B2B2C model
• 39.22% of manufacturers are currently making efforts to adopt the B2B2C model
• 42.3% of brands’ second main sales channel was B2B2C

Source: Copperberg

Clearly this model has benefits that are giving a filip to B2B2C partnerships. With better business opportunities, the business model is a win-all strategy for all parties involved, the enterprise brand, the sellers, and the end customers. Wondering how?  

Benefits of B2B2C for enterprise brands

Here is how the model is beneficial for the parent brand:

• Helps showcase a rich and wide product/service catalouge from various sellers/vendors/partners
• A non-inventory-based model where each seller/business brings their own rich inventory set
• Easy to reach new audience segments by onboarding new business partners and selling wide products and services to the customers 
• Get access to detailed customer behaviour and buying habits data to strategically make new marketing plans

Benefits of B2B2C model for the partners/vendor

Following are the benefits of the business-to-business-to-consumer model for the partner businesses that serve the end buyers:

• Access to a cutting-edge ecommerce platform with multiple touchpoints like apps, online stores, social media etc
• Benefit by doing business with the readymade traffic of enterprise brands
• Easy to get support in various services like logistics, customer support, marketing etc
• Boost sales and profit by leveraging strategic data from the B2B2C ecommerce business 

Benefits of B2B2B model for the customers

Customers get engaged well on B2B2C portals due to following reasons:

• Access to a one-stop shop with a vast product catalouge 
• Competitive pricing structure to compare with multiple sellers on the platform
• Assured quality of products and services from a reputed brand
• Quick customer service portal to get the grievances resolved 

The winning equation of B2B2C relationships helps the sellers and the brands to scale their businesses seamlessly. With the inherent benefits of the business model, several brands are taking the B2B2C road to success. 

However, to successfully run the B2B2C business, you need feature-rich enterprise ecommerce solutions that make it not only easy to build but also seamless to run, manage and grow your business. If on the one hand the model has potential for immense growth,on the other hand it also comes with its own set of challenges. 

Challenges of B2B2C model and how to overcome them

The versatility of the business model has made it the top choice for many enterprise brands. Whilst being the win-all model, it comes with the following challenges. 

Finding the technology solution to handle both B2B and B2C models 

Every business has its own needs and requirements, right? And so goes with different business models like B2B and B2C. But what happens when we combine the two? The needs are still diverse, just combined. You need an enterprise ecommerce solution that is scalable and flexible making it seamless to handle enterprise-level order volumes, multiple partners, customers, payments etc. 

Solution:

StoreHippo is designed on the future-ready MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, Headless) architecture to give enterprise brands inherent flexibility and scalability to build tailor-made solutions for their business needs. It also enables the brands to tweak the platform inside out or create new entities for their unique needs without having to disrupt the entire ecosystem. StoreHippo comes with built-in support for both B2B and B2C business models and a gamut of features to help businesses run the B2B2C setup seamlessly.

Ease of managing and running the business 

The B2B2C model sounds interesting to do your business on, but it is one helluva task to manage and run your business seamlessly while implementing this model. Inefficiency in managing multiple partners, their product catalogs, the high-volume orders, and quick customer service, etc can take a toll on your enterprise business. 

Solution:

StoreHippo comes with 300+ built-in features that enable high-volume B2B2C brands like yours to manage and experiment with diverse business models. With the plug-and-play solution, you do not have to pay extra for additional apps or extensions to build hybrid solutions. With StoreHippo enterprise ecommerce solutions offering a gamut of enterprise-grade features and tools, you can quickly launch, pivot and scale your business using one single platform. 

Ability to make quick changes to the platform

As you partner with the industry’s best sellers and service providers, you look forward to making quick changes on the platform as and when needed. Does your ecommerce platform allow you to quickly alter the existing backend and frontend to help you carve a niche for your brand? 

Solution:

StoreHippo comes with native battle-tested solutions for your business. You can seamlessly generate new business opportunities for your sellers by quickly aligning your B2B2C ecommerce platform to the needs of your customers. StoreHippo's scalable and flexible ecommerce platform helps you tweak your frontend as well as the backend as per the demands of your growing business. You quickly add multiple touchpoints to your business using the same backend logic and APIs and connect with your customers across all channels loved by them.

Offering customized buyer journeys 

One of the biggest challenges of running a B2B2C enterprise ecommerce business is catering to the needs of diverse audience groups. And a customized buyer journey is what helps keep your customers hinged to your brand. Wondering how is that possible when you cater to a larger audience group with different buyer personas.

Solution:

StoreHippo enterprise ecommerce solutions come with headless ecommerce architecture to easily customize your design themes, checkouts, order process, product catalogue and other functionalities without causing much upheaval. You can seamlessly create new dynamic pages to target a specific audience group. StoreHippo comes with a rich design themes library to help you quickly design your website. The drag-and-drop feature enables even novice users to create designs without the need for coding. 

Implementing personalization 

60% of shoppers are more likely to be repeat customers when they are offered personalized shopping experiences. It's a hyper-personalization age and B2B2C partnerships require personalization at each level of operations. When brands offer personalized user experiences, they can drive sales and boost revenue. 

Solution: 

StoreHippo ecommerce platform is built on decoupled headless architecture to help you tweak your website inside out. It enables you to implement multi-level personalizations like creating multiple storefronts/sub-stores for various locations, audiences etc. StoreHippo comes with a powerful discount engine to help you offer multi-level personalized discounts. You can also customize your shipping solutions and digital payments to offer a local touch to your customers.

The global customers on your B2B2C ecommerce site can make their purchases in their native currency and interact with you in their local language.  

Seamless integrations for multi-level business operations 

Running and managing a fast-growing enterprise business like yours is challenging. And with the lack of the right solutions and tools at hand, doing business and managing multi-level operations of the business model can seem like a daunting task. Since both the B2B and B2C businesses come with their own set of additional software and tools, handling a unique set of integrations becomes a major challenge.  

Solution:

StoreHippo comes with 150+ pre-integrated solutions and helps you to seamlessly integrate with any preferred software and service providers into your B2B2C business model. StoreHippo comes with 300+ API endpoints that enable you to integrate seamlessly with the best-in-breed solution and software for managing your everyday operations. You can seamlessly integrate with your choice of software like ERP, CRM, accounting, marketing, logistics, or payments solutions using StoreHippo APIs.

Scaling the business on multiple fronts 

A successful B2B2C venture thrives to grow on multiple fronts. As the business gears up, you might want to grow to new business verticals. For example, if your brand started off selling canned food items, you can diversify to selling food, selling packaged food, selling gourmet spices, exotic fruits etc. To implement this, you will need to add more sellers and have a scalable B2B2C ecommerce platform. It must help you grow to any number of users, products, pages, etc as well as supports popular business setups like multi store online marketplace.

Solution:

StoreHippo comes with a secure and inherently scalable cloud infrastructure that supports the growth of your enterprise brand on multiple fronts. With its unlimited scalability, your enterprise brand can grow the business to any number of users, products, vendors, locations, etc. Storehippo’s scalability supports peak load tolerance or is designed to support exponential growth of enterprise brands.. 

Conclusion

Combining the B2B and B2C models of business solutions, enterprise brands can carve a niche for their business and aim for exceptional growth. Whether you are a retail enterprise planning to go big or a wholesale brand planning to reach end customers in partnership with retailers, the B2B2C model offers you the flexibility and opportunity to take your business places.  

For unparalleled growth, brands need a robust, future-ready ecommerce platform that suits their B2B2C ecommerce business needs. StoreHippo enterprise ecommerce solutions come with enterprise-grade inbuilt features that help businesses align the strengths of both B2B and B2C models to offer their customers a rich shopping experience.   

Ready to overcome the challenges of the B2B2C model with StoreHippo? Explore the enterprise-grade features by starting your 14-day free trial now.