Jan 15, 2025 | 8 minute read
written by Erica Orthmann
Many businesses are looking at B2B2C eCommerce as a way to grow their customer base and strengthen partnerships. This business model — where companies work with partners to sell their products directly to consumers — offers a lot of potential. But it also comes with its fair share of challenges.
Managing B2B2C commerce can feel complicated, especially if you’re dealing with outdated legacy systems or manual processes. The good news? There are ways to simplify it, especially by using modern tools like composable commerce.
In this article, we’ll cover:
At its core, a B2B2C eCommerce business model means that one business partners with another to sell to consumers. Here are a few examples.
A clothing brand works with a department store to reach shoppers
A clothing brand that makes sustainable fashion primarily sells through their own online store (B2C), but they’re looking to reach more shoppers. Instead of spending a fortune on digital advertising, they decide to partner with a department store like Nordstrom.
The clothing brand benefits from the department store’s brand recognition, customer base, and logistics infrastructure. Meanwhile, the department store gets to expand its product catalog with a trendy, sustainable fashion line.
A B2B furniture manufacturer finds new channels for consumers
A furniture manufacturer that traditionally sells ergonomic office furniture to large businesses (think corporate offices and co-working spaces) sees a shift in the market. With more people working remotely, the company realizes there’s a growing demand for work-from-home setups. Instead of relying solely on its B2B sales channels, the manufacturer decides to partner with a retailer like Target to reach home-based workers.
The furniture manufacturer gains direct access to a new customer segment—individual home office shoppers—without having to change its core business model. The retailer expands its product catalog by offering high-quality, ergonomic furniture that aligns with consumer demand for work-from-home setups.
It sounds simple, but managing these types of partnerships can get complicated fast. Here’s why.
When your business partners with other companies to list your products on their websites, it’s essential that product descriptions, prices, and inventory levels remain accurate across all channels. If your partners are showing outdated information, it can lead to frustrated customers, lost sales, and damage to your brand reputation.
Many businesses still rely on manual processes to update product catalogs for each partner. For example:
These manual processes are time-consuming and error-prone. For instance, a partner might display a product as "in stock" when your inventory is already depleted, leading to out-of-stock orders and poor customer experiences.
In a B2B2C model, different partners may want custom pricing, product bundles, or promotions tailored to their audience. For example:
If your commerce system can’t handle these variations in pricing and product offerings, you’ll be forced to create manual workarounds, such as separate spreadsheets or custom product listings. These workarounds can be time-intensive, prone to mistakes, and make scaling your partnerships difficult.
Without a flexible system in place, you may find yourself:
For example, if your system can only handle one standard pricing model, you’ll need to manually create duplicate product entries for each partner to reflect their unique pricing. This process can quickly spiral out of control as your partner network grows.
One of the biggest challenges in B2B commerce is the lack of direct access to end-consumer data. In a traditional B2B setup, manufacturers sell products to retailers, who then sell to consumers. This means the manufacturer often loses visibility into who the end customers are, what they’re buying, and why they’re buying.
In a B2B2C model, however, businesses have the opportunity to gain more visibility into customer behavior through their partnerships. But only if they set up the right systems to collect and share data effectively.
Without access to customer data, manufacturers face several challenges:
For example, a furniture manufacturer may want to know:
If the manufacturer relies solely on retail partners to share this data, they’re at the mercy of what the partner is willing to disclose—which often isn’t much.
The key to simplifying B2B2C commerce is having the right systems in place to manage partner relationships without creating more work for your team. Here are a few ways to do that:
Instead of managing separate product catalogs for each partner, use a centralized system that allows you to adjust product listings, pricing, and inventory levels in one place. With the right tools, you can easily create customized product catalogs for each partner without duplicating your efforts.
For example, Elastic Path’s Product Experience Manager allows you to create unique catalogs for each partner while keeping everything organized in one central hub.
Pro Tip: Save time by automating updates. If you change a product description or price in your main catalog, it should update automatically across all partner channels.
One size doesn’t fit all in B2B2C. Different partners may want different pricing structures or exclusive offers for their customers. The good news is that you don’t need to manage these manually.
Look for tools that allow you to:
API-first solutions are essential for B2B2C commerce. They allow your systems to “talk” to your partners’ systems without needing to build custom integrations from scratch. This means you can:
Instead of building a new system for every partner, you can use the same APIs to connect with multiple partners, saving time and money.
One of the biggest challenges for B2B businesses is not having direct access to customer data. With a B2B2C model, you can change that by setting up shared data agreements with your partners.
By gaining visibility into how customers interact with your products, you can:
If you’re ready to streamline your B2B2C commerce strategy, here’s where to start:
Managing B2B2C commerce doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With the right systems in place, you can simplify partner relationships, keep product info up to date, and make smarter decisions based on customer data.
The key is to use tools that offer flexibility and control — like those provided by Elastic Path. Whether you’re just getting started with B2B2C or looking to optimize your current setup, simplifying your processes can help you scale your business faster and more efficiently.
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