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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteB2C ecommerce is when a business sells goods or services to individual consumers through an online ordering channel. It includes brand-owned stores, online retailers, marketplace listings, dropshipping, subscriptions, and qualifying orders placed through apps or social platforms. These models can overlap: a brand can sell directly on its website and through a marketplace, for example. The right sales approach depends on how much control you need over the customer experience, and who will manage inventory, fulfillment, and service.
What is B2C ecommerce?
B2C stands for business-to-consumer. Ecommerce is the online ordering component: a consumer places an order with a business through a website, app, marketplace, or another online interface designed to receive orders. The product need not be digital, and payment and delivery do not have to happen online for the order to count as ecommerce under the OECD’s measurement guidance. See the OECD explanation of ecommerce transactions.
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B2C describes who is buying from whom; it does not specify the seller’s channel or operating arrangement. A manufacturer selling a speaker on its own website, a retailer selling that speaker, and an independent merchant selling it through a marketplace can all be B2C businesses. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) is one form of B2C, not a synonym for all B2C ecommerce.
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What are the main B2C ecommerce models?
These categories describe different parts of a business: some identify the seller, some the sales channel, and others how an order is fulfilled or repeated. A business can combine several of them.
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Direct-to-consumer (DTC)
A maker or brand sells to end customers through a store, app, or social channel it operates. DTC gives the business more control over its storefront and direct customer interactions, but it also has to attract shoppers and manage the customer-facing experience. A brand can sell DTC while also using retail partners or marketplaces. Salesforce’s B2C ecommerce guide describes Sonos as a wireless home audio manufacturer that focused on its direct ecommerce channel after pandemic disruption to traditional brick-and-mortar sales; that is Salesforce’s case account, not proof that the approach works for every business.
Online retailer
An online retailer sells goods to consumers through its digital storefront. It may make the products itself or source products from other brands. Compared with a brand selling only through other retailers, it controls its own storefront, but it must decide how to source products, manage stock, and fulfill orders.
Marketplace-mediated selling
A marketplace connects consumers with sellers, which may be independent businesses rather than the platform itself. A merchant can use a marketplace alongside its own store. The platform can provide an established place for product discovery, while the seller has less control over how products are presented and how the customer relationship is mediated. Being listed on a marketplace does not guarantee sales or profit.
Dropshipping
In dropshipping, a seller lists products and places an order with a supplier after a consumer buys. The supplier handles fulfillment, so the seller may avoid holding the stock itself. That shifts operational dependence rather than removing it: product availability, delivery coordination, and the customer’s experience still need to be managed.
Subscription commerce
Subscriptions arrange repeat purchases or recurring access to a service. They can be offered through a DTC store, retailer, or another online channel. They are most relevant when the product or service naturally supports repeat buying; a subscription is a purchasing arrangement, not a separate customer type.
Social and app-based commerce
Websites, apps, and social platforms can all support ecommerce when they provide an interface designed to place or receive an order. A social post, product discussion, or advertisement alone is not necessarily an ecommerce transaction: the distinction is whether an order is placed through an online ordering method.
How do the models compare?
The practical choice is often not one model versus another. A business may combine its own store, marketplace listings, and subscriptions, then choose whether to hold stock or outsource fulfillment. Compare each channel and operating arrangement using these questions:
| Model or arrangement | Storefront and customer relationship | Discovery and control | Inventory and fulfillment | Purchase pattern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DTC | Brand operates its direct channel and customer-facing experience. | Greater control over presentation; the brand must build its own discovery as needed. | Depends on the brand’s fulfillment arrangement. | One-time or recurring, depending on the offer. |
| Online retailer | Retailer operates the storefront and sells its own or sourced products. | Controls its own storefront; discovery depends on its channel and marketing. | Retailer’s arrangement; it may hold stock or use another fulfillment approach. | Usually individual purchases, but repeat orders are possible. |
| Marketplace selling | Platform mediates the connection; a third-party seller may own the listed product. | Access to a marketplace environment, with less control over presentation and customer interaction. | Depends on the seller’s and platform’s arrangements. | Usually individual orders; can coexist with subscriptions elsewhere. |
| Dropshipping | Seller presents the offer and handles the customer-facing sale. | Seller controls its listing or storefront; supplier coordination affects delivery. | Supplier fulfills after the consumer order; seller depends on supplier execution. | Usually individual purchases; repeat purchases may be offered. |
| Subscription | Business manages a recurring purchase or service relationship through its chosen channel. | Depends on whether it is sold direct, through retail, or another channel. | Depends on the underlying product or service and fulfillment setup. | Recurring purchases or access. |
These are decision prompts, not fixed rules. The same seller may use different inventory, delivery, and customer-service arrangements across channels. For physical goods sold across borders, delivery, returns, and applicable market rules also affect the operating choice.
How to choose channels and operating arrangements
Start with the requirements of the product and customer, then decide which parts of the experience the business needs to control. An external retailer or marketplace may offer a route to shoppers, while an owned store gives the business more authority over its presentation. Salesforce notes that a brand’s presentation through external retailers depends on the retailer’s marketing approach.
- Customer relationship: Decide whether direct interaction and control of the storefront are central to the offer, or whether mediated selling is acceptable.
- Discovery: Consider whether the business can bring shoppers to its own channel or values the discovery environment of a marketplace or retailer.
- Inventory and fulfillment: Establish who will hold stock, prepare orders, coordinate suppliers, and meet the delivery promise.
- Repeat buying: Use a recurring arrangement only where it fits how customers need or use the product or service.
- Operations and geography: Account for delivery, returns, payment options, customs charges where relevant, and the complexity of serving each market.
No single model is universally best. The choice is a trade-off among customer-experience control, discovery, operating workload, fulfillment reliability, and the economics of the offer.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to build a B2C ecommerce sales strategy
Plan around the customer journey: help suitable shoppers discover the offer, make it easy to evaluate and buy, then provide service that supports a good post-purchase experience. Salesforce lists SEO, social media, email campaigns, content marketing, paid advertising, and influencer partnerships as possible tactics; their usefulness depends on the audience and the economics of the seller’s offer.
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Use search visibility and useful content to help people find products when they are looking for them. Social channels, paid media, and influencer partnerships can provide other routes to discovery when they fit the intended audience. Choose tactics according to the product and channel rather than assuming every tactic will work equally well.
2. Make the offer easy to assess
Give shoppers clear product information, pricing, availability, delivery terms, and a way to get support. A coherent experience across touchpoints and relevant personalization can help people evaluate an offer, but should not obscure the terms that matter to the purchase.
3. Reduce avoidable checkout uncertainty
Keep checkout as straightforward as the channel allows. Make payment choices, delivery expectations, returns, and any applicable customs charges understandable before the customer commits. DHL’s 2025 business report page identifies logistics, payment options, customs charges, and cart abandonment as concerns reported by retailers.
DHL says its 2025 report draws on 24,000 recent online shoppers in 24 countries, surveyed in February–March 2025; respondents had made at least one online purchase in the preceding three months. Its findings are survey results from that sample, not a description of every online shopper. See DHL’s 2025 E-Commerce Trends Report: Business Edit.
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4. Support the customer after purchase
Make customer support and post-purchase information available, and use relevant follow-up communication where it serves the customer. Replenishment or subscriptions may suit products people regularly need. These practices are ways to support the experience and encourage repeat business, not guarantees of sales growth.
What does recent market evidence show?
For a geographically specific benchmark, Ecommerce Europe and EuroCommerce reported that European B2C ecommerce turnover reached €819 billion in 2024, up 7% from €765 billion in 2023. They reported inflation-adjusted real growth of 4.2%. These figures describe Europe, not the global market; the 2025 report release says the Centre for Market Insights of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences prepared the full report. See the 2025 European ecommerce report release.
