Definition
Business-to-consumer (B2C) describes companies that sell products or services directly to individual consumers, as in e-commerce, streaming subscriptions and retail chains.
Meaning and usage
B2C decisions are quick and ticket sizes small, so the business leans on brand marketing, conversion rates and repeat purchases at scale. Compared with B2B, consumer products usually need a lower barrier to entry and a shorter path to first value.
Usage
E-commerce, social apps and consumer subscription services are typical B2C businesses. Growth, advertising and retention discussions usually begin by positioning the audience as B2C or B2B.
Related and confusable terms
B2C is the counterpart of B2B, which sells to companies with slower decisions and longer contracts. Plenty of SaaS companies start from a B2C user base and later extend into B2B use cases.