business-to-business

noun

busi·​ness-to-busi·​ness ˈbiz-nəs-tə-ˈbiz-nəs 

: a sector of business activity that focuses on commerce performed between businesses rather than between a business and a consumer

a company that specializes in business-to-business

Business-to-business, the sale of goods and services to other companies rather than to the public, has flourished for centuries.

—Joanne Legomsky

—usually used before another noun

Business-to-business sales rose 4.4% from a year earlier, but retail sales increased less than 1%.

—The Wall Street Journal

business-to-business companies

the business-to-business market

—abbreviation B2B

Examples of business-to-business in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, Zalando is set to purchase its German rival About You, with plans to grab more European market share and collaborate in areas such as business-to-business, logistics and payments. —Tianwei Zhang, WWD, 6 Jan. 2025

So what are some of the trends that have driven Expedia stock higher of late? Expedia Group is benefiting from resilient travel demand, driving growth and higher margins in its business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) segments. —Trefis Team, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024

The directive sets a maximum payment term of 30 days for public authorities and 60 days for business-to-business (B2B) transactions, except where longer terms are expressly agreed upon and are not considered grossly unfair. —Aleksandra Bal, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024

Ripple is a 12-year-old business-to-business payments firm that does much of its business outside the U.S., serving banks, payments companies and other financial institutions with a need for cross-border payments. —Tanaya MacHeel, CNBC, 16 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above