# What is B2B?

What is B2B? Trade between businesses. Large orders, credit terms, approval processes. Global volume is 5x that of B2C.

## How it works in practice

B2B: 3-7 decision-makers, a sales cycle of 2-6 months. But deal size is 10-100x that of B2C.

## Related metrics

- Wholesale — B2B includes it
- Net Terms — typical payment terms
- RFQ — the buying process
- Account Hierarchy — account management

## Common misconception

'B2B is just phone and email.' 73% of B2B buyers prefer self-service online (Gartner 2023).

## How to fix it

Not growing? (1) a customer portal for every account, (2) Net 30 terms, (3) quick ordering via CSV, (4) tiered price lists.

## Real-world example

A bag manufacturer: 45 B2B customers, each order requiring a 20-minute call. A B2B portal moved 31 to self-service, saving 15 customer-service hours/week and increasing orders by 22%.

## Where to start

Build a B2B portal once you have 10+ B2B customers. Shopify Plus offers native B2B.

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Category: Operations · From the [Jimmy OS KPI Glossary](https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi.md) · Source page: https://jimmy-os.com/glossary/kpi/b2b