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

And Gartner found 67% of business-to-business (B2B) buyers prefer a rep-free experience. — Tobias Fischer, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026

Past examples of Pixel Moda putting this into action were a recent business-to-business photography shoot for a client in its studios; the company focuses on creating richer product detail pages for the brand. — Kanika Talwar, Footwear News, 5 Nov. 2026

Nakama says AniBiz is the first dedicated business-to-business marketplace built for the global anime industry. — Todd Spangler, Variety, 27 Oct. 2026

The less flashy growth engine for WSM is its business-to-business segment. — Josh Brown,sean Russo, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for business-to-business

• agribusiness
• business
• nonbusiness