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

To combat new threats from AI, Ant International is focusing on three areas: investing in security and AI, building expertise and fintech-specific knowledge banks, and expanding its business-to-business AI products. —Lionel Lim, Fortune, 13 Aug. 2025

The quarterly strength was driven by its business-to-business and advertising segments. —Jj Kinahan, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2025

This basically splits the business into consumer sales via the existing homepage and app, and business-to-business, or B2B, activities. —Cathrin Schaer, Footwear News, 6 Aug. 2025

Hive to Home has developed a robust business-to-business arm, partnering with companies that share its values of sustainability and advocacy. —Jason Phillips, USA Today, 5 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for business-to-business

• agribusiness
• business
• nonbusiness