business-to-business

noun

busi·​ness-to-busi·​ness

: 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

There was nothing about business-to-business, no non-profit, none of that. —The Arizona Republic, 22 July 2023

David broke down Hearst's sustainability strategy, a three-prong approach: educating the public, lowering our carbon emissions, and business-to-business (B2B) solutions that enable other corporations to achieve their climate goals. —Abigail Bailey, Good Housekeeping, 31 July 2023

Xumo Enterprise, the company’s business-to-business arm, will handle distribution of NBCU’s new FAST channels on third-party services (starting with Freevee). —Todd Spangler, Variety, 29 June 2023

The company negotiates business-to-business shipments for companies with freight to move, matching them with carriers that have the capacity to move them. —Joseph Powell, The Enquirer, 7 June 2023

That bill was considerably watered down before it was signed, with companies not being obliged to sell individual parts, and business-to-business and business-to-government electronics sales not being included. —Marco Marcelline, PCMAG, 26 May 2023

Known as the Pulitzer Prizes of business-to-business journalism, the Neal Awards recognize editorial excellence. —IEEE Spectrum, 1 May 2023

But Carpenter’s bill does not have carve-outs for those spending areas — instead exempting business-to-business transactions from the new tax. —Sean Maguire, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Mar. 2023

The sanctioning body and series have provided NTTwith valuable opportunities for brand awareness, client engagement, and a range of business-to-business (B2B) initiatives while spearheading a digital transformation within the industry. —Bruce Martin, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above