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

Currently, the brand is clarifying its direct-to-consumer and business-to-business models to achieve its retail goals. —Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 12 Aug. 2024

So far, the map includes 321 impact partners in 22 countries around the world, though it’s primarily meant as a business-to-business tool for tour operators and travel agents who can create entire trips around the experiences and deliver a larger scale of bookings. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune Europe, 12 Aug. 2024

Whiting has guided several business-to-business software-as-a-service companies through growth and global expansion, most recently serving as the managing director and chief operating officer of Forsta as well as operating officer at growth investor Verdane. —Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 2 Aug. 2024

Then, seven years ago, Yang opened a Paris shop-in-shop for business-to-business clients, and in 2023 decided to expand the retail concept more aggressively. —Jennifer Weil, WWD, 23 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above