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

The latest scheme is to create a 2.5% business-to-business tax, a tax hidden in the costs of businesses so that those rubes also known as voters may not notice it. —Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 18 Mar. 2025

Santhosh and his co-founders had initially considered a marketplace approach, matching buyers with sellers, a model that has worked in business-to-business contracting in many industries. —David Prosser, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

The company decided to follow Amazon’s lead by using its logistics hubs and software services to attract more business-to-consumer and business-to-business opportunities, alongside existing services for fashion consumers. —Cathrin Schaer, WWD, 6 Mar. 2025

Egypt Stitch & Tex is jointly held by business-to-business exhibition organizer Vision Fairs and Business Plus Fairs, an Emirati holdings group serving various sectors, including commercial, trading and events management. —Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 27 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for business-to-business

• agribusiness
• business
• nonbusiness