Business-to-business (B2B) is a term with a vast meaning but commonly it is used to describe electronic commerce or transactions between businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and other groups, such as B2C and B2G.

B2B is commonly described as any activity e.g. auctions, e-commerce,
marketing or sales taking place between businesses and other businesses rather than business and customer (B2C) or business and government (B2G)

B2B takes place by marketing communication i.e. B2B marketing communication which involves tactics to generate revenue by marketing, auctions, e-commerce
other than direct sales. B2B marketing communications tactics generally include advertising, public relations, direct mail, trade show support, sales collateral, branding, and interactive services such as website design and search engine optimization.

A very important term for B2B is automated e-commerce transaction. It is a process of transaction between trading partners. The volume of B2B transaction is much higher than
B2C, because of this more and more organizations are turning towards e-commerce today. This transformation has given a tremendous opportunity for e-marketplace.

E-marketplace in B2B context is primarily a large online platform or B2B portal or a website which facilitates transactions or interactions between businesses (e.g. suppliers, manufacturers etc.). E-Marketplace has introduced new transaction procedures like auctions, reverse auctions, forward auctions etc, which in turn has the following benefits for businesses

1. Help buyers find new suppliers and vice versa

2. Help reduce the time and cost of interaction for B2B transactions

3. Help increase trade between distant geographies

4. Help manage payments and track orders for B2B transactions

5. Help the environment by using appropriate technology that is environmentally friendly