Why D2B will soon replace B2B

The traditional B2C model has been replaced with D2C, where manufacturers sell directly to consumers, removing the middleman and securing themselves a healthier margin. However B2B, where the time-honoured process of manufacturers selling to wholesalers, who in turn sell to their business customers, is still alive and kicking.

Seems odd then that a D2B model has not been established. After all the principles remain the same as D2C.

The pros and cons of a D2C model are clear - the pros being greater margin, access to direct data, greater opportunity for testing and personalisation and the cons are related to understanding the costs involved with packaging, distribution and marketing directly to the end user.

The D2B model has exactly the same pros and cons, yet has not gained the same foothold as D2C. Whilst the death of the high street has occupied a number of column inches, the death of the distributor has not been as vocalised. But as industries adapt to changing consumer tastes, the pressures on all businesses will increase and the distributor, in the current sense, will not need to exist, giving rise to D2B.

Jamlist is the first D2B business in the hospitality industry, providing premium and artisanal manufacturers with an e-commerce platform to sell directly to hospitality businesses, who in turn have direct access to the manufacturer. There is no need to have a distributor in the middle.

As tech continued to rampage its way through traditional business models, it will not be long before D2B replaces the antiquated B2B model.