What Is B2E? Understanding the B2E E-commerce Model

When people talk about e-commerce models, the familiar ones are B2C and B2B. But there is another fairly common e-commerce model that many Vietnamese companies are adopting: B2E. To understand more about what the B2E model is and how it works and benefits a company, let's look at it together. Mona Media walks you through it.

What is B2E?

B2E stands for Business – To – Employee. It means business to employee. B2E works as an internal network portal and focuses mainly on employees' needs. Specifically, the B2E electronic transaction model is an e-commerce model linking two main parties: the business and the employees who work in the company. B2E is also understood as a model that helps tie the company's internal community together.

Instead of aiming at consumers' needs, B2E shifts the focus to employees. The business provides products, services and information to the people who work in the company. A B2E portal gives employees information that answers their questions clearly and effectively, and can be used like an encyclopedia.

The purpose of the B2E model is not just to make data handling more efficient. It also raises employee satisfaction in the organization. A B2E strategy covers everything a business can do to attract, recruit, train, engage, empower and retain employees. B2E strategy also pays special attention to its effect on employees' daily lives.

Here are some companies that have used or are using the B2E e-commerce model:

• Coca Cola
• Delta Air Lines
• Ford Motor

Distinguishing features of the B2E model:

1. One single URL for everyone in the organization.
2. A combination of specific employee and organization components.
3. Highly customizable and flexible, fitting each individual.

How the B2E commerce model works

B2E is a commerce model that uses computer networks (the internet) so businesses can provide service and product information to employees (the staff of a group or company).

Companies adopt the B2E model to automate the process of:

• Providing services, products, information or goods to employees.

Example: The business gives clear, detailed information about goods and products over its internal network. Services can include benefits, social insurance, or the prices and discounts the business offers its employees.

• Employees can get discounts when they buy products

When employees want to buy the company's own products, they get discounts.

• The business communicates with employees mainly over the internet.

On internet platforms, a business can reach employees easily and quickly at any time. Private companies with many customers at home and abroad usually set up chat and email with automation, so they can receive and send messages at any hour.

Why is B2E becoming important?

One of a company's top concerns is employee satisfaction. If employees are not happy with the company's e-commerce tools, it can badly hurt employee retention. Satisfaction leads to lower turnover.

Constant staff turnover damages a company's reputation and costs money, so keeping employees is extremely important for any company or organization. High turnover lowers morale and makes it hard to keep operating.

So businesses do everything they can to keep their staff, apply successful website strategies and build an effective e-commerce brand team. Put employees first and turn them into brand ambassadors for your business.

What benefits does the B2E model bring to a business?

The B2E model has 3 main components: online services within the workplace community, business processes, and online employee management. Matching these 3 components, B2E offers 2 main benefits: benefits for the business and benefits for individual employees.

B2E reduces the business's administrative burden

When issuing rules or urgent announcements, the business does not need to meet employees in person. With B2E, leaders can reach employees over the internet quickly and easily, saving time and effort.

Boost employee morale and create an effective working environment

The business posts information on benefits and employee rights online so employees can feel secure and focus on work. B2E saves time looking for information, services and products, which raises employee productivity.

A source of accurate information shared within the company

Employees can learn how the company works on the internal network.

Applications of B2E

The B2E e-commerce model has 2 main applications: practical applications and supporting applications.

As a supporting application, B2E is used in:

• Business organizations, such as online insurance management policies, handling requests, reporting benefits to employees, and company announcements.
• Service fields: education, manufacturing and healthcare.

As a practical application, B2E is used at large companies such as Coca-Cola, Ford Motor and Delta Air Lines.

Let's look at a typical example of B2E in manufacturing e-commerce, Coca-Cola: 

Coca-Cola is one of the largest carbonated drink brands in the world. It has successfully applied the B2E model in running and managing the business.

On the employee side, staff get information so they can grasp the basics, such as how many goods there are, delivery times, and when a production batch is scheduled. This saves employees lookup time so they can focus on their work for the company. 

On the company side, management and the Coca-Cola headquarters can take in feedback from employees more easily and make better changes. This ties the company closer to its employees, and it also improves efficiency and saves time. That is why Coca-Cola quickly became one of the best-known brands in the world, not only for good products but also for the relationship between company and employees. It was named the most loved employer in 2017, rated by both customers and its own staff. 

Conclusion

The B2E e-commerce model is becoming more popular and widely used in business. Given its benefits, it is worth building, promoting and investing in. Businesses should pay more attention to similar models to grow the company and strengthen the bond between the business and its people. MONA hopes this article has helped you understand the B2E model. Thank you for reading, and good luck if you decide to apply the B2E business model!

See more:

• Reasons to choose Magento for e-commerce
• The 5 most famous e-commerce sites today
• Should you do business on a marketplace?

Whatever e-commerce model you run, the foundation is the same: a place to show products, an ordering flow, a payment gateway and somewhere to manage orders. The differences are mostly in who buys and how pricing works. If you need to build this foundation, learn more here.