B2B commerce vs DTC eCommerce - Are they really different

When we started working on digital commerce projects at Openthrive in 2015, it was more or less the same for both B2B and DTC.

Commerce was commerce. Straightforward.

A great product, a solid commerce engine, a smooth experience, some powerful CTAs, payment systems, and that’s all.

Skipping all the buzzwords, and jumping straight into what we’ve observed from real-world projects while working with different teams, from founders to marketers to slightly lost buyers.

Over the years, we noticed the entire behavior around B2B commerce was evolving.

Not just the goals, not just the buyer, but the ecosystem itself. The conversations, the expectations, the buying processes, and what success looked like. Everything.

Having observed both situations, the bottomline is -

The way B2B commerce experiences are built should be completely different from how DTC is done. Going into the details now.

We’ve seen how businesses think, how buyers behave, and where things actually click (or don’t). So, here’s a clearer picture of how B2B and DTC work in reality.

Skipping all the buzzwords, and jumping straight into what we’ve observed from real-world projects while working with different teams, from founders to marketers to slightly lost buyers.

We’ve seen how businesses think, how buyers behave, and where things actually click (or don’t). So, here’s a clearer picture of how B2B and DTC work in reality.

For a long time, we thought the end goal was always the same, just make the sale. But it’s not. In DTC, that’s mostly true, the product, the checkout, and the experience all point toward a single transaction and the hope of repeat purchases. It’s a fast-moving world where clarity, speed, and visual appeal drive action.

The goal is conversion, yes but 100% also connection. The strongest brands leave a mark, a memory, and a feeling that brings people back without a prompt. The sale eventually happens.

In B2B commerce, the goal is to solve. The outcomes are tied to helping teams build relationships, supporting longer sales cycles, longer conversations, and offering solutions. B2B buyers evaluate in detail and don’t rush to buy.

In fact, it’s less about buying a product, and more about finding the right fit that moves a business forward.

People don’t always know why they trust a brand, but they know when they do.

For a DTC commerce experience, credibility shows up in smaller, quicker ways. Reviews that sound real, fast and clean delivery that works, a faster return policy, and product photos that feel honest. It’s a mix of cues that tell the buyer, you won’t regret this purchase decision. The more effortless the experience, the more they’ll believe you the next time.

B2B buyers, though, need deeper assurance. They're not buying for themselves, and they’re not doing it on impulse. They want to know who you are, what you know, and how reliable your solution is over time, backed by proof, just not promises.

For B2B buyers, trust builds slowly through resources, insights, and even the multiple ways they can make a purchase on the store. It’s not about shouting expertise, it’s about showing up with clarity, consistency, and a firm sense of confidence. The quiet signals speak the loudest in a B2B commerce experience.

A DTC buyer is someone like you, buying something for your own use. A new pair of shoes, a smartwatch, a protein bar.

You scroll, compare, and read a couple of reviews, and if the price looks good and the product seems promising, you tap ‘’buy now”. It’s quick, emotional, and often driven by desire.

But a B2B buyer is not buying for themselves. They’re buying for their company, to solve something for their teams, trying to achieve efficiency, revenue growth, productivity, smooth processes, product quality, digital security, happy clients, etc.

They’re measured on the outcomes their purchase will create. So when they buy, they’re looking for a transformation.

B2B buyers don’t scroll and buy immediately. They research, call, compare, and then build a case for their buying team, which can sometimes take weeks or months.

DTC commerce experience is built for speed and conversion.

For DTC buyers, whichever channels they come from, from your homepage to your checkout, the journey needs to be faster, as in from interest to purchase in minutes. Because if they leave, they probably won’t come back.

To make them come back, you need to already make space in their minds for your brand.

In contrast, a B2B commerce experience supports a far more detailed and deliberate journey. B2B buyers like to learn as much as possible about your solutions through your website (and other channels), gather information, loop in stakeholders, and evaluate options before making a decision. The purchase may not even happen on the website. Instead, the site acts as a key touchpoint throughout a longer buying cycle, helping the team explore, which starts from simply reading and understanding to the point they finally decide to buy even after the product is delivered.

Plus, every buyer might take a completely different route based on the kind of knowledge they have, time constraints, budget constraints, urgency, existing relationships with your brand, etc.

They might fill out a form, request a quote, download a pricing sheet, book a demo, and bring 3 other people into the conversation.

So B2B commerce is less about quick conversion and more about building confidence at every stage.

Generic or small-scale DTC businesses love their Shopify and WooCommerce setups. They come with good-looking themes that can be quickly set up.

Mid to large enterprise DTC brands can use more sophisticated technology for their commerce experience, especially for personalization, subscription-style purchases, product customization, etc.

And most B2B companies make the mistake of having DTC tech for their B2B commerce. When in fact they usually need deeper integrations like ERP, CRM, inventory syncing, customer-specific pricing, reordering workflows, complex shipping rules, and so on.

More than how the website looks, it’s important to see how the commerce tech stack fits into a giant business machine that already exists and actually helps it run smoother.

Many DTC brands also go headless to get more control over design, speed, and personalized experiences without touching the backend. Headless comes in handy for B2B commerce too, letting you plug into existing systems while still building a clean, flexible frontend experience with smoother navigation and complex product experiences.

DTC brands go hard on the vibe. And it works for them. With a cool tone, edgy visuals, and fun content, it builds brand love.

In B2B, it’s not that people don’t care about good design or language. They do.

But they care more about whether you understand their industry, their pain points, and the long-term value you’re promising. They are more focused on clarity.

However, both DTC and B2B brands need solid positioning and then build their commerce experiences to strengthen that.

The global DTC eCommerce market is now worth over $3.8 trillion. DTC eCommerce sales are sizable and are continuously growing but amount to a fraction of B2B commerce sales, which total $7.7 trillion, more than double DTC eCommerce sales.

As of 2025, eMarketer expects the U.S. market for DTC eCommerce to total $226.53 billion, including $186.6 billion from established brands, representing a significant increase from previous years. As more brands adopt DTC models, the market will continue to expand.

By 2030, the B2B commerce market will reach $47.54 trillion, rising at a CAGR of 16.17% from $19.34 trillion in 2024.

Leaders need to understand B2B commerce and DTC commerce aren’t just “slightly” different. They operate on different mindsets, timelines, expectations, and strategies.

If you’re building one while pretending it’s the other, you're probably losing revenue, or even worse, you are losing trust.