The right commerce model starts with who you sell to and how they buy - not with a platform. Most organisations fit one of three shapes, and the differences matter more behind the storefront than in front of it.

Start with how your customers buy

Business customers buy on account. They expect negotiated pricing, approvals, purchase orders and quick repeat ordering. Consumers expect to discover, choose and pay with as little friction as possible, and to be given a reason to come back.

Many organisations serve both. A manufacturer may sell to dealers and directly to the public; a distributor may run trade accounts alongside a retail shop. That is not a problem to be designed away - it is a commercial model that needs the right architecture.

What B2B commerce has to get right

B2B commerce is built around trading relationships. It has to model customer-specific pricing and catalogues, account structures with branches, buyers, approvers and finance teams, and procurement workflows such as quotes, credit terms and repeat ordering.

Most of that logic lives in the ERP, so reliable integration for stock, pricing, orders and invoices is usually central rather than optional. More on B2B commerce.

What D2C commerce has to get right

Conversion is only the beginning. A strong D2C operation has to help customers discover and buy, keep its promises through fulfilment and returns, and create reasons to return through accounts, subscriptions and communications.

That only works when commerce, service and marketing see the same customer, and when the storefront is connected to inventory, warehouse and carrier systems. More on D2C commerce.

When hybrid is the honest answer

If you serve trade and retail customers, running separate storefronts often creates duplicate work: catalogues maintained twice, stock split between channels and integrations built and supported for each site.

A hybrid platform keeps one shared operational core - products, inventory, orders, customer identity and fulfilment - and puts the right journey, pricing and payment options in front of each audience. Existing storefronts can be brought together in phases rather than all at once. More on hybrid commerce.

Where the models differ

B2B

Accounts, negotiated pricing, approvals, procurement and self-service, usually driven by ERP data.

D2C

Discovery, conversion, subscriptions, retention and a connected view of each customer.

Hybrid

Trade and retail journeys, brands or regions on one connected architecture, sharing the operational core.

Choosing well

Before choosing a platform, it is worth answering:

  • Who buys from you today, and who do you want to sell to in three years?

  • Which commercial rules - pricing, credit, approvals - differ between those customers?

  • Which systems hold the truth for products, stock, customers and orders?

  • Where are teams currently re-keying data or working around the platform?