B2B: selling to companies. Account-Contact-Opportunity. Multi-stakeholder deals. Standard data model fits.
B2C: selling to consumers. Account = person (Person Accounts). High volume. Different tooling stack.
Differences:
- Data model: B2B uses Account+Contact; B2C uses Person Accounts (irreversible decision).
- Volume: B2B has thousands of accounts; B2C has millions+. LDV strategy mandatory.
- Marketing: B2B uses Pardot/MCAE; B2C uses Marketing Cloud Engagement.
- Sharing: B2B more permissive often; B2C strict per-customer.
- Privacy: B2C subject to GDPR/CCPA; B2B less regulated typically.
- Self-service: B2C heavily uses Experience Cloud portals; B2B uses partner portals.
- Integration: B2B integrates with ERP for orders; B2C integrates with commerce / payment.
Architectural decisions per scenario.
Hybrid B2B/B2C: many orgs serve both. Person Accounts + Business Accounts coexist; record types differentiate.