Business to Business vs Business to Consumer Comparison Paper (Sysco vs FreshDirect)

Essay by DBMAUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, April 2009

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B2B + B2C Comparison Paper (SYSCO and FreshDirect)

Introduction

There are two ways to categorize a business based on the output of their goods or services; there are Business-to-Business (B2B) organizations and there are Business-to-Consumer (B2C) organizations. This paper will discuss these differences in the supply chain management and will also point out the similarities. The organizations that will be analyzed are SYSCO as a B2B entity which is the largest foodservice marketing and distribution company in North America and FreshDirect as a B2C entity that is the most successful online supermarket which delivers right to your home.

B2C Supply Chain Discussion for FreshDirect.com

FreshDirect.com is Metropolitan New York's online supermarket that boasts quality and great prices through the online ordering system. The company's goal from the very beginning was to steer away from a traditional online supermarket like Webvan.com,

an online supermarket on the West Coast that started during the online bubbled and crashed. FreshDirect.com has a make-to-order approach to their supply chain and a scaled, vertical integration process that shortens the supply chain to reduce the cost of producing fresher products-the trademark offering to their consumers.

In general, a traditional grocery store in New York City carries about 25,000 different packaged goods items and about 2,200 perishable goods. FreshDirect, however, offers only 5,000 perishable goods and only 3,000 packaged goods, resulting in a revenue pattern dramatically different from a regular grocery store-75% in perishable and 25% in packaged goods. Given the higher margins for perishable goods, this change in the mix of goods alone generates an 8% gross improvement.

In order make the supply chain run smoothly and promote their passion in quality, FreshDirect built a 300,000 sq.ft. processing center in Long Island City. This decision to...