Direct-to-buyer selling gives a manufacturer more control over price, brand presentation, and the customer relationship, along with access to first-party purchase data it would not otherwise see. Master B2B’s webcast debate on the topic found the strongest argument against it is rarely that direct selling fails commercially, it usually succeeds, but that it can damage long-standing distributor relationships if introduced without a clear plan for how the two channels coexist. The manufacturers who navigate this well tend to treat channel partners as an audience to bring along, explaining the direct channel’s role, rather than a constituency to manage around.
Direct-to-buyer (D2B) selling
A manufacturer selling its products directly to the end business customer through its own ecommerce site, bypassing distributors or dealers for that transaction.