The term "B2C" describes commerce transactions from businesses to customers, as practiced by many e-commerce websites including VANCL and 360buy. On the contrast, Taobao.com, China's largest online shopping site, has applied a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) business model.

Chinese B2C sites saw a sales peak on Nov. 11, 2011, as a result of the special discounts they offered to mark the "ultimate Singles' Day of the century." Data showed that the total sales of Taobao Mall, the B2C unit of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, exceeded 100 million yuan (US$15.85 million) within just eight minutes past 0:00 a.m. that day. The figure soared to 2 billion yuan by 4:00 pm, more than double the total sales on the same day in 2010.

From the sharp fall of Mecox Lane shares, China's first B2C stock, to VANCL's IPO delay, negative reports have indicated that next year will be as challenging as it is promising for the B2C market.

“B2C”指的是企业对消费者的商务交易模式。许多电子商务网站，如凡客诚品、京东商城等，采用的都是B2C模式；而中国最大的在线购物网站淘宝网则采用了消费者对消费者的交易模式，简称“C2C”。

2011年11月11日被认为是“终极世纪光棍节”。中国的B2C购物网站在这一天纷纷推出特价优惠活动，掀起了又一轮网购高峰。电子商务巨头阿里巴巴集团旗下的B2C平台淘宝商城从11日零点开始进行光棍节优惠活动。数据显示，到当天0:08分，仅仅8分钟，淘宝商城的交易额就突破了1亿元（约合1585万美元）；截至当日下午4时，淘宝商城成交额突破20亿元，较2010年“双11”全天成交额翻倍。

另一方面，号称“中国B2C第一股”的麦考林股价大跌，凡客首次公开募股延后，所有这些负面新闻也预示着：对于众多B2C商家而言，新的一年里危机和机遇并存。