February 2026
Written by
Abbie Mason
E-commerce
Marketing strategy
Product launch
Tech
B2B vs B2C vs D2C for Restaurants and Bars
On a good service, you can see all three business models playing out at once.
Introduction
A couple books for 7.30 and orders the tasting menu.
A team arrives for a set package in the private room. Someone else buys a gift card on their phone on the way home. Same brand, three different ways money moves through the business.
Getting clear on B2B, B2C and D2C is not theory. It is how you protect margin, smooth demand, and build something that holds up outside peak hours.
B2C is the table booking and the repeat guest
B2C is what most people think of first. Guests find you, decide quickly, book, arrive, spend, review, return.
The key shift is that guests are leaning into flexibility and value. OpenTable reports a 97% increase in Notify Me alerts year on year, plus a 6% increase in dining between 4.00 and 4.59pm year on year. It also puts a number on walk in behaviour, with London diners willing to wait 40 minutes on average. (OpenTable)
What that means in practice
Your last minute inventory matters. Waitlists and released tables are part of acquisition now.
Early covers are no longer a niche. If you can make a strong early set offer, you can fill hours that used to be softer.
Occasion led spend is real. OpenTable found anniversary dining spend per person was 42% higher than an ordinary visit. (OpenTable)
This is where clear booking journeys win. Fewer steps, fewer dead ends, fewer reasons to drop off.
B2B is private dining, events and the corporate tab
B2B is when the buyer is not an individual. It is a PA booking dinner for 18. It is a brand hiring the space. It is a rewards team buying gift cards. It is a concierge sending repeat business.
A useful stat to keep in mind is how much gifting and rewards sits inside B2B. The Gift Card and Voucher Association 2024 H1 report shows B2B representing 72% of market share, and notes that digital gift cards crossed 50% market share for the first time. (GIFT CARD AND VOUCHER SALES ANALYSIS AND OUTLOOK UK REPORT)
So if you already sell gift cards, there is a decent chance your biggest opportunity is not consumer gifting at Christmas. It is B2B volume through businesses that need quick, easy rewards.
What good B2B looks like on the ground
A private dining page that answers the buyer questions up front
Packages that feel easy to approve and easy to bill
A proper enquiry process that does not live only in someone’s inbox
Follow ups that land quickly and keep moving
D2C is when you stop renting the relationship
D2C is direct sales without a platform or reseller sitting in the middle. For restaurants and bars, this usually means gift cards, experiences, products, and seasonal drops sold through your own site.
You can see strong D2C patterns in how established London brands set up their shops and gifting
Dishoom positions gifting simply and sells products like its House Chai set online
Dishoom gifting and Dishoom House Chai setHawksmoor sells gift cards through its shop alongside other products
Hawksmoor gift cardOttolenghi runs a full gifting and hampers range that sits naturally next to the restaurants
Ottolenghi hampers and gifts
D2C works best when it is not random merch. It is something guests already associate with you, or something that makes gifting feel effortless.
A simple D2C starter pack that tends to perform
Digital gift cards
A signature product line that travels well
Seasonal bundles with a clear reason to buy now
Ticketed moments sold direct
Where delivery fits
Delivery can drive volume, but it sits in a different category because the platform owns most of the customer relationship.
The scale is not small. Deliveroo reported 296.0 million orders in 2024, revenue of £2,071.9 million, and GTV of £7,433.5 million in its FY2024 preliminary results. (Deliveroo plc 2024 preliminary results report)
Delivery can still be valuable, especially when it has a defined job
Discovery for new customers who later become bookers
A quieter hours filler with a tighter menu designed for travel
A way to protect kitchen utilisation without discounting your dining room
The key is making sure delivery, D2C, and bookings are not competing for attention with the same message.
Conclusion
The fast way to apply this
If you want this to be useful on Monday morning, ask three questions: - Which revenue lines are B2C, which are B2B, which are D2C? - Does each one have a clear journey on your website and in your follow up process? - Are you measuring the value of occasions, early covers, and last minute demand so you can price and market with intent? Most brands are already operating across all three. The difference is whether it is intentional or accidental. At LaLa Comms, we restructure growth around these revenue tracks. That means tightening booking journeys to lift conversion, building proper private hire pipelines that reduce enquiry drop off, and turning gifting and direct sales into measurable income rather than seasonal spikes. If you want to see where revenue is being left on the table, we can map your B2C, B2B and D2C performance in one session and show you where to focus first.