A supplier and a vendor are both entities that provide goods or services; however, the term vendor can be used for both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) sales relationships, whilst the term supplier is normally reserved for B2B partnerships. A vendor is also capable of being both a supplier and a manufacturer, unlike a supplier.
A B2B food seller sells food to restaurants for resale to clients, whereas a B2C food vendor, such as a hot dog vendor, sells its products directly to consumers. Typically, a supplier only engages with other businesses, and it sells wholesale products to a company that resells them at retail.
Both vendor and supplier relate to the entity that accepts payment for goods or services; neither phrase refers entirely to the product maker. The payer of a vendor or supplier is known as the purchaser.
Vendors and suppliers provide more than just wholesale products to enterprises. In addition, they provide firms with materials that can be used to create a final product. A supplier could, for instance, sell minor parts to an automobile manufacturer or metal to a computer maker.
