Our partner BigCommerce recently released their 2025 Industrial Buyer Report, sharing research and insights about shifting expectations in B2B. We’re here to give you our take on these trends and share how to make sure that your business isn’t falling behind.
Digital Is No Longer Optional
It’s an exciting time to be in B2B eCommerce: over 60% of buyers are now purchasing online, and digital expectations are accelerating to meet their demands.
In our experience, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. (More emphasis on the opportunity side, though.) Digital transformation goes so far beyond simply standing up a storefront: it’s about connecting systems and creating processes that not only reflect how buyers are actually buying, but how B2B manufacturers and distributors are actually doing business. It’s your sales, your customer experience, your operations—online.
As you read through our insights, consider your current tech stack and how it fits into the buyer journey: particularly where your buyers are sticking around to make a purchase, and where friction might be sending them elsewhere.
Complexity is the Rule, Not the Exception
According to BigCommerce’s report, 18% of buyers don’t purchase online. This is not because they won’t, but because existing processes are too complex to seamlessly accommodate compliacted digital workflows.
Looking at B2B as “D2C with more features” is the reason why so many buyer portal launches fall flat: “complex” doesn’t have to mean “offline,” nor should it. It means that quote requests, document uploads, change orders, and more can be modernized to allow for more automation. Digital isn’t a shortcut around, but rather, an enhancement to the rep-led experience.
If you’ve recently launched a digital storefront but are seeing slow adoption, there can be a host of reasons. Could they be sent online by implementing new (or different) quoting tools, allowing custom pricing for online orders, or implementing loyalty perks for companies and buyers who order online?
Mobile Responsiveness is Convenience, and Convenience is Currency
Buyers are increasingly interested in quick, seamless, mobile-friendly experiences. According to the report, 48% of buyers place orders from vehicles: 39.7% from apps, and 24.4% via text message. As commerce, and the world in general, move to all things mobile, B2B is certainly no exception.
To meet these demands, your B2B experience must be as seamless in the back of a truck as it is in an office: this means simple ordering or quote-request processes, and investing in mobile-first experiences. Some low-hanging fruit here would be the reorder process (is it simple for your customers to replicate a previous order?), saved cart functionality, and customer-specific pricing availability.
Tools Without Training Don’t Get Used
We recently shared some insights about change management, and the report confirmed what we’ve seen happening in B2B: many buyers still discover ecommerce portals by accident. When buyers aren’t encouraged to use these portals, and internal teams aren’t trained in how to use them, even great systems remain under-used.
The quality of a digital experience can only take you so far: enablement must be a priority from day one, or preferably, even before that. If internal teams aren’t confident when it comes to navigating self-service portals and all of their associated processes, buyers can’t be expected to trust them either. The quickest way to turn a new ecommerce build into shelfware is by not encouraging and enabling internal champions.
Along with a new build, we recommend implementing rep-facing playbooks, demo environments, and onboarding flows so your team will be ready and able to encourage adoption before the site even launches.
Digital Transformations Take Time
Digital transformation is rarely linear, and it will never happen all at once. For B2B businesses getting started on their journey to digital maturity, you must crawl before you can walk, and walk before you can run. In terms of digital transformation and evolution, this looks like:
Crawl: If your data isn’t accurate, nothing else will work.
- Reliable product and inventory data
- Buyer-specific pricing logic (not just public price lists)
- Basic online ordering with clear fulfillment expectations
Walk: Now is the time to layer in workflows that reflect real-life complexity, grow adoption, and increase buyer trust in your online ordering processes
- Online quote request and approval processes
- Buyer role-based account permissions
- Order history, saved carts, and reordering tools
- Automated document uploads
Run: It’s time to scale and crystallize your ecommerce experience as a true extension of your sales team
- ERP and PIM integrations to power personalization
- Mobile-first UX built for field buyers
- Rules-based pricing, shipping, and promotions
By making incremental changes and improvements, priorities can be set according to not only business needs, but buyer wants and expectations.
Align Expectations with Reality
BigCommerce’s research in their buyer report is clear: B2B buyers are ready for what’s next, but most sites are not.
The remedy? A thoughtful digital roadmap is the path forward, because if your digital processes don’t reflect your operational reality, you’re not just behind—you’re most likely losing business as well.
Can you identify gaps between your buyer expectations and your current digital capabilities? If so, we’re here to help fill them, and if not, we can help you find them. Contact us and let’s get started with your digital transformation today.