The third annual State of B2B eCommerce research reveals eight key insights on digital transformation. Based on extensive practitioner surveys, regional roundtable conversations, and ongoing interviews with manufacturers and distributors, the findings highlight both persistent challenges and accelerating changes shaping the industry.
The 2025 environment
B2B companies face an unusually complex environment. Tariff situations change weekly. Interest rates remain unpredictable. Customer expectations continue rising as millennials now turn 40 and comprise a larger share of B2B buyers. The gig economy reshapes workforce dynamics. Amazon Business keeps raising the bar. And AI represents what may be a generational shift with existential implications for many companies.
Some issues are slow burns: data cleanup still treated as a cost center, organizational design lagging digital reality, and C-suites lacking digital savviness. Other issues are fast burns: AI adoption accelerating, customer expectations rising, and Amazon continuing to disrupt.
Cultural barriers still slow progress
Tania Coletta, director of digital and e-commerce at Metrie, shared insights on why cultural barriers persist. She sees challenges in three areas: leadership alignment on digital vision and investment, cross-functional buy-in for adoption and execution, and legacy processes and systems that make scaling difficult.
The one piece that rang so true was around listening versus talking. It sounds so simple, but a lot of the wins I have seen in my career come from sitting down and listening to business leaders. That is where you get gamechanging learnings that help your agenda but also build trust.
Tania Coletta, Metrie
Coletta personalizes messages for each stakeholder, helping them identify with stories that matter to their specific goals. After four years operating a B2B e-commerce platform, Metrie has had pockets of success alongside challenges with adoption in certain customer groups and markets with less internal buy-in. Progress comes from presenting data as stories about customers or sales teams, helping regional leaders understand the benefits.
The research found that 43% of B2B companies report losing sales due to disconnection between websites and salespeople. Only by listening and aligning can companies close this gap.
B2B-specific software requirements
Megan York, global head of product marketing at SAP, addressed the need for software that solves B2B-specific problems rather than warmed-over B2C platforms. One persistent issue: salespeople spend significant time answering low-value questions about order status, invoice history, and delivery timing rather than focusing on high-value accounts.
Self-service portals offer a solution for companies not ready for full e-commerce. These portals let customers find answers digitally while freeing salespeople for strategic work. The key is helping sales teams understand that technology makes them more effective rather than replacing them.
On practical AI applications, York pointed to product description generation. Few people enjoy writing catalog descriptions, and AI can produce more robust content that improves findability while freeing teams for strategic projects. Only 51% of practitioners report satisfaction with their B2B e-commerce platforms, indicating significant room for improvement.
Product findability remains top priority
Despite AI dominating trend discussions, improving product findability emerged as the top technology investment priority. Sheerine Reid, director of product marketing at Coveo, explained why search remains critical.
Search directly impacts conversion rate, average order value, and revenue per visit. Poor search also creates friction that affects adoption rates and keeps customers calling sales reps rather than using digital channels. When companies fix search, payoff can be significant.
One of our customers recently made an internal business case for investing in search. They projected $3 million in incremental revenue the first year. That first year is not up yet and they have already surpassed that by 3x.
Sheerine Reid, Coveo
The difference comes from AI-powered search that understands semantics rather than just matching keywords. Search that learns from behavior, understands intent, and constantly improves eliminates the manual rules and synonym creation that drain team resources.
The next evolution involves conversational interfaces. As buyers become accustomed to ChatGPT and Google AI overviews, returning a list of 50 products will no longer suffice. Search will need to help buyers compare options, understand compatibility, and make confident decisions, functioning like a 24/7 sales rep with faster response times.
Technology buying requires alignment
Sam Schwarz, chief digital strategy officer at Midland Industries, shared a cautionary tale about technology decisions made without proper alignment. A sales ops manager evaluated CRM options and recommended staying with the existing system. Leadership chose a cheaper alternative instead.
A year later, the company had two CRMs handling different parts of the customer journey with no integration, requiring custom middleware to connect them. The hidden costs of switching and complexity far exceeded any upfront savings.
The takeaway: upfront savings do not always equate to long-term value. Learning the customer and service journey reveals whether technology will work. Listening to internal experts matters because they are not trying to swindle anyone.
Only 24% of companies have technology buying committees. When such committees exist, they need clear charters focused on customer needs rather than protecting existing investments. Sunk cost thinking leads to bad decisions. As one panelist noted, if something is not working now, it will not suddenly start working later.
Digital maturity requires leadership evolution
Forty percent of senior executives report having little or no digital experience. The same percentage lack executive buy-in on digital-centric KPIs. This creates a slow burn problem that time will eventually solve as digitally native leaders rise to C-suite roles.
The bad news: significant damage can occur in the interim. In a world where AI evolves rapidly, wasting months equals wasting years compared to previous eras. Leaders must know what they know and know what they do not know, bringing in people with digital expertise rather than relying on how things were done 20 years ago.
Speed is what is going to kill a lot of companies. You cannot sit around and take forever to make decisions. Do something even if it is wrong. Learn from it, iterate, and move on.
Andy Hoar, Master B2B
Three-to-five-year project plans no longer make sense. Companies can have long-term visions, but execution must be agile. The research found that 89% of practitioners expect AI and machine learning to significantly impact B2B e-commerce over the next three to five years. The skills humans need include data analytics to interpret AI analysis, digital marketing, and critical thinking. AI will shrink the middle of many processes while humans remain essential at the beginning and end.
Key takeaways for 2025
The research reveals a mix of persistent challenges and accelerating changes. Over one-third of companies still have less than 10% e-commerce penetration. Cultural barriers around listening, alignment, and legacy systems remain significant. Foundational capabilities like search still require investment.
At the same time, AI is reshaping expectations and capabilities. Customer demands continue rising. Amazon keeps moving the bar. The irresistible force of digital buyers is meeting the immovable object of traditional companies, and the collision is forcing change.
Companies that succeed will listen more than talk, align stakeholders before buying technology, invest in AI-powered capabilities that free humans for strategic work, and ensure digital savviness reaches the C-suite. Those that delay will find months of inaction equal years of lost competitive advantage in an AI-accelerated world.