Everything, everywhere, all at once

The shift to omnichannel preference in B2B

In 2025, B2B buyers want an omnichannel purchasing experience

When we published the first edition of this research in 2024, we focused on how e-commerce had become “the new normal” for B2B, rapidly overtaking traditional channels like face-to-face and telesales in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To a significant extent that remains true, but this year a new trend has emerged: in 2025, B2B buyers want an omnichannel purchasing experience.

Our research has found that 84% of B2B buyers want suppliers to be active across several different sales channels, while just 7% consider it unimportant. Industry research by McKinsey and Digital Commerce 360 has found that buyers now use an average of 11 different channels to engage with sellers during the buying journey, up from 5 channels in 2016 and 7.5 in 2020. The vast majority of buyers (94%) agree that an omnichannel sales model is as effective as – or more effective than – previous sales models.

¹ B2B buyers want (and use) multiple digital sales channels, Digital Commerce 360
² B2B sales: Omnichannel everywhere, every time, McKinsey

How many channels does your business use for sales?

Choosing channels

The size, complexity and value of an order, as well as the relationship with the seller, are key considerations for buyers when deciding which sales channel to use.

How do you prefer to place lower value and/or repeat orders?

Online

87%

In-store

10%

Telesales

How do you prefer to place higher value and/or complex orders?

Online

59%

In-store

34%

Telesales

Whether placing a relatively low value repeat order or making a complex and expensive purchase, digital channels reign supreme for many buyers. This aligns with McKinsey’s finding that 73% of B2B buyers are willing to spend over $50,000 per order in a self-serve environment.

However, there is a considerable difference in the number of respondents who feel more comfortable placing complex or high value orders via channels where they can speak with a sales rep or even see the products they are buying in person. Conversely, for lower value orders or straightforward repeat purchases, the vast majority of buyers (87%) prefer the speed, ease and efficiency of self-serve online channels.

³ 2024 B2B Pulse Survey, McKinsey

The importance of harmonising the omnichannel experience

For an omnichannel strategy to be successful, it’s essential for sellers to offer an experience that is harmonised and cohesive across all touchpoints.

Specifically, buyers want access to their agreed prices (84%) and payment terms (63%) regardless of whether they choose to visit merchants in-store, online or over the phone. Around three quarters of buyers want to avoid the hassle of inputting shipping and delivery information every time they use a new sales channel.

Call me maybe: buyers trade digits for in-store visits

Despite the importance of an omnichannel B2B purchasing experience for many buyers, not all channels are created equal.

What channels do you use for business purchases?

E-commerce sites

74%

B2B marketplaces

66%

Face-to-face sales

56%

Mobile apps

16%

Telesales

In 2025, B2B telesales are on a significant downward trajectory, used by just 9% of all B2B buyers. That’s a drop of almost half from 17% a year ago. So, where are they shopping instead?

While the popularity of e-commerce channels has remained steady year-on-year, buyers are increasingly choosing to visit their suppliers in-store. In something of a reversal of the trends ushered in by the pandemic, more than half (56%) of buyers now choose face-to-face sales for some or all of their business purchases–up from 44% in 2024.

This year, we asked buyers to indicate not just the channels they use, but their overall preferred channel. Their responses only serve to further highlight the decline of telesales, the dominance of e-commerce and the surging popularity of in-store procurement.

What is your preferred channel for business purchases?

E-commerce sites

44%

B2B marketplaces

27%

Face-to-face sales

23%

Mobile apps

Telesales

According to a report by MasterB2B, 69% of B2B buyers prefer to use online platforms over interacting with telesales representatives when gathering information during the discovery process.⁴ The data we have gathered suggests that this trend has accelerated in the intervening years, with telesales quickly falling out of fashion and favour not just in the discovery phase but right through to the completion of a transaction.

Why? Because at least 71% of all B2B decision makers are Millennial or Gen Z,⁵ with significantly different expectations, preferences and opinions when it comes to speaking on the phone:

75% of Millennials and Gen Z avoid phone calls because they are “too time-consuming”⁶
90% of Gen Zers are anxious about speaking on the phone⁷ and 34% say it makes them feel awkward⁸
26% of Gen Z say they actively ignore phone calls and 32% rarely make them⁹

Top tip

Sellers need to innovate and adapt in order to meet Millennial and Gen Z buyers on the channels they feel confident using. In 2025, B2B sales teams must be empowered to communicate with clients via text, WhatsApp and other instant messaging services that provide the convenience and flexibility that 72% of under 40s desire.¹⁰

⁴ THE 2023 STATE OF B2B ECOMMERCE REPORT, MasterB2B
⁵ The State Of Business Buying 2023, Forrester
⁶ WHY MILLENNIALS HATE TALKING ON THE PHONE, BankMyCell
⁷Research reveals why Gen Z aren’t answering your call, CommBank^{8 & 9}Call Declined, Sky Mobile
¹⁰ Most Britons would prefer to receive a text over a phone call, YouGov

The undisputed dominance of e-commerce

In 2024, 92% of B2B buyers told us that they use online channels when making business purchases. The message to merchants was clear: get online or get stuffed.

This time around, we wanted to garner a deeper understanding of the online landscape in B2B. To do so we took a slightly different approach, distinguishing between the key subchannels of digital trade: e-commerce websites, marketplaces and mobile apps.

For clarity, this is how we define each of the subcategories:

An e-commerce website is the online storefront of a single manufacturer or supplier, selling products or services directly to buyers
A B2B marketplace, like Amazon For Business, is a platform where buyers can connect with and buy from many different sellers
An app allows users to browse and purchase from one or many suppliers on a platform that is optimised for their mobile device

Unsurprisingly, the headline remains the same. Digital channels reign supreme in B2B, with e-commerce websites and online marketplaces the preferred choice for almost three quarters (73%) of buyers. 66% say that more than half the purchases they made in the last year were completed online, mirroring McKinsey’s 2024 finding that B2B companies with an online presence ranked e-commerce as their most effective channel for the fourth consecutive year.¹¹

91%

say it is important for merchants to have an online presence in 2025

97%

say a fast, simple and accurate online experience is important

It doesn’t look like things are going to be slowing down anytime soon. 55% of buyers said they will make the same number of purchases online this year as they did in 2024, while 39% plan to make more. A fast, simple and accurate online experience is considered important almost unanimously by B2B buyers.

¹¹ 2024 B2B Pulse Survey, McKinsey

The unstoppable rise of
B2B marketplaces

There’s a new(ish) kid on the block. Despite their relative infancy compared to channels like face-to-face and telephone sales, marketplaces have quickly become one of the most used and preferred options for B2B buyers. In 2023, WBR Insights and OroCommerce found that just 12% of B2B buyers prefer marketplaces to traditional purchasing arrangements. Responses to our survey reveal that more than a quarter of buyers now favour marketplaces over any other sales channel, highlighting just how far these platforms have come in only two years.

E-commerce sites

74%
use them

44%
prefer them

B2B marketplaces

66%
use them

27%
prefer them

¹² B2B Buyer Preferences in the eCommerce Marketplace Economy, WBR Insights

According to the WBR Insights report, buyer adoption of B2B marketplaces is driven by a number of key benefits.

72%

Discovering new products or services

55%

Faster purchasing and delivery

52%

Greater vendor choice

Top tip

According to Mirakl, three quarters of your competitors are already developing marketplace strategies, either by identifying potential platforms or building their own.¹³ In 2025, devising and implementing a marketplace strategy will be a key success determiner for many B2B merchants. Check out Hokodo’s B2B marketplaces hub for the latest guidance and best practices for developing your marketplace strategy.

Did you know…?

16% of B2B buyers use mobile procurement apps, but only 2% favour them over other channels. This suggests a serious disconnect between the mobile experience that buyers expect and the reality of the technological solutions that merchants provide.

¹³ Get Started with B2B Ecommerce Marketplaces, Mirakl