Why You Can’t Build Your B2B Ecommerce Strategy Around One Buyer Journey

AI is rewriting the B2B ecommerce playbook

B2B ecommerce has spent years moving toward a familiar goal: making buying easier, whether that means putting more products online, expanding self-service options, or connecting digital commerce to the systems that keep the business running.

AI is complicating that playbook.

It’s changing how buyers find and evaluate suppliers, while also opening up new ways to streamline purchasing behind the scenes. But those changes aren’t happening uniformly. Depending on the buyer, AI can play a very different role in how a purchase begins, progresses, and ultimately gets done.

Those differences point to a bigger shift for B2B businesses: There is no single AI-era buyer journey.

So how can manufacturers and distributors build an ecommerce strategy that serves both?

That’s the focus of our new guide, The AI-Era B2B Playbook: How to Build a Winning Strategy for Two Very Different Buyers, which explores the two buyer journeys taking shape and the data, technology, and infrastructure businesses need to support each one.

Start by recognising how quickly B2B buying is changing

AI is already finding its way into B2B purchasing decisions, and buyers are getting comfortable using it as part of the process.

Nearly half of B2B buyers surveyed by Gartner said they had used AI during a purchasing decision. And by 2028, they predict that AI agents will influence the majority of B2B purchasing activity, representing more than $15 trillion in transactions.

For manufacturers and distributors, those numbers are hard to ignore. They point to a buying environment where more decisions can happen digitally, independently, and with AI playing a role somewhere along the way.

But where AI shows up matters. Its role can look very different depending on the buyer, creating different expectations for the ecommerce experience.

And that brings us back to the challenge at hand. Preparing for one AI-driven buyer journey won’t be enough. B2B businesses need an ecommerce strategy built to serve two very different paths to purchase.

Understand the two B2B buyer journeys taking shape

So, what are those two paths?

For many manufacturers and distributors, the customer base already contains a natural divide between long-tail buyers and the core accounts that drive a significant share of revenue. That distinction isn’t new. What AI is changing is how each group buys and, as a result, what each needs from ecommerce.

Long-tail buyers prioritise discovery and self-service.

Long-tail buyers tend to be more transactional, purchasing less frequently or in lower volumes than strategic accounts. They value speed, convenience, and the ability to move through much of the purchasing process independently.

AI is giving these buyers a new starting point. Instead of relying solely on traditional search, they can turn to AI answer engines to research products, compare suppliers, and narrow their options before visiting a website. That makes discoverability and a frictionless path to purchase much more important.

Core buyers prioritise connected procurement.

Core buyers are often strategic accounts with larger order volumes, negotiated contracts, and established procurement processes. Their priority is less about discovering a new supplier and more about making purchasing easier and more efficient within the relationships and workflows they already have.

As AI enters procurement, these buyers need reliable access to the operational information their purchasing decisions depend on. That puts greater emphasis on connectivity between ecommerce, procurement, and the systems behind them.

Prepare your ecommerce strategy for both

Supporting two buyer journeys doesn’t mean building two entirely separate ecommerce strategies. It means understanding where their needs diverge and building a foundation flexible enough to support both.

For manufacturers and distributors, three areas can help shape that strategy:

• Get clear on your buyer mix: Understand which buyers drive the business, where growth opportunities exist, and how different customer groups prefer to purchase.

• Take a hard look at your data: Consider whether your product and operational data can support both AI-driven discovery and more connected procurement.

• Focus on the gaps that matter most: Prioritise the areas creating the most friction for buyers today while building toward the purchasing experiences they’ll expect next.

The right approach will depend on your mix of buyers. From there, the next step is determining which data, technology, and infrastructure investments will best support each journey.

The final word

AI is changing how B2B buyers discover, evaluate, and purchase, but not every buyer is following the same path. For manufacturers and distributors, preparing for what comes next means moving beyond a one-size-fits-all view of the B2B buyer journey.

Knowing where your buyers are headed is the starting point. For a deeper look at what each journey requires and how to build a strategy for both, download The AI-Era B2B Playbook: How to Build a Winning Strategy for Two Very Different Buyers.