Key Takeaways
- B2B ecommerce is already massive and still growing fast: the global B2B ecommerce market was around $12.5T in 2024 and is projected to top $43T by 2033, with a ~15% CAGR. That shift is fundamentally changing how outbound sales and SDR teams need to operate.
- Winning B2B ecommerce programs run on an omnichannel engine: SDRs, AEs, email, phone, marketplaces, and the ecommerce site all working together instead of fighting over who gets credit for the deal.
- Buyer behavior has flipped: 61% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience and 73% prefer to purchase online, yet 81% run into friction and 75% are ready to switch suppliers for a smoother digital journey.
- Sales leaders should treat their ecommerce site like a digital rep: instrument it like a sales floor, route high-intent signals (carts, searches, repeat visits) into SDR queues, and follow up with targeted, helpful outreach the same day.
- B2B marketplaces like Amazon Business and Alibaba are now serious revenue channels, not side projects; Amazon Business alone is already doing $35B+ in annualized gross sales and is on track for $65B+ by 2026.
- Ecommerce does not eliminate SDRs; it makes them more strategic. The best teams reassign SDRs to drive qualified traffic, work complex accounts around digital signals, and rescue high-value abandoned carts instead of booking every demo by hand.
- Bottom line: if your ecommerce strategy is owned only by IT or marketing, you are leaving serious money on the table. Sales leadership must own a clear B2B ecommerce playbook that connects outbound, inbound, and online purchasing into one revenue system.
B2B buyers are moving to “click to buy”
B2B buyers didn’t suddenly get “anti-sales”—they got better options. When prospects can research, compare, and even transact without waiting for a call, the default path becomes digital, and sales teams have to adapt to stay in the conversation.
The scale is the clearest signal. The global B2B ecommerce market is estimated at $12.46T in 2024 and forecast to reach $43.48T by 2033, growing at roughly 14.9% CAGR. That’s not an “IT initiative”—it’s where revenue is heading.
In the U.S., B2B ecommerce sales reached $9.69T in 2024, and digital channels now account for 56% of B2B revenue. If your outbound motion and your ecommerce experience aren’t designed to work together, you’re leaving pipeline to chance instead of building a predictable revenue system.
What B2B ecommerce means for modern sales teams
B2B ecommerce is simple in concept: buyers can complete key steps of the purchase digitally, whether that happens on your portal, in an ordering workflow tied to procurement systems, or on marketplaces like Amazon Business. The sales impact is what matters—buyers can progress without a rep, so your team’s job shifts from “gatekeeper” to “guide” at the right moments.
This is not just for small reorders. Research summarized from McKinsey’s B2B Pulse shows 73% of B2B buyers are willing to spend $50,000+ in a single online transaction, and 39% will spend $500,000+ per order through self-serve or remote channels. High-value deals are happening online; they’re just harder to spot if your site and CRM don’t talk.
A practical way to align internally is to define which parts of the journey should be self-serve versus sales-assist, then measure both. For companies offering ecommerce, online self-service plus remote digital interactions generate about 34% of B2B sales revenue, and ecommerce is rated the single most effective channel by 35% of respondents.
| Buying moment | Best-fit motion |
|---|---|
| Reorders, standard items, contract pricing | Digital-first self-serve with automated nudges |
| Complex configuration, approvals, compliance, multiple stakeholders | Sales-assist with SDR/AEs guiding the buyer while they transact online |
| High-value quotes or stalled checkout | Fast human follow-up tied to the exact on-site behavior |
Build an omnichannel engine, not a siloed web shop
The most expensive mistake we see is treating ecommerce like a marketing project and hoping the revenue shows up later. When ecommerce lives only under IT or marketing, sales leadership loses influence on the roadmap, SDRs lose visibility into intent, and attribution turns into politics instead of performance.
A better model is omnichannel by design: SDRs, AEs, email, phone, your ecommerce site, and marketplaces working from the same account view. That requires shared KPIs (digital-sourced pipeline, ecommerce-assisted revenue, conversion by segment, and time-to-contact) and a compensation approach that doesn’t punish reps when a customer prefers to transact online.
This is where a strong RevOps foundation matters. Pipe key ecommerce events into your CRM—signups, repeat visits from target accounts, quote creation, cart value thresholds, and checkout stalls—so your sales development agency function can act on real behavior instead of guessing. Once your SDRs can see intent, they stop sounding like a script and start sounding like help.
Instrument your site like a sales floor and route intent fast
You wouldn’t run a cold calling team without call recordings, activity reporting, and coaching loops; your ecommerce funnel deserves the same operational discipline. Track where companies browse, what they search, where they drop, and what content or product paths correlate with closed-won, then make those signals visible in the same systems SDRs and AEs live in.
Speed matters because ecommerce intent cools quickly. When a target account builds a quote above a threshold, repeats visits multiple times in a week, or abandons a high-value cart, that’s the moment to trigger a tight sequence: a same-day call, a short email referencing the exact configuration, and a helpful next step (pricing clarification, delivery timing, compliance docs, or an alternative bundle).
Cart abandonment is a major, measurable pool of recoverable pipeline. Average B2B cart abandonment is about 57%, which is better than the 70–75% global ecommerce average but still represents thousands of “almost buyers” if your process is slow or generic. The win is not spamming every abandon—it’s prioritizing the right abandons (value, account tier, complexity) and de-frictioning the deal.
Treat your ecommerce site like a digital rep: instrument it, listen for intent, and follow up while the buyer is still actively trying to purchase.
Make SDR outreach additive, not disruptive
Buyer preferences have flipped, and outbound has to reflect that reality. Gartner reports 61% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience overall, and 73% actively avoid suppliers that send irrelevant outreach. If your messaging doesn’t tie to what they’re already doing digitally, you’re not “following up”—you’re creating friction.
This is why digital-first SDR playbooks outperform generic sequences. Instead of pushing every prospect into a demo, define when humans should intervene: high-value quotes, stalled approvals, complex configurations, strategic accounts, or repeated high-intent behavior. Everything else should stay self-serve with automation that protects margin and buyer experience.
At SalesHive, our view is straightforward: great cold calling services and great digital journeys are not competing ideas—they’re complementary. When our outbound sales agency work references a buyer’s context (industry, use case, and on-site behavior), we earn the right to call; when it doesn’t, we train it out. That’s how modern sales outsourcing supports ecommerce instead of sabotaging it.
Use marketplaces strategically without creating channel conflict
Marketplaces are not a side project anymore—they’re a front door. Amazon Business generates $35B+ in annualized B2B gross sales and is projected to exceed $65B+ by 2026, which tells you how procurement teams want to buy: fast discovery, familiar checkout, and fewer steps.
The common mistake is “fighting” marketplaces internally to protect direct sales, which usually just reduces your visibility while buyers keep purchasing anyway. The practical fix is a rules-of-engagement model: define which products and segments are marketplace-first, how account credit works, and how SDRs and AEs use marketplace activity to expand into direct contracts, subscriptions, or services.
Aligning marketplaces with account-based selling is where sales teams win. Match marketplace buyers back to CRM accounts when possible, monitor repeat purchase patterns, and target stakeholders around those buyers with relevant outreach. Done well, marketplaces become a lead source and an expansion signal—not a margin leak.
Fix the friction: operational readiness and experience are now competitive
B2B buyers are willing to buy online, but they’re not willing to tolerate a broken experience. In a 2025 buyer survey, 73% said they prefer to purchase online, yet 81% encounter barriers in current ecommerce experiences and 75% are willing to switch suppliers for a smoother journey. That makes UX, product data, and delivery accuracy revenue issues—not “web team” issues.
Operational readiness is where many launches fail: inconsistent pricing between portal and contract terms, inaccurate inventory, unclear shipping timelines, and support teams that can’t resolve checkout or PO problems fast. Before scaling traffic, integrate ERP for real-time inventory and pricing, standardize how contract pricing is displayed, and define SLAs sales, ops, and support can consistently hit.
Training is the other hidden lever. If SDRs are measured only on dials and generic templates, they won’t learn how to interpret digital behavior or marketplace signals. Update enablement and KPIs so digital intent is prioritized and rewarded, then consider augmenting capacity with an outsourced sales team when you need 24/5 coverage across time zones or fast experimentation in messaging.
A practical roadmap for turning ecommerce into pipeline
You don’t need a “big bang” rebuild to get results; you need a clear map of how buyers actually purchase. Get sales, marketing, product, and operations in one room, walk through the end-to-end journey, and mark exactly where self-serve should stay self-serve versus where sales-assist improves conversion. Then document handoffs so an SDR isn’t calling a buyer who is already trying to check out.
Next, make the site measurable and actionable: stream your highest-signal events into your CRM and outbound tools, define trigger-based cadences, and set shared KPIs across teams. If you’re working with an SDR agency or b2b sales agency, insist that outreach references real buyer behavior and that time-to-contact is tracked like a core revenue metric.
Finally, plan for the direction of the market, not the comfort of your current org chart. With the global B2B ecommerce market projected to grow from $12.46T to $43.48T, sales leaders who treat ecommerce as a core sales channel will out-execute those who treat it as a website. If you want help operationalizing this, we’ve built these playbooks at SalesHive across outbound, list building services, and omnichannel sequencing that connects digital intent to revenue—without forcing buyers to jump through hoops.
Sources
- Astute Analytica (GlobeNewswire)
- Capital One Shopping Research
- Sana Commerce 2025 B2B Buyer Report (GlobeNewswire)
- Gartner Press Release
- Digital Commerce 360 (McKinsey B2B Pulse summary)
- Kensium (McKinsey omnichannel insights summary)
- ResearchAndMarkets (Business Wire)
- Marketing LTB (Cart Abandonment Statistics 2025)
📊 Key Statistics
Expert Insights
Treat Ecommerce as a New 'Territory' for Your SDRs
Don't silo ecommerce under IT or marketing and hope revenue shows up. Assign SDRs clear ownership over digital behaviors: repeat visits from target accounts, abandoned quotes above a threshold, or on-site search for high-intent keywords. Build cadences specifically triggered by these ecommerce signals so reps are following up when interest is hot, not three weeks later.
Instrument the Site Like a Sales Floor
You wouldn't run a sales team without call recordings and activity metrics; your ecommerce funnel needs the same visibility. Track which companies are browsing, where they stall, and what content converts, and then feed that data into your CRM. Give SDRs visibility to this activity so outreach can reference what the buyer actually did, not generic value props.
Use SDRs to De-Friction High-Value Carts, Not Chase Every Signup
Most digital leads don't need a reps' help at all; they need a smooth checkout. Focus human effort where it moves the needle: quotes, carts or configuration flows above a certain deal size, in strategic accounts, or in complex industries. Create a clear playbook for when an SDR calls versus when automation nudges via email so you protect margin and buyer experience.
Align Marketplace Strategy With Account-Based Selling
Marketplaces like Amazon Business and Alibaba shouldn't compete with your sales team. Map key accounts that buy via marketplaces, monitor order data where possible, and use that intelligence to prioritize outreach and upsell. SDRs can target stakeholders around those marketplace buyers with account-based sequences that move them into direct contracts or higher-margin programs.
Let AI Personalization Do the Heavy Lifting, Then Add Human Context
Use AI tools to personalize on-site recommendations, pricing bands, and cold emails at scale, then train reps to use that context in conversations. When SDRs see what a prospect viewed, what they were recommended, and what they abandoned, they can come in as consultants instead of pitch machines and close the loop between digital and human touches.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Treating ecommerce as a marketing project, not a sales channel
When ecommerce lives only under marketing or IT, sales leadership has no stake in the roadmap, SDRs don't see digital signals, and revenue attribution becomes a political fight.
Instead: Give revenue leaders shared ownership of ecommerce KPIs, plug ecommerce events into your CRM, and define which parts of the digital journey belong to SDRs, AEs, marketing, and customer success.
Trying to force every ecommerce buyer into a demo
Modern B2B buyers explicitly say they prefer rep-free digital experiences for many tasks; forcing calls adds friction and pushes them to competitors with smoother self-serve.
Instead: Only trigger human outreach on high-value, complex, or stalled deals. Let smaller, straightforward orders run self-serve and use automation for low-touch nurture while reserving SDR time for high-impact conversations.
Ignoring marketplaces or fighting them with internal politics
When you pretend marketplaces don't exist or restrict them to protect direct sales, buyers will still purchase there, you just lose visibility and influence.
Instead: Build a marketplace strategy that coexists with direct ecommerce and field sales: clear rules of engagement, territory definitions, and data sharing so SDRs can mine marketplace activity for upsell and account expansion.
Launching an ecommerce portal without operational readiness
If inventory data is wrong, pricing is inconsistent, or delivery estimates slip, buyers lose trust fast and 75% say they're ready to switch suppliers for a better experience.
Instead: Before scaling traffic, fix the basics: integrate ERP for real-time inventory and pricing, align contract terms with what the portal shows, and define SLAs that sales, ops, and support can all commit to.
Not giving SDRs training on digital journeys and signals
Many SDRs are set up to hammer phones and generic email templates; they don't know how to interpret web analytics, behavior scores, or marketplace data, so they miss buying windows.
Instead: Train SDRs on what digital behaviors matter, how to prioritize them, and how to reference them in outreach. Update playbooks and KPIs so working digital signals is measured and rewarded.
Action Items
Map your end-to-end B2B ecommerce buying journey with sales involvement
Bring sales, marketing, product, and operations into one room to whiteboard how a net-new account discovers you, researches, configures, buys, and reorders. Explicitly mark where ecommerce, marketplaces, SDRs, and AEs each play a role and where handoffs are failing.
Pipe key ecommerce events into your CRM and SDR tools
Work with RevOps to stream events like account signups, high-value cart creation, quote requests, and repeat visits from target domains into your CRM and outbound platform so reps can trigger tailored sequences off of real behavior.
Define a 'digital-first' SDR playbook for high-intent signals
Write specific cadences for digital triggers: for example, when a target account creates a quote over $25k, an SDR calls same day, then follows with a short email referencing the exact configuration and helping them finalize.
Segment buyers by complexity and deal size to choose self-serve vs sales-assist
Create simple rules: below a given price point and complexity, keep buyers in self-serve flows with automated nurture; above that line, route to SDRs for proactive outreach and guided selling so you don't waste reps on low-value transactions.
Integrate marketplace data into your account plans
Where you can access marketplace order or account data, match it back to your CRM accounts. Have SDRs and AEs use that insight to prioritize outreach, propose contracts, or offer value-added services on top of marketplace purchases.
Set shared KPIs for ecommerce and sales teams
Agree on a handful of metrics everyone cares about: digital-sourced pipeline, assisted revenue, high-value cart conversion, and time-to-contact for ecommerce leads. Review them in the same revenue meeting so teams pull in the same direction.
Partner with SalesHive
SalesHive’s SDR outsourcing model combines cold calling, high‑performing cold email, and precise list building to put the right accounts into your digital funnel. Their teams can target ecommerce decision‑makers (heads of digital, ecommerce, procurement, and operations), drive them to your site or marketplace listings, and then follow up on high‑intent behaviors like quote requests, abandoned carts above a certain value, or frequent visits from a target account.
Because SalesHive runs both US‑based and Philippines‑based SDR teams and uses AI‑powered personalization tools like eMod for email outreach, they can execute sophisticated omnichannel cadences without long‑term contracts or heavy internal hiring. That lets your in‑house team focus on closing deals and refining your ecommerce experience while SalesHive keeps your pipeline full with qualified buyers who are already leaning into digital buying.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is B2B ecommerce, and how is it different from traditional B2B sales?
B2B ecommerce is simply selling to businesses through digital channels: your own ecommerce portal, ordering app, marketplaces like Amazon Business, and sometimes EDI. The big difference from traditional B2B sales is where and how the transaction happens; the buyer can research, configure, and purchase with far less rep involvement. For sales teams, that means you're no longer gatekeepers of information but guides who step in at the right moments to de-risk and accelerate deals.
Does B2B ecommerce replace my SDR and outbound team?
No, but it changes their job. Buyers increasingly prefer rep-free digital flows for routine tasks, but still want human help on complex, high-stakes decisions. SDRs should pivot from booking every first meeting to working off digital intent signals, rescuing stuck deals, and expanding strategic accounts that already buy via ecommerce or marketplaces. The teams that figure out that balance win; the ones that cling to only phone-first motions get sidelined.
How should I measure the impact of ecommerce on my B2B pipeline?
Track more than just 'online revenue'. Measure digital-sourced opportunities, ecommerce-assisted deals (where buyers touched the portal or marketplace and then bought via rep), conversion rates by channel, and time-to-contact on ecommerce signals. Tie site behavior to accounts in your CRM so you see how digital touches influence big deals, then use that to prioritize SDR outreach and resource allocation.
What role do marketplaces like Amazon Business play in my strategy?
Marketplaces are now major front doors for many buyers, especially in procurement-driven or long-tail categories. You can use them as acquisition and expansion channels, not just price-sensitive 'necessary evils'. Feed any available marketplace data into your account views, then have SDRs and AEs target those buyers with programs that move them toward higher-margin direct contracts, subscriptions, or services while still honoring how they like to buy.
How do I avoid channel conflict between my ecommerce site and field reps?
Start by aligning incentives. Comp reps on revenue from their accounts regardless of whether the transaction is online or offline, and then layer in credit for assisted digital deals. Define which customer segments are 'digital-first' versus 'sales-led' and when handoffs happen. Finally, make data visible: let reps see ecommerce activity in their territories so they view the site as a partner, not a competitor.
What's the first step if our company has no B2B ecommerce presence yet?
Don't start with technology; start with your customers. Interview a handful of key accounts about how they prefer to research, compare, and buy. Then pilot a simple ordering portal for a narrow product set or segment while keeping SDRs tightly involved. Use what you learn about buyer behavior, friction points, and internal operations to inform your broader ecommerce roadmap instead of aiming for a massive 'big bang' launch.
How can outbound prospecting support a self-serve digital model without annoying buyers?
The key is relevance and timing. Buyers hate generic, pushy outreach, but they welcome a short, specific message that clearly helps them accomplish what they're already trying to do. Use behavior triggers from your ecommerce site and content (e.g., pricing page visits, complex configurator use, repeated returns from the same account) to drive targeted, consultative calls and emails. Position your SDRs as problem-solvers helping them buy, not as gatekeepers blocking access.
Where does AI fit into B2B ecommerce for sales teams?
AI is great at the heavy lifting: personalizing product recommendations, clustering accounts by behavior, drafting tailored emails, and scoring which ecommerce events actually predict revenue. Sales teams should use AI to surface the right accounts and talking points, but keep humans in charge of complex conversations and deal strategy. The winning formula is AI for scale and pattern-finding, human reps for judgment and relationship-building.
