In the rapidly evolving B2B industrial distribution landscape, eCommerce is no longer just an option—it’s a necessity. With customer expectations mirroring the seamless, intuitive experiences of B2C platforms, distributors must embrace next-generation eCommerce to remain competitive. But not all eCommerce strategies are created equal. McKinsey’s Power Forward report highlights five pivotal truths that can define success or failure in this space.

The report unpacks these critical insights, explaining why strategic investments in eCommerce are essential for boosting efficiency, improving customer engagement, and unlocking new growth opportunities in a $500 billion market. Whether you’re a seasoned distributor or a digital transformation beginner, understanding these truths will help position your business for long-term success.

McKinsey research shows that leading companies aren’t afraid to invest and are determined to make tech a centerpiece for the next generation of e-commerce.

E-Commerce is undergoing a fundamental change that is reshaping how customers buy and companies sell. While generative AI (gen AI) has grabbed the attention of executives over the past year, a quieter wave of technology-driven innovation is washing over almost every aspect of eCommerce.

This technology infusion is powering a much more comprehensive and integrated version of next-gen e-commerce, in which a broad ecosystem of capabilities—such as R&D, logistics, warehousing, and marketing and sales—are increasingly interconnected.1 With these deeper and broader integrations comes the promise of better performance leading to greater productivity, higher profitability, and better customer experiences.

To better understand how this more dynamic and tech-driven story is evolving—specifically, how companies are evolving their e-commerce strategies and which moves are making a difference—we surveyed 500 executives in B2C and B2B companies across more than seven sectors in Brazil, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States (see sidebar, “About the research”).

Our analysis focused on the actions of leaders—those who reported that their businesses are growing at more than 10 percent above the sector average—to learn where they are distinguishing themselves from also-rans. The analysis shines a bright light on five truths about next-gen e-commerce that are the cornerstones of success:

  1. Invest like an attacker. Leaders act like attackers, investing in particular in new technologies—such as gen AI—and new channels to better understand and serve their customers.
  2. You can’t outsource your way to victory. Leaders are not dependent on vendors for technology needs; instead, they build up their in-house talent to innovate at pace.
  3. Technology is strategy. Solid tech foundations give leaders the speed and flexibility to innovate.
  4. You can’t know your customers if you don’t know AI. Leaders are turning to AI to get an edge with complex shopping journeys and evolving standards.
  5. Lead from the center but empower teams. A centralized operating model provides the necessary scale but is only effective if it enables autonomous e-commerce teams.

1. Invest like an attacker

Geopolitical tensions and often-conflicting economic indicators have introduced a more cautious business outlook over the past year. Our own tech trends analysis saw a reduction in investment across almost all of those trends in our sample over the past year.2 That caution is reflected in our e-commerce analysis as well. Tellingly, however, leaders are cutting costs at a much lower rate than laggards. For lagging companies, cutting costs is a top three strategic e-commerce priority. For leaders? It doesn’t even crack the top ten.

That through-cycle approach to investment is an established winning strategy,3 with leaders outstripping their peers in three areas in particular:

  • Technology and gen AI. Almost 20 percent of leaders are making gen AI their number one priority in e-commerce (versus less than 5 percent of laggards) and are ready to spend (Exhibit 1). About 30 percent of them are planning to put more than 10 percent of their e-commerce budget toward gen AI in the next 12 months (with more than 10 percent shifting more than 25 percent of their e-commerce spend). In contrast, fewer than 10 percent of laggards are matching that shift.

Read full article from McKinsey.

Five Fundamental Truths: How B2B Winners Keep Growing

Industrial Distribution: Why Customer Experience (CX) is Everything

 

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