Digitally mature B2B suppliers are growing faster and outperforming less-advanced peers on sales targets, even as most companies struggle to fund modern technology investments, according to new research from Deloitte Digital.

It based its study on blind surveys of 530 U.S. B2B buyers and 530 U.S. B2B suppliers. It conducted the study in August and September. Deloitte Digital found that suppliers with high digital commerce maturity exceeded their annual sales goals by a margin more than twice that of low-maturity competitors. High-maturity suppliers reported average revenue growth of 6.1%, compared with 2.9% for low-maturity firms.

Deloitte Digital defined high-maturity B2B suppliers as those with more fully digitized, automated and connected sales processes across front- and back-office operations.

The research highlights a growing disconnect between customer expectations and suppliers’ ability to invest. 62% of suppliers surveyed said securing budget for needed technology investments is a major challenge. Meanwhile, 61% said raising customer expectations is also a significant concern.

What Deloitte Digital learned about digital maturity in B2B ecommerce

At the same time, buyers are placing greater emphasis on ease of doing business. 65% said they choose purchasing channels primarily based on ease of use, the survey found.

Despite these pressures, Deloitte Digital said many B2B suppliers remain early in their digital commerce transformation. That leaves room for competitors with stronger digital capabilities to gain share.

The study also identified a sharp perception gap between suppliers and buyers.

Three-quarters of suppliers, 72%, said they have mostly or highly automated their sales processes. Among buyers, only 47% agreed. Buyers were six times more likely than suppliers to say purchasing and sales processes remain mostly manual. They also were three times more likely to say suppliers are difficult to do business with.

That gap has direct revenue implications. Suppliers have estimated that they have lost 13% of sales bids due to negative buyer experiences, while positive experiences can generate a 36% revenue uplift. Buyers reported spending about 29% more with suppliers that provide consistently positive purchasing experiences.

To respond to shifting buyer preferences, suppliers are expanding the number of sales and commerce channels they support. Over the past two years, the average number of channels enabled increased 38%. They rose to 4.7 channels in 2025 from 3.4 in 2023.

While electronic data interchange (EDI) and in-person sales remain important, the report found that 92% of buyers currently using EDI plan to shift partially or fully to other channels. Those include ecommerce platforms and procurement systems.

Suppliers that connect these channels through shared data and integrated processes are better positioned to deliver consistent customer experiences, Deloitte Digital said.

Role of ERPs and integrations in B2B ecommerce

Enterprise resource planning modernization is emerging as a key inflection point. 87% of suppliers surveyed said they are currently upgrading or planning to upgrade their ERP systems, creating what Deloitte Digital described as a rare opportunity to integrate front-office and back-office operations.

Suppliers that completed such integrations were four times as likely to say their sales processes are highly automated and more than four times as likely to say customers find it quite easy to do business with them.

Fully integrated companies exceeded their annual sales goals by about 6.3%, nearly double the margin reported by less-integrated peers, according to the study.

Despite growing attention to artificial intelligence (AI), adoption among suppliers remains uneven. 45% of suppliers said they currently use AI in sales processes, and 24% said they use agentic AI. Among buyers, adoption was higher, with 61% reporting AI use and 38% reporting agentic AI use in purchasing.

High-maturity suppliers were five times more likely than low-maturity peers to use AI extensively and five times more likely to use agentic AI at all. Common supplier uses cases included:

• Chatbots
• Lead prioritization
• Account research
• Automated proposals
• Demand forecasting

Two-thirds of suppliers not yet using agentic AI said they plan to adopt it in the future, while 9% said they have no plans to do so.

Deloitte Digital concluded that suppliers able to align digital channel expansion, front-office integration and targeted AI investments are better positioned to overcome the tension between tight budgets and rising customer expectations.

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