The B2B commerce wake-up call: Why buyers expect more in 2026

The first session of the B2B Future Forum examines how current market developments are reshaping the practical requirements of B2B commerce. It translates shifting buyer expectations, increasing operational pressure, and accelerating technology change into concrete implications for modern B2B commerce architectures.

The session explains why digital self-service, sales-assisted processes, and operations can no longer be treated as separate domains. Instead, leading B2B organizations are converging these elements into a single, coherent, and scalable commerce foundation that supports growth, efficiency, and trust.

In this session, you’ll learn:

• Why 2026 marks a structural turning point for B2B commerce rather than another phase of incremental optimization

• How evolving buyer expectations around experience, speed, transparency, and reliability are reshaping both digital and sales-assisted buying journeys

• What buyers now consider baseline requirements, including real-time pricing, accurate availability and lead times, contract pricing, and multi-user account structures

• Why manual workarounds, fragmented systems, and inconsistent data directly increase cost of serve while eroding scalability and customer trust

• How leading B2B companies are unifying self-service, sales, and automation on a shared commerce foundation

• The three core capabilities B2B commerce setups must have to remain relevant by 2026: buyer-centric self-service, automation and AI readiness, and adaptability at scale

• Practical steps B2B organizations can take in the next 90 days to reduce friction, automate workflows, and build measurable momentum

This session is designed for B2B executives and functional leaders who want to translate market dynamics into clear, actionable requirements across commerce, sales, and operations.