Two-thirds of B2B buyers still want to talk to people: what McKinsey’s study means for your sales team

In short: According to the McKinsey Global B2B Pulse Survey 2026, B2B buyers split their interactions roughly evenly across in-person, remote (phone, video, email) and digital channels. E-commerce matters, but it covers only about one third. The rest lands in the inbox and on the phone of your inside sales team. Whoever answers faster and more personally wins. That is exactly what Heyrise AI is built for.

What McKinsey found

The basis is the McKinsey Global B2B Pulse Survey (December 2025, n = 3,664 decision-makers in 13 countries, including Germany), published in May 2026. The key findings:

• The “rule of thirds”: Buyers spread their interactions roughly evenly across in-person, remote and digital. On average they use ten channels on the way to a purchase.
• Ordering and reordering still run mostly through people: 64% of ordering interactions and 61% of reordering interactions with suppliers do not run through digital self-service (only 36% and 39% do). The rest splits between traditional channels and remote contact such as phone, video call and email.
• E-commerce is standard, but not the whole answer: 71% of respondents say their organization offers e-commerce. Around one third of revenue flows through digital channels.
• Confidence in large online orders is growing: 73% are comfortable placing online orders above $50,000 (2022: 59%). At the same time, willingness to spend $500,000 or more online is down five points versus 2024.
• Why buyers switch suppliers: First, inconsistent information across teams; second, no access to knowledgeable representatives; third, gaps in tracking across channels.
• Winners invest in AI: 44% of leading companies have gen AI fully implemented or adopted, versus 22% of the others. 71% of leaders raised AI investment by double digits, versus 25% of the rest. They name efficiency (59%) and customer experience (53%) as the main benefits.

McKinsey sums it up: what once looked like digital leadership is now simply selling leadership.

What this means for manufacturers and distributors in Europe

The study confirms what many sales leaders see every day: the web shop grows, but requests and orders keep arriving by email, phone and messenger. Official statistics agree: in Germany, around 79% of B2B sales do not run through a web shop or EDI (Eurostat, 2024).

For inside sales, that means asking follow-up questions, finding the article and customer price, and typing everything into the system. That does not scale. Requests get stuck or take too long. And this is where suppliers lose customers, because buyers switch mainly over unclear information and missing contacts, according to McKinsey.

Where Heyrise AI comes in

Heyrise AI answers customer requests and orders in the channel the customer chooses, whether email, phone or another channel. The AI asks for what is missing, finds the article and price, and hands the quote or order directly to your digital service layer: OMS, CRM, commerce or ERP. Your team only reviews the exceptions.

This fits what McKinsey sees in the winners:

• Customer experience: Customers get a fast, personal answer. This directly addresses the switching reasons in the study.
• New growth: No request is left behind, and add-on offers on reorders become possible.
• Cost efficiency: Your team focuses on what matters instead of retyping. Efficiency is the most cited benefit among leading AI adopters.
• No rip and replace: Heyrise AI connects to your existing interfaces. You start with one use case and one channel.

What you can do now

• Measure your channels: How many requests and orders arrive today by email, PDF, phone, messenger, shop and EDI?
• Capture the effort: How much time does inside sales spend on follow-up questions and data entry?
• Pick one use case: For example orders and quote requests by email.
• Test it on a real example: In a demo we show you how this looks with a typical request from your industry.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the “rule of thirds” in the McKinsey B2B Pulse?

B2B buyers spread their interactions roughly evenly across in-person, remote and digital. Digital self-service such as e-commerce therefore covers only part of the picture.

Does that mean e-commerce is no longer worth it?

No. 71% of companies offer e-commerce, and around one third of revenue runs through it. The study shows that buyers also use people and other channels. Both belong together.

How does AI help with customer requests by email and phone?

An AI like Heyrise AI asks the customer for what is missing, finds the article and price, and creates the quote or order directly in the commerce system. The customer gets a fast, personal answer; the team reviews only the exceptions.

Who is Heyrise AI for?

Manufacturers and distributors with many recurring customers and a sales team that processes requests and orders manually today.

Sources: McKinsey, “The surprising economics of B2B growth: The new survival threshold and what it takes to thrive” (May 2026; Global B2B Pulse Survey, Dec 2025, n = 3,664, Exhibit 2). Eurostat, Value of e-commerce sales (isoc_ec_evaln2), 2024.

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