The Autonomous Commerce Shift 2026

What 500 B2B executives revealed about the real state of autonomous commerce

"The Autonomous Commerce Shift 2026": the first independent study on autonomous commerce in the DACH region. 500 senior leaders across manufacturing, wholesale, automotive, electronics, and healthcare — surveyed on automation maturity, AI adoption, and the biggest roadblocks in digital sales and procurement.

A first look at the numbers

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of B2B companies spend more than a quarter of their commerce working hours on manual tasks.

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are prioritizing AI and automation as their top investment area through 2026.

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of B2B buyers would switch suppliers over a poor digital ordering experience.

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of buyers say the digital purchasing experience matters more today than it did two years ago.

What the study covers

  • Where B2B sales and procurement processes actually stand today, beyond the polished digital strategy deck.
  • How much manual work still consumes commerce operations, and which areas are hit hardest.
  • How far AI has made it into productive B2B commerce use and where adoption stalls.
  • What B2B buyers expect from their suppliers: self-service, AI-powered search, and digital process quality.
  • Where executives are placing their investment bets through 2026 and what's holding them back.

The study is built for senior leaders in digital, e-commerce, sales, and IT working in large B2B companies. Especially relevant for decision-makers in manufacturing, wholesale, automotive, electronics, and healthcare who own commerce processes or are driving their automation.

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One market. Two perspectives.

Quantitative online survey with an independent market research institute. 500 senior executives (Head of, Director, VP, C-Level) across five B2B industries in the DACH region.

The Seller Perspective

  • 332 B2B commerce and sales leaders
  • How they sell, automate, and invest

  • Automation maturity, manual workload, AI adoption, investment priorities, and the barriers slowing them down

The Buyer Perspective

  • 168 B2B procurement and purchasing leaders
  • How they buy, evaluate, and decide
  • Digital experience expectations, switching behavior, self-service demands, AI readiness, and where suppliers fall short

Get the Study!

You'll receive the full study free of charge via email.