B2BEA Global Practitioner Survey 2026: The Vendor Experience
What 300+ B2B practitioners say about engaging and buying from technology vendors and system integrators.
The B2BEA Global Practitioner Survey 2026 captures how manufacturers and distributors actually experience the vendor buying journey, from first discovery through evaluation, implementation and long-term adoption.
Key findings at a glance
64%
are frustrated by vendors overpromising during the sales process
5.8/10
average score practitioners give vendors for understanding their business
72%
say vendors underestimate the change management effort required
84%
consider adoption support critical, but only 27% receive it
What's inside
- How practitioners judge vendor business understanding
- Discovery: where buyers actually look first
- The role of events in shortlisting
- Evaluation criteria and demo expectations
- Implementation risk and where projects slip
- Change management gaps
- Post-sale experience and account management
- Adoption support expectations
- AI expectations for the next 24 months
- Six recommendations for vendors
Why we ran this research
Vendors rarely get honest, aggregated feedback about how their buyers experience them. This survey gives B2BEA Vendor Members a direct line into what 300+ practitioners think about discovery, evaluation, implementation and long-term support.
Who we surveyed
Responses came from 323 practitioners across the global B2BEA network. 40% distributors, 36% manufacturers and 24% hybrid businesses, all directly involved in buying or running B2B digital commerce technology.
How to use it
The report closes with six practical recommendations covering sales messaging, demo design, implementation scoping, change management and adoption support, each tied back to the survey data.
About the research
Fielded across the B2BEA global network in 2026 with 323 responses from practitioners at manufacturers, distributors and hybrid businesses. Respondents were asked about their direct experience of evaluating, buying and implementing B2B commerce technology.