Buyers no longer follow a linear path from awareness to purchase; transactions span vendor, partner, and self-service routes.
The buyer’s journey has grown more complex. The traditional model of guiding customers from awareness to decision through a predictable funnel no longer reflects reality. Increasingly, buyers bypass early and middle stages and reveal their presence only at the end of the cycle.
This shift in behavior, while not new, is accelerating. B2B buyers are more skeptical of information from salespeople and are gravitating toward faster, more transparent purchasing channels such as marketplaces. Younger buyers — millennials and Gen Zers — are conditioned for digital experiences. For them, conversations and repeated meetings slow the process rather than add value.
Over the next five years, marketplaces — including those of hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud — will become the preferred sourcing medium for technology products and services. Buyers value not only the immediacy of digital purchasing but also the administrative benefits: automated record keeping, spend tracking, and easier compliance with budget commitments. In addition, customers increasingly expect digital storefronts from software and service vendors, as well as partners.
Yet not every transaction fits the digital model. Complex, multi-brand systems still require expert planning and support. Large enterprise purchases — with sophisticated fulfillment requirements and expectations for price concessions — continue to necessitate direct engagement with sales teams.
Buyers no longer follow a single, linear path. Instead, they have multiple entry points and routes to fulfillment and support, depending on the complexity of the technology solution and the value of the transaction.
