Digital marketplaces and self-directed research are pushing buyers further down the funnel before vendors ever engage, forcing the channel to adapt or risk losing relevance.

Vendors and partners have long believed they could chart a customer’s path from awareness to decision, guiding buyers through predictable stages of discovery, evaluation, and purchase. It's the classic sales funnel, but that assumption is no longer valid.

Today’s customers are reshaping the buying process on their own terms, and vendors and their channel partners must adjust sales models and processes to meet purchasing influencers and decision-makers where they are rather than where sellers would like them to be. At the Channel Meetup in Raleigh, hosted by 7Demand, the conversation focused on this very shift. Buyers now have multiple avenues for acquiring solutions. Some still value direct relationships with vendors. Others turn to partners for expertise and service. The momentum, however, is increasingly shifting toward digital marketplaces, particularly among buyers under 35.

Millennials and Gen Z tech buyers prefer to bypass sales conversations, relying instead on marketplaces that offer speed, transparency, and the ability to self-manage research and purchases. These buyers want control and are wary of what they perceive as the manipulation that often accompanies interactions with salespeople.

This change is more than a matter of preference. It upends the timing and dynamics of when vendors and partners can influence decisions. Historically, sellers intercepted buyers midway through the process, once needs were defined but before final decisions were made. Now, thanks to search engines, peer reviews, and the growing use of artificial intelligence, customers progress much further on their own. Many will be 90% through their buying journey before a vendor even realizes they're in the market. Engagement typically occurs almost exclusively at the bottom of the funnel, when the customer is on the verge of making a purchase and options have already been narrowed down.

The implication for vendors and partners is clear. Marketplaces aren't a future consideration — they're the present reality. Buyers will increasingly expect the convenience of digital platforms, and suppliers must adapt by rethinking how they support, enable, and differentiate themselves in environments where control rests with the customer. Simply listing products online will not be enough. Businesses must build strategies that anticipate where and how customers want to engage, aligning resources to intercept buyers at the decisive moment of action.

These dynamics underscore the urgency for the channel to rethink its approach. Success is no longer about leading customers step by step through a linear funnel. It's about becoming embedded in the self-directed journey that customers already prefer, whether through direct sales, partner services, or digital marketplaces. The shift is accelerating, and those who fail to adapt risk irrelevance.

Larry Walsh explores these changes in more detail from the Channel Meetup event in this installment of In the Margins.