Unifying B2B marketing, ecommerce, and sales in 2026

Over the past decade, B2B organizations have increasingly recognized the need to align eCommerce, marketing and sales around a shared strategy. Yet in practice, these functions often continue to operate in separate silos, making true alignment difficult to achieve.

Our latest research report in collaboration with B2B Online Insights, explores how B2B organizations (distributors and manufacturer) are addressing this challenge and where the biggest gaps remain.

Alignment Is Improving, But True Unification Is Still Rare

Many B2B organizations have made progress toward collaboration between eCommerce, marketing and sales. However, the research shows that full alignment remains uncommon.

• 45% of respondents say their teams are mostly aligned, with regular collaboration but some remaining silos.
• 41% say their teams are partially aligned, with occasional collaboration but significant silos.

For many leaders, reaching the “mostly aligned” stage may feel like progress. But the persistence of silos within this group shows that true cross-functional integration remains difficult, even for large enterprises with significant resources.

Achieving alignment requires more than internal coordination. It often involves rethinking the underlying commerce architecture that supports marketing, sales and digital channels. By integrating eCommerce platforms with systems such as ERP, CRM and product information management (PIM), companies can create a shared operational foundation that enables teams to work from the same data and customer insights.

The Top Priorities for the Next 12 Months

When asked about their priorities for unifying eCommerce, marketing and sales, respondents identified several clear areas of focus.

The Top Three Priorities:

1. Establishing a unified content and product information strategy (55%)
2. Improving cross-functional communication and collaboration (43%)
3. Standardizing customer journey mapping across channels (37%)

These priorities reveal an important shift, companies are moving beyond isolated departmental initiatives toward a more integrated view of the customer journey. Centralizing product information and ensuring it flows consistently across eCommerce catalogs, marketing content, and sales tools can significantly reduce friction between teams and improve the overall buying experience.

Organizational Silos Remain the Biggest Challenge

While technology plays an important role, the biggest barriers to alignment are organizational and cultural. Nearly two out of three B2B organizations say internal silos are the primary obstacle to unification. The issue becomes even more complex when ownership of the customer experience is unclear. When no single function is responsible for the end-to-end journey, gaps emerge between marketing-generated demand, digital self-service channels and sales execution. Breaking down these silos often requires both organizational and technological changes. Many B2B companies are now investing in shared digital platforms that connect customer data, product information and order management across departments. By enabling all teams to work from the same systems and insights, organizations can begin to replace fragmented processes with truly collaborative workflows.

Technology Progress Is Uneven

To support alignment efforts, B2B organizations rely on a variety of technologies. Among the systems surveyed, eCommerce platforms received the highest satisfaction levels, with 46% of respondents reporting they are very satisfied and 42% somewhat satisfied. However, the results are far less positive for AI and machine learning solutions, only 10% of respondents are very satisfied. The gap suggests that while companies have successfully built their digital storefronts, many are still struggling to embed AI into everyday workflows in ways that deliver measurable value. Ensuring accurate product data, real-time inventory visibility and seamless integration between commerce platforms and backend systems can significantly increase the value organizations are able to extract from emerging technologies.

When respondents were asked to describe the most important change their B2B organization needs to make, the most common theme was structural change and systems integration. Many B2B organizations acknowledge that they are still organized around internal departments rather than customer journeys.

As one respondent explained:

“In reality, we are still organized around internal structures rather than how customers actually buy from us.”

Data fragmentation is another major challenge. In many B2B organizations, product and customer data live in multiple systems owned by different teams.

One respondent summarized the issue clearly:

“The most important change is creating one trusted source of truth that everyone uses.”

Without a shared data foundation, departments often work from different numbers and insights, making alignment nearly impossible. For B2B leaders, the opportunity is clear: those who succeed in breaking down internal barriers and aligning their commercial functions will be better positioned to deliver consistent customer experiences and unlock new sources of growth.

This article only touches on a portion of the insights uncovered in the research.

To explore the complete findings and understand how B2B leaders are approaching this challenge, download the full report.

The results presented in this report are based on a survey conducted by B2B Online Insights of 100 senior leaders from B2B organizations primarily from companies generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue. Respondents hold strategic roles such as directors, heads, vice presidents, or C-suite executives and work in functions related to digital, eCommerce, marketing, or customer experience. The study covers several B2B manufacturing and distribution sectors and is based on a questionnaire addressing B2B organizational structures, technology strategies, AI adoption and the key priorities and challenges related to aligning eCommerce, marketing and sales.