Why product data, AI and continuous optimization are reshaping B2B commerce

Artificial intelligence is dramatically reducing the cost of integration, migration and software development. At the same time, customer expectations continue to rise. As a result, competitive advantage increasingly depends less on the platform alone and more on the quality of the data, integrations and processes that power it. Here are five key takeaways from our recent conversation with Justin King on the B2B eCommerce Show.

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Hear the full conversation between François-Jérôme Gosselin and Justin King on the B2B eCommerce Show as they discuss the trends shaping the future of B2B commerce, from AI and product data to platform strategy and digital transformation.

1. Product data has become the foundation of digital commerce

Product data has never been the most glamorous part of digital commerce. As François-Jérôme put it during the conversation, “It’s a pain. It’s always been a pain.” What has changed is not its importance, but the cost and complexity of improving it.

One of the strongest themes emerging from the 2026 State of B2B Commerce research, conducted in collaboration with B2B Online Insights and Shopify, is the growing investment in product data enrichment. For years, product information management has been viewed as a necessary but often time-consuming and frustrating task. Today, AI is fundamentally changing that reality. Modern large language models (LLMs) can enrich incomplete product information, standardize inconsistent supplier data, generate customer-friendly product descriptions, map attributes across multiple data sources and significantly accelerate catalog migrations. More importantly, product enrichment should no longer be treated as a one-time initiative. The organizations seeing the greatest success are embedding AI into continuous workflows that automatically improve product information as new products are added to their catalogs, ensuring their data remains accurate, consistent and ready to support both customers and AI-powered buying experiences.

2. AI is making platform migration easier than ever

Switching commerce platforms remains a significant strategic and operational investment, requiring careful planning, specialized expertise and close coordination across data, systems and business teams. AI does not eliminate that complexity, but it can accelerate specific parts of the process, including product catalog migration, product information enrichment, business rule documentation and certain integration tasks. This evolution is also making modern platforms such as Shopify a viable option for increasingly complex B2B commerce environments. As a result, organizations are moving beyond the question, “Can Shopify support our complexity?” and asking a more strategic one: “Does maintaining our custom platform still create enough business value to justify its cost and complexity?”

“ AI is not making architecture irrelevant. It is changing the economics behind the architecture decisions businesses can make.” - François-Jérôme Gosselin

3. Composable commerce suddenly matters again

Composable commerce has been discussed for years. Until recently, many organizations struggled with the complexity and maintenance costs of managing multiple specialized systems. AI changes that equation. Because AI agents can interact through APIs, composable architectures are becoming easier to build, extend and automate.

Rather than forcing every capability into one monolithic platform, organizations can connect best-of-breed systems while allowing AI to orchestrate workflows between them.

The result is greater flexibility without the development burden that existed only a few years ago.

4. Digital revenue is no longer experimental

Perhaps one of the most surprising findings from the report on the 2026 state of B2B commerce is the maturity of digital commerce. Most surveyed B2B organizations now generate 40% of total revenue through digital channels, 90% of B2B buyers are ready to change suppliers to benefit from a better online shopping experience and 70% of B2B decision-makers say they would be willing to make online purchases of $50,000 or more.

For an in-depth overview of the key findings on the state of B2B commerce in 2026

Watch the webinar

What’s changing?

A new generation of B2B buyers now expects consumer-grade digital experiences. They are increasingly comfortable placing significant online orders, provided the buying experience delivers real-time inventory, accurate pricing, order visibility and a seamless purchasing journey.

5. Stop treating commerce as a project

Perhaps the most important lesson from the discussion has nothing to do with technology.As Justin King summarized during the conversation,

“Product data is not a project. Search is not a project. And agentic commerce won’t be a project either.”

Many digital commerce initiatives fail because organizations approach them as fixed projects, successful organizations take a different approach.They treat commerce as an ongoing business capability, that means continuously improving: product data, customer adoption, search, AI capabilities, integrations, customer experience. This requires clear ownership, dedicated budgets and measurable optimization priorities, not simply a launch date.

The same mindset now applies to AI. Agentic commerce is not something businesses will “finish.” It will become another continuous optimization program that evolves alongside customer expectations.

Looking ahead

As AI continues to reshape B2B commerce, the organizations that will gain a competitive advantage won’t necessarily be those with the newest platform. They’ll be the ones that have built strong data foundations, connected their core business systems, embraced flexible architectures and committed to continuous improvement. In an increasingly AI-driven buying journey, the quality of your data and your ability to adapt will matter far more than the technology stack alone.