B2B eCommerce Insights
Weekly practitioner insights on Shopify Plus B2B, Akeneo PIM, ERP integration, and building eCommerce that works for distributors, manufacturers, and retailers.
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Shopify Just Connected Millions of Merchants to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot
Shopify launched Agentic Storefronts — merchants sell directly inside ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot. B2B distributors are excluded unless they run hybrid B2B/D2C on Shopify Plus.
Death of the Order Taker
I just got back from Chicago. Two days at Master B2B MindShare, hosting two roundtables on aligning sales teams with eCommerce. The room was split almost perfectly in half. Companies that had cracked …
Silicon Valley Finally Noticed Industrial Distribution. Now What?
A16z just put $1.1B behind an AI startup built for industrial distributors. That sentence alone would have been unthinkable two years ago. Industrial distribution was the last sector anyone in Silicon…
I Gave an AI Agent My SSH Keys and Let It Code on a Live Site.
I didn’t expect the future of eCommerce operations to come from open-source. But here we are. Meet OpenClaw OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent that runs 24/7 on your computer. You message it on Whats…
The B2B Market Has a $2 Trillion Secret
$15 trillion in US B2B sales. Sounds massive. But here’s what the headlines don’t tell you. The Real Breakdown 75% of digital B2B is EDI. Computer-to-computer. Automated POs between systems set up yea…
No, Your eCommerce Isn't Cannibalizing Phone Sales
The most common objection I hear from CFOs about B2B eCommerce investment: “You’re just moving orders from the phone to the website. That’s not growth. That’s a channel shift.” I used to struggle to a…
B2B Buyers Will Switch Suppliers for a Better Digital Experience.
80% of B2B sales interactions now happen digitally. Not “expected to”—happening right now. And 73% of buyers straight-up prefer buying online over traditional methods. But here’s the stat that should …
Your AI Strategy Is Failing. Here’s the Fix No One Talks About.
Here’s what I keep seeing when I walk into B2B distributors: the AI conversation starts with excitement and ends with the same problem. “Wait, why do we have three different descriptions for the same …
AI Doesn't Verify. It Retrieves.
Ahrefs invented a fake luxury paperweight company called Xarumei last month. They built the website in an hour. AI-generated product photos. Absurd prices—$8,251 for a paperweight. A brand name that r…
1P vs 3P on Amazon: What B2B Teams Miss
With Amazon Business pushing toward tens of billions in B2B GMV, manufacturers and distributors now face a harder question: not if they should be on Amazon, but how . At B2B Online in Atlanta, we took…
2026's Biggest AI Challenge Isn't What You Think
MIT dropped a stat last year that got everyone talking: 95% of generative AI pilots are failing.
Why Most B2B Leaders Still Get Digital Growth Wrong
Everyone wants “digital transformation.” Few can explain what that actually means when your business runs on ERP, margin pressure, and 50-year-old customer habits.
Manufacturers Feed the Brain. Distributors Power the Hands.
When Apple launched the App Store in 2008, nobody knew it would reshape everything. They just knew something felt different.
AI in B2B: From Data Chaos to Differentiation
Most #B2B leaders are asking the wrong AI question. It’s not "How do we use AI to cut costs?" It’s "Do we have the data foundation to let AI create advantage?"
If AI Doesn’t Trust Your Brand, Neither Will Your Buyers
In B2B, we’ve spent years investing in better platforms, better UX, better funnels. But the real moment of truth is shifting upstream. Before the first pageview. Before the branded search.
B2B Connect 2025 Recap: What B2B Self-Serve Actually Looks Like in the Field
Just got back from my first trip to California—San Diego for #B2BConnect2025.
Why I Bet on a Blended Storefront — And Why It’s Fueling B2B Growth
In B2B eCommerce, the pressure to “go composable” or split B2B from DTC is louder than ever. But sometimes the smartest move isn’t two storefronts — it’s one, built to adapt.
Takeaway #1 B2B Online Chicago: Aligning KPIs with Business Goals
In my experience, KPIs should function as a steering wheel—guiding decisions, not just reporting outcomes. Yet, many organizations are overwhelmed by dashboards filled with vanity metrics, siloed data…
Your Next Buyer Might Never Visit Your Site
Why AI-first shopping is rewriting how decisions are made—and where you show up.
Hudson’s Bay Didn’t Fail at eCommerce—They Misunderstood the Assignment
I’ll be honest—this one hits differently. HBC isn’t just a brand. It’s part of Canadian retail history. A 354-year-old icon that outlived empires. And now, suddenly... it’s gone silent online. The <a href="/strategy-consulting/">digital strategy</a> lesson here matters for every B2B operator.
AI Agents: B2B's Next Profit Driver
Traditional automation follows predetermined rules—IF this, THEN that. AI agents, however, operate on a fundamentally different principle. They combine machine learning capabilities with specialized d…
Amazon's Lost Bet: The High Cost for Quebec
The Economic Fallout
Transforming B2B Pricing: A Journey from Complexity to Clarity
When implementing a B2B eCommerce platform, pricing often emerges as one of the most significant roadblocks. It’s not just about plugging in numbers—it’s about aligning systems, strategies, and custom…
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Weekly B2B eCommerce insights from Rudy Abitbol. No fluff. No AI-generated filler. Real operator perspective on Shopify Plus, Akeneo PIM, and distribution commerce.
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