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When a B2B Commerce project fails to scale beyond the pilot: a human matter

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When a B2B commerce project doesn't get beyond the pilot phase, the issue is rarely technical. In fact, when discussing digital transformation in B2B, there's often a tendency to focus primarily on technology: which platform to choose, which features to implement, how to integrate systems. But the real bottleneck is frequently human. 

During the recent Netcomm Forum, we organized a panel bringing together representatives from two Italian leaders in consumer goods operating in B2B contexts – Pastiglie Leone and Moleskine – to discuss a topic rarely addressed with such depth: how to successfully integrate a B2B commerce project by moving beyond the technical dimension to address culture, governance, processes, and above all, people. 

What emerged is both simple and radical: if you don't start with the people who will use the tool, no platform, however sophisticated, will achieve its full potential. 

Beyond the term "e-commerce": enablement platforms

The first thing to clarify is a shift in language. In B2B, the term "e-commerce" feels almost inappropriate because it carries expectations inherited from B2C that simply don't apply in this context. In B2B, you can't simply put an online shopping cart in place and expect customers to manage themselves. 

Instead, think of order enablement platforms: tools that help people – commercial agents, area managers, administrative staff – to better manage certain operational aspects and then concentrate their energy where human consultation generates real value. 

An intelligent B2B commerce tool is an enabler that simultaneously serves to: 

  • Collect and manage orders from multiple channels (phone, e-mail, platforms, agents), normalizing them into an ordered and traceable flow;
  • Facilitate the work of agents and salespeople by automating low-value activities like data entry, availability verification, discount calculation consistent with policy, and exception management;
  • Personalize messaging and incentivize sales of products that typically struggle to sell, using historical data to understand which customer might be interested in which product line, with an eye toward upselling and cross-selling;
  • Strategically position products where there's greater sales difficulty, using artificial intelligence to suggest smart product combinations and relevant bundles.

But all of this only works if the people using the platform understand its value and adopt it consciously. If they don't, the tool remains nothing more than a technical implementation with no real impact. 

The myth of replacing the sales manager

One of the most widespread misunderstandings and fears concerns the role of the commercial agent in B2B. Many sales professionals fear that an AI-powered digital commerce platform might "replace" their role. This is not the case, and this point must be crystal clear from the outset. 

In B2B, the target is other companies that will in turn resell the products. Commercial relationships have a depth that cannot be reduced to a click. The specialized operator doesn't disappear; they simply change role and become even more focused on the client relationship. 

A salesperson supported by an intelligent enablement platform can finally stop dealing with purely administrative activities – collecting orders, verifying availability, managing complaints due to entry errors – and dedicate themselves to what they do best: strategic consulting, problem-solving, building lasting relationships. 

The platform doesn't replace people. It empowers them. 

Two types of adoption: the major challenge

When a company introduces a B2B commerce solution, it must address two interconnected but distinct adoption challenges. 

  • The first is end-user adoption: How do you ensure that customers, resellers, and distributors actually accept and use the platform to place orders? This is the most visible piece and simultaneously the most complex. A reseller accustomed to calling their agent to place an order won't change habits simply because a new platform exists. They need to perceive a concrete advantage: saving time, accessing real-time information, obtaining better terms reserved for loyal customers.
  • The second is internal organizational adoption: How do you integrate the platform into processes, governance, and company systems? How do you ensure that the commercial agent, logistics team, finance department, and marketing team use the tool as a natural step in their workflow? The risk here is even higher because it involves people the company works with directly, and their resistance can slow down or even block the entire project.

Both challenges are fundamentally matters of culture and governance, not technology. 

The right approach: involvement and clarity

Clarifying objectives well is the priority – never impose the tool from above. You don't implement a commerce platform because competitors do. You do it because you have clear, measurable objectives – both quantitative and qualitative: increase purchase frequency, reduce order entry errors by 70%, increase average order value through intelligent suggestions, or free up your salespeople from low-value activities so they become true consultants. 

Once these objectives are defined, the implementation process must be inclusive and engaging, building systems together with those who will use them. 

You must design starting from the people who will work with the system: what advantage can they gain from it? This must be clear already in the design phase. 

This means: 

  • Involve commercial agents, administrators, and logistics teams in the platform design and setup phase
  • Truly listen to their needs, their typical workflows, and their pain points
  • Clearly explain which activities will be automated (and why that's an advantage) and which responsibilities remain theirs
  • Build a training and support path that recognizes that change management is the real project, not software installation.

Tinext Experience: technology in service of people

It becomes clear that integrating a B2B commerce project is first and foremost a matter of culture and governance. 

You need to redefine commercial logics: How are discounts assigned? Who has authority to grant exceptions? Which products need to be pushed and to which segments? How should promotional budgets be allocated? How is initiative effectiveness measured? 

You need to align processes: sales teams, order processing teams, logistics, finance, marketing, and all company stakeholders must work according to coherent and shared processes. 

And you need to introduce a genuinely data-driven culture: decisions should no longer be based on gut feeling or habit, but on concrete data about what sells, what doesn't, and where untapped potential exists. 

All of this goes beyond technology, but the right technology makes it possible. 

Because, in the end, every digital transformation is mainly human transformation. 

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