Lori McDonald is on a mission to help business leaders unlock untapped sales potential through digital commerce, guiding them through varying B2B ecommerce trends.
Lori McDonald, president and CEO, Brilliance Business Solutions
For 27 years, she has served as president and CEO of Brilliance Business Solutions, an ecommerce digital agency twice named to the Inc 5000 list of America’s fastest growing private companies. Lori understands the challenges of being a merchant, as she also owns Norsland Lefse, a specialty food manufacturer that sells on NorslandLefse.com, Amazon, and through distributors.
Follow Lori McDonald on LinkedIn and contact her team through BrillianceWeb.com.
B2B ecommerce trends
What are the most significant trends you’re seeing in how B2B companies are integrating digital tools into their omnichannel strategies?
What’s happening now isn’t brand new — it’s a continuation of trends we’ve seen building for years. What’s different is the pace. Some companies are accelerating digital investments, while others are pulling back because of economic uncertainty or internal forecasting challenges.
But overall, there’s this growing awareness that tools need to reflect how customers actually buy, not how internal systems were built. We’re seeing demand for self-service portals, real-time inventory, and tighter ERP, CRM, and ecommerce integration. Digital is no longer a bolt-on — it’s the connective tissue between inside sales, field sales, ecommerce, and distribution partners. When that all works together, it’s powerful.
That said, some orgs are still hesitating — not because they don’t believe in digital, but because they’re trying to figure out what’s next in a challenging economy. For companies that have already invested, digital tools are becoming a competitive edge — giving them more agility in responding to tariffs, supply chain shifts, and changing customer demands.
Evolving role of ecommerce
How is the role of ecommerce evolving in traditionally offline or field-based industries (e.g., manufacturing, distribution, health care)?
In manufacturing, distribution, and health care, ecommerce has evolved. It’s not just an ordering platform anymore — it’s a sales enablement tool.
Back in the early years at Brilliance, like 15 or 20 years ago, clients would tell us, “Our customers don’t buy online.” It wasn’t really true then. But now? Sales reps are using ecommerce tools in meetings to show products, check inventory, and even build orders on the spot. It helps organizations to sell more, faster, without needing to grow headcount at the same pace.
The shift is: ecommerce isn’t replacing reps — it’s amplifying them.
What technologies (AI, ERP integrations, CDPs, etc.) are proving essential for delivering a seamless B2B omnichannel experience today?
ERP integration is table stakes. If your inventory, pricing, or order history isn’t right across channels, customers lose trust fast.
AI is quickly becoming table stakes too, especially for search and product recommendations. It’s not a “nice to have” anymore. Be careful here because many folks are investing in AI because it is AI. That is a recipe for failure.
Many mid-market B2B companies are just beginning to explore Customer Data Platforms — or haven’t started at all. A few companies are experimenting, but most aren’t close to maximizing what CDPs can do — especially when it comes to stitching together customer behavior across systems.
At the end of the day, the tech only matters if it solves real problems for customers. The filter should always be: does this make buying easier?
Connecting digital and in-store data
How are leading companies using customer data to unify digital and physical channels? Where are others falling short?
Leaders are working to bring together customer interactions — sales, support, ecommerce, marketing — into a single view. Or at least, they’re trying to. Most companies aren’t fully there yet.
Where people fall short is one of two things:
- Either the data is siloed across systems, or
- They’ve got the data but don’t know what to do with it
Everyone’s got data. Manufacturers and distributors especially. The challenge is turning it into something actionable.
We’re seeing organizations succeed when they use data to personalize — whether that’s tailored quotes, personalized website content, segmented email, or dynamic pricing. But the real key is having the right tools and the right processes.
What’s the biggest barrier B2B organizations face when trying to modernize legacy systems to support omnichannel delivery?
The problem isn’t the tech — it’s how teams inside the company work together (or don’t).
Most companies are still structured in silos — sales, marketing, ops, ecommerce. Even if leadership says they want omnichannel, those silos make it hard to actually deliver.
You might have IT and ops working off a 15-year-old ERP with patchwork integrations. Swapping in new tools won’t fix that unless teams learn to work cross-functionally and think in terms of customer outcomes. The mindset shift is the hard part.
Is digital transformation working?
Are there emerging benchmarks for ROI or customer engagement that indicate digital-first omnichannel models are paying off?
There’s no universal benchmark, but there are definitely patterns we’re seeing. Companies that enable self-service — especially for reordering, quoting, or pricing — are seeing faster sales cycles, fewer errors, and better customer retention.
We’ve worked with manufacturers who’ve integrated real-time pricing and cut order entry time significantly. Their sales teams have shifted from being order takers to playing more strategic roles — focusing on complex deals and high-value customers. That kind of shift is part of the ROI too. When digital takes care of the routine stuff, your team can grow into roles that deliver more impact.
Another benefit that doesn’t always show up on a dashboard: resiliency. When you’ve got digital tools in place, you can serve customers consistently — even when someone leaves or there’s turnover on your team. That stability matters.
I also recommend looking at usage. How many of your customers are logging into your site regularly? Then compare growth from those accounts versus those who aren’t using the tools. That’s usually where you’ll see the clearest ROI — not just from online sales, but from how digital drives total sales growth when your customers actually use it.
Changing B2B service models
How are B2B organizations adapting their sales and service models to align with digital-first buying behavior?
Smart B2B orgs are training sales reps to be digitally fluent. They’re blending traditional skills with digital tools — guided selling, customer data, AI. Sales isn’t going away. But it’s shifting into a more strategic role.
The reps who win now are the ones who know how to use the ecommerce platform and how to have the right consultative conversation. And AI is making that shift more urgent — it’s helping sales teams work smarter, but it also raises the bar on what’s expected.
Which industries or companies are setting the pace in omnichannel transformation? And what can others learn from them?
Grainger’s the classic example. They’ve built digital into how they serve accounts — not just a new channel, but a fundamental part of the business.
That said, I always caution people not to get too focused on the giants. You’ll just end up comparing your constraints to their resources.
Instead, ask: What problems are our customers trying to solve? Then work backward from there. Omnichannel isn’t about copying someone else’s tech stack. It’s about meeting your customers where they are.
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