Gartner: Two-thirds of B2B buyers prefer rep-free purchasing as AI reshapes sales
Gartner's Aug-Sept 2025 survey of 646 B2B buyers found 67% prefer rep-free purchasing and 45% already use AI tools during the buying process, accelerating the collapse of traditional vendor-led sales.
For brands selling on business-facing marketplaces (Amazon Business, Walmart Business), this means your product listings and A+ content ARE your sales rep — static PDFs and generic bullets won't convert AI-assisted buyers who are comparing specs autonomously. Audit your Amazon Business listings for structured attributes, quantity pricing, and GSA/compliance badges that AI tools can parse.
This accelerates AI disruption in B2B commerce — brands that don't optimize structured content for machine-readable discovery will lose share to competitors whose listings AI procurement tools prefer, compressing margins further on Amazon Business and Walmart Business channels.
Check Amazon Business reports under 'B2B' in Seller Central -- if business buyer share is above 10% of revenue, update listings with structured specs and tiered pricing immediately or lose to competitors whose content AI can read.
In the next 30 days, enable Amazon Business pricing tiers and ensure all product detail pages have complete attribute fields so AI-driven procurement tools surface your listings over incomplete competitors.
Bottom Line
67% rep-free B2B buying means your listing content must close the sale alone.
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Analyst Intelligence
Research or editorial analysis that adds market context beyond the official announcement.
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medium
67% rep-free B2B buying means your listing content must close the sale alone.
Key Stat / Trigger
67% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free purchasing experience
Focus on the operational implication, not just the headline.
Full Coverage
Nearly seven in 10 B2B buyers prefer to complete purchases without interacting with a sales representative, underscoring a shift toward rep-free, self-directed, digital buying behavior, according to a survey released by Gartner. It conducted the survey of 646 buyers from August 2025 through September 2025.
Gartner found that 67% of B2B buyers favor a rep-free experience. At the same time, 45% said they used artificial intelligence tools during a recent purchase, indicating that AI is becoming a principal component of how business customers research and evaluate suppliers.
The findings highlight a continued move away from traditional, rep-led sales models across B2B commerce, with buyers completing more of the purchasing process independently before engaging with vendors. “B2B buyers are progressing through critical buying tasks in more autonomous ways,” said Alyssa Cruz, senior principal analyst in Gartner’s sales practice.
“Sellers can’t rely on static collateral to carry influence in those moments.” News FedEx: Visibility, AI and rising buyer demands redefine B2B commerce Mark Brohan | Feb 20, 2026
Original Source
This briefing is based on reporting from Digital Commerce 360. Use the original post for full primary-source context.
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