Retailer Trends in Multichannel Commerce

Radial’s research indicates that brands face an inflection point. They want to grow and scale across a variety of channels but face both high customer expectations and significant operational constraints. Specifically, many brands face a logistics bottleneck that breaks brand trust and stymies growth.  

So how are retailers approaching multichannel commerce, with its many pitfalls and opportunities?  Radial recently completed a retailer survey to uncover the key B2B distribution trends shaping the future of eCommerce as consumers increasingly seek products on their preferred channels, not always directly from a brand. 

Eighty percent of eCommerce sales occur via B2B channels, whether that’s retail, wholesale, or marketplace.  But many growing brands haven’t taken full advantage of B2B yet. Only 42% of surveyed retailers below a billion in revenue indicate B2B channels make up the majority of their revenue. And 33% of brands below a billion in revenue don’t sell on B2B channels at all. 

This means there is a significant opportunity for modern brands to grow revenues by strategically leveraging B2B channels.  

Many modern brands recognize the opportunities they can capture by expanding their B2B strategies. More than 50% of retailers focused on expansion in 2025, but they took different approaches: 

Brands take different approaches depending on revenue size as well. For example, larger brands are highly focused on maximizing operational efficiency across channels. And few brands of any size plan to build their own brick-and-mortar retail presence, indicating a shift from wholly owned channels to outsourced experiences. 

Retailers report challenges when operating across B2B channels. Thirty-five percent note that inventory visibility, allocation, and synchronization is the most difficult. This is an understandable conundrum: New channels may require fresh SOPs, technology integrations, and compliance updates, and as you add channels, complexity expands exponentially. That means retailers need to meticulously maintain requirements and compliance across many different vendors. Likewise, brands listed meeting retailer compliance or routing guide requirements as the second biggest challenge, followed by managing returns. 

Brands may not have the operational or technological infrastructure in place to effectively manage and scale B2B expansion. Many are opting to work with third-party logistics (3PL) partners to solve their B2B challenges. 

When asked about what they need from a B2B logistics partners, retailers gave feedback across four categories: 

When retailers outsource B2B distribution, they need a partner that can easily manage inventory and maintain compliance across channels. And they need solutions backed by easy-to-use technology integrations that can provide real-time insights into inventories across channels. These partners must also be able to onboard new retailers quickly and manage complex returns operations, all while maintaining high operational standards. This is extremely tough to do without deep expertise, and the risk of not meeting vendor requirements can lead to lost sales, penalty fees, and deactivation on new sales channels, effectively eliminating the key benefits of expanding channels. 

Ultimately, retailers can maximize the odds of multichannel success by working with an experienced 3PL operator leveraging best-in-class technology. This allows them to focus on core competencies, while reducing the risks associated with adding or expanding channels. The result: faster growth as brands connect with and win new customers in new ways.  

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