NEW YORK—The current iteration of the B2B market – with a heavy emphasis on digital interaction – is not just a passing fad. It’s the way business will be done today, tomorrow and into the future. At least this is the view of McKinsey & Company, one of the leading management consulting firms in the world.

In a recent analysis of the B2B market, McKinsey found that the COVID-19 pandemic “forced B2B buyers and sellers to go digital in a massive way. What started out as a crisis response has now become the next normal, with big implications for how buyers and sellers will do business in the future.”

The firm noted that its recent research on decision makers’ behavior globally across industries since the crisis began “reveals that the big digital shift is here to stay.”

Both B2B buyers and sellers prefer the new digital reality, McKinsey noted in one of its Marketing & Sales insights newsletters.

“More than three quarters of buyers and sellers say they now prefer digital self-serve and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions—a sentiment that has steadily intensified even after lockdowns have ended,” according to McKinsey.

Safety is one reason, but self-serve and remote interactions have made it easier for buyers to get information, place orders, and arrange service, and customers have enjoyed that speed and convenience, the consulting firm said. Only about 20 percent of B2B buyers say they hope to return to in-person sales, even in sectors where field-sales models have traditionally dominated, such as pharma and medical products.

Among the key findings of the research:

• The shift to digital and remote engagement has been embraced by decision makers in all countries surveyed worldwide. B2B sales leaders have moved from being “forced” to adopt digital in reaction to the widespread shutdowns in the early stages of COVID-19 to a growing conviction that digital is the way to go.

• Customers are buying big online. The most notable sign that digital sales have come of age is the comfort B2B buyers display in making large new purchases and reorders online. The prevailing wisdom used to be that e-commerce was mainly for smaller-ticket items and fast-moving parts. Not so anymore. Notably, 70 percent of B2B decision makers say they are open to making new, fully self-serve or remote purchases in excess of $50,000, and 27 percent would spend more than $500,000.

• B2B decision makers globally say that online and remote selling is as effective as in-person engagement, or even more so—and they're not just talking about selling to warm leads. Sellers also believe digital prospecting is as effective as in-person meetings to connect with existing customers.

• The future is digital—and optimistic. According to survey respondents, these pandemic-induced patterns are likely to become permanent. Close to nine in 10 decision makers say that new commercial and go-to-market sales practices will be a fixture throughout 2021 and possibly beyond.