Job crunch in the US by 2020?

MUMBAI, INDIA: One million US B2B salespeople will lose their jobs to self-service e-commerce by 2020, accounting for 20 percent of the B2B salesforce.

According to research firm Forrester, the effect will be felt most significantly by sales reps who are considered order takers—those serving customers who purchase self-explanatory products in a simple selling environment.

This also includes the elimination of hundreds of thousands of entry-level jobs that allowed college grads to enter the workforce as salespeople, it cautions.

The Forrester data shows that nearly 75 percent of B2B buyers prefer to buy online when purchasing products for work, yet just 25 percent of B2B companies actively sell online.

B2B buyers are living in a 2015 digital-first world, but B2B sellers are still living in a 1965 salesman-first world.

Firms must adapt by building digitally enabled selling models that put self-serve e-commerce on equal footing with commissioned salespeople, Forrester remarks.