Why Building Materials Buyers Switch — and What It Costs You

The building materials buying journey is no longer linear.

Today’s buyers don’t simply call a rep, request a quote, and place an order. They research first — often before speaking to anyone. That shift is redefining construction ecommerce and raising expectations for every ecommerce website for building materials.

The 2025 Industrial Buyers Report found that 52.2% of buyers discover distributor websites through Google, not through a salesperson. In construction materials ecommerce, your website is often your first sales interaction — whether you planned it that way or not.

Once buyers arrive, they typically:

• Check pricing (67%)

• Research products (51%)

• Check availability (49%)

• Place an order (48%)

Three of the top four actions — pricing, product research, and availability — happen before checkout.

In ecommerce for construction materials, the website is the first conversation, not the last step. If your online experience doesn’t clearly provide that information, buyers will go elsewhere.

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What actually triggers a buyer to switch suppliers?

When buyers encounter friction early, they don’t ignore it. They reassess their supplier.

Across B2B building materials segments, the data is clear: inventory accuracy, pricing transparency, and ordering ease determine whether customers stay — or start looking elsewhere.

1. Inventory gaps.

Inventory inaccuracy is one of the fastest ways to lose trust.

Sana Commerce found that 81% of B2B buyers have factors limiting how much they order online — most commonly inaccurate stock, pricing, and delivery information. And 75% would switch to a supplier that offers a better online buying experience.

In the building materials industry, where job schedules depend on material arrival, an inventory miss isn’t a minor inconvenience. It’s lost margin.

2. Unclear pricing.

Price transparency directly influences purchase velocity and supplier loyalty.

Philomath Research reported that:

• 64% of B2B buyers said unclear pricing delayed purchasing decisions.

• 49% said overly complex procurement processes reduced trust.

In B2B construction materials distribution, pricing volatility is expected. Hidden pricing isn’t. Buyers don’t want to “call for price.” They expect to see their price instantly.

Transparency reduces the risk of buyers reevaluating suppliers.

3. Ordering friction.

Repeat purchasing should be effortless.

Modern B2B sales management construction ecommerce strategies are designed to streamline reordering, approvals, and rep oversight — but many distributors still rely on manual processes.

MDM's 2025 B2B buyer data showed only 33% of buyers can reorder with a single click — a serious friction point in an industry built on repeat orders. 

If a contractor has to re-enter the same order every week, they are not loyal. They are tolerant. And tolerance has a shelf life.

4. Non-traditional competitors filling the gap.

Ease of purchase now defines competitive advantage in construction materials ecommerce.

BigCommerce’s 2025 Industrial Buyers Report found that 66% of B2B buyers view Amazon Business, Grainger, Fastenal, and Home Depot as viable suppliers for most of their material needs, with more than 100 competitors mentioned by respondents.

For many buyers, these platforms represent a shift toward a B2B marketplace construction model — centralized, searchable, and always available.

Your competition is no longer the distributor across town. It is every company that has made buying easier than you have.

Across inventory visibility, pricing transparency, and ordering friction, the pattern is consistent: when the experience slows buyers down, they look elsewhere.

That’s why the construction ecommerce benefits that business leaders pursue — stronger retention, higher margins, and lower cost to serve — depend on eliminating friction before it compounds.

Simon-Kucher's research research reinforces the pattern: lack of reliable inventory data and poor customer service are the primary obstacles that push contractors away from their current supplier — or worse, to competitors who have invested in digital.

Ask yourself: when was the last time you tried to place an order on your own website? If the experience frustrated you, imagine what it does to a contractor on a deadline.

How does price sensitivity differ between contractors and builders?

Not every building materials buyer responds to pricing the same way, and understanding the difference determines how fast you lose them when your digital experience falls short.

Source: Simon-Kucher 2025 Construction and Building Materials Study

General contractors and remodelers are typically better positioned to pass cost increases through to end customers. They care about price — but they care more about installation efficiency, product availability, and reducing callbacks. Labor costs compress their margins more than material costs do.

Residential builders operate under tighter constraints. 

With gross margins already compressed, builders are more sensitive to price shifts. They look for suppliers that protect margin through value-engineered alternatives and materials that reduce installation time, as Simon-Kucher’s analysis detailed.

Across both segments, pricing transparency is non-negotiable.

Material prices have risen more than 40% from pre-pandemic levels, and tariffs on construction goods hit a 40-year high in 2025. Buyers need to see current, accurate pricing before they commit.

For teams leading building materials B2B marketing initiatives, this has direct implications. Effective digital marketing for building materials must reflect real margin pressures, not just promotional pricing.

Does digital actually improve margins — or just convenience?

This is the question that matters most to the leadership team reviewing an ecommerce investment.

Simon-Kucher's analysis of a large distributor found that digital orders exhibited gross margins a full 100 basis points higher than traditional orders. Transparent pricing and guided online purchasing don’t just retain customers — they improve the economics of every transaction.

The margin improvement comes from multiple sources: 

• Fewer manual pricing errors

• Reduced order-entry labor

• Better adherence to contract pricing tiers

• Fewer post-order disputes

When the buyer sees clear pricing, confirms availability, and submits the order themselves, the cost-to-serve drops and the margin on that order improves.

As shown in the MKM BigCommerce case study — where digital modernization drove an 82% revenue increase — improving inventory visibility, pricing clarity, and online ordering can strengthen both customer experience and margins.

This is not a story of convenience. It is one of economics.

How does BigCommerce address the switching triggers?

Each switching trigger maps directly to a platform capability. The question is whether your current system can address them.

BigCommerce is built to close these gaps:

• Multi-location inventory visibility: Directly addressing the No. 1 switching trigger. When a buyer can see that your Southside yard has 400 sheets in stock even though the Northside yard is out, they stay. When they cannot see that, they call Grainger. Real-time integrations ensure accurate availability across branches and regions.

• Quote-to-order workflows: Transactions can start as quotes, get reviewed by reps when needed, and convert to confirmed orders with agreed-upon pricing before the buyer commits. BigCommerce B2B Edition supports approval workflows and negotiated pricing without slowing down self-service.

• Quick reorder and saved lists: In a business built on weekly repeat orders, one-click reorder is not a feature — it is a retention mechanism. BigCommerce enables saved carts and requisition lists so contractors don’t have to rebuild the same order every week.

• Customer-specific pricing: Every buyer sees their contracted price, not a generic list that forces them to call and verify. This eliminates the 64% pricing delay Philomath Research identified and supports complex account structures common in ecommerce for building supply and B2B commerce for construction machinery. BigCommerce also charges no transaction fees, protecting already tight margins.

• Real-time data integration: Flexible, API-driven connections to ERP, CRM, and PIM systems ensure buyers trust what they see on screen. When pricing, surcharges, and availability are current, orders move forward. When they are not, trust erodes — and switching risk increases.

The 66% of buyers who see Amazon Business and Home Depot as viable alternatives are not comparing your product selection. They are comparing your ease of purchase. The switching triggers are not about what you sell. They are about how easy you make it to buy.

The final word

Buyer churn in construction ecommerce rarely happens overnight. It builds through small moments of friction.

To close the gap, focus on what matters most:

• Audit your top 10 accounts’ last three orders. How many required a phone call that could have been self-service? Each call is a friction point the buyer remembers.

• Ask your branch managers where they’re losing orders. Then check whether those competitors have invested in construction ecommerce. The pattern will be obvious.

• Test your own reorder experience. Ask your best customer to reorder last week’s delivery. If it takes more than two clicks, you’re behind the 33% benchmark — and well behind buyer expectations.

• Track where buyers find you. If more than half arrive via Google, your digital marketing for building materials strategy deserves the same investment as your branch signage.

• Quantify the margin opportunity. If digital orders carry 100 basis points more margin, what would a 10% shift from phone to ecommerce mean for your bottom line? Run the number. It will get your CFO’s attention.

Buyers don’t leave all at once. They leave when friction adds up — a missed stock check, an unclear price, a clunky reorder.

Distributors that win invest in a building materials ecommerce platform that removes those moments before they compound.

See how BigCommerce can help you reduce friction, protect margin, and scale ecommerce for building supply.