Healthcare commerce gets a digital check-up: the results are in

64 platforms, 45 criteria, around 2,900 individual tests: the B2B Commerce Report Health shows where the healthcare market stands digitally and which treatment works.

A buyer is researching and ordering supplies for a hospital. He asks ChatGPT for suppliers, compares three platforms, and wants to reorder in 30 seconds. What he gets instead? Prices on request. A contact form. A PDF to print out.

An isolated case or the state of the industry? Until now, nobody could say. Now we can: the B2B Commerce Report Health is the first neutral benchmark for the digital commerce maturity of manufacturers and wholesalers in the German-speaking healthcare market. 64 companies. 45 criteria. Around 2,900 individual tests, each with documented evidence. No gut feeling, a ranking you can verify.

The diagnosis: digital mediocrity. Manufacturers reach 62 percent maturity, wholesalers 57. Which also means: around 40 percent of the digital potential is just sitting there. We went through all the findings and picked the three that stand out most to us as a commerce agency.

The three findings

• Every second company is invisible to AI. 48 percent don't appear in AI answers at all.

• 86 percent have no AI features yet, or only rudimentary ones. The industry's best salesperson hasn't been hired.

• 70 percent of wholesalers lack basic quick-ordering features. Article number, quantity, done? Usually not.

The market is digital. The industry pretends to be.

German B2B commerce already passed the 1.5 trillion euro mark in 2024. One in eight euros already flows through digital platforms and portals (IFH/ECC Cologne, B2B Market Monitor 2025). And customers are way ahead of suppliers: 67 percent of B2B buyers want to purchase entirely without sales contact (Gartner, March 2026).

But what about the healthcare market? Everyone knows their own platform. What was missing was the view left and right: What's standard? What sets you apart? And where are you losing customers right now without noticing? That's exactly what the report is for.

Finding 1: Only every second company is visible. Are you?

Research no longer starts with a classic Google search. It starts with ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot. They deliver a ready-made shortlist, and whoever isn't on it gets no visit, no click, no chance. The report measured it: 48 percent of the 64 tested healthcare B2B companies simply don't show up in the answers of the major AI systems.

Ouch. Because that's exactly where the pre-selection happens, before any website even loads. And it's already the norm: 94 percent of B2B buyers use AI in their purchasing process (Forrester, Buyers' Journey Survey 2025). You can have the best-looking platform in the industry. If you don't find your way into the AI answer, nobody will ever see it.

The lever is called GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. Content that AI systems can read, understand, and cite. Structured data, clean entities, quotable statements. And a website that lets AI crawlers in at all. SEO alone no longer cuts it. Read the full insight in the report →

Finding 2: The best salesperson? Not hired yet.

Imagine a salesperson who is available around the clock, knows the entire catalog, and never needs an appointment. Exists. It's just that almost nobody has hired him: 86 percent of the companies have no AI features on their platform yet, or only rudimentary ones, and just 6 percent implement them fully. For comparison: in the US, 33 percent of B2B e-commerce companies have already fully integrated AI (Creatuity 2026). And that's exactly where you can step in and stand out.

The healthcare market is made for this. Medical products need explanation, and the questions are specific: Does this fit my device? Which variant do I need? In field sales, a conversation sorts that out. On the platform, nobody does.

That's the gap conversational commerce closes, turning product pages into sales conversations. The assistant clarifies compatibility, suggests alternatives, and guides the buyer all the way to the cart. Build it properly now, with real catalog knowledge instead of rigid canned answers, and you set the standard before it becomes one. Read the full insight in the report →

Finding 3: Reordering should take 30 seconds. It rarely does.

Repeat customers don't browse. They have a list: article numbers and quantities, often copied straight from their own ERP. The simplest ordering process in the world. And that's exactly what fails at most companies: only 30 percent of wholesalers offer a complete quick-order function by article number. More than half (52 percent) have none at all.

What happens instead? A click marathon through the catalog. Or picking up the phone. Both cost time and money, on both sides, every day. Yet the fix is solid platform craftsmanship: a quick-order field for article number plus quantity, list paste from Excel included, on every page of the logged-in area.

This finding shows the pattern running through all 14 insights of the report: the shop window shines, the closing stage jams. Great up front, and exactly where revenue is made, the tools are missing.

Read the full insight in the report →

What you can do now

1. Ask the AI about yourself. What do ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot say about your company? Compare that with your self-image and fix the basics: Wikidata, structured data, a clear entity page.

2. Make GEO a discipline. Visibility in AI answers is its own channel goal with measurement, ownership, and a roadmap. Not an SEO afterthought.

3. Quick wins before big projects. Quick ordering, contact next to the product, visible volume pricing: the report shows that solid basics are a profitable place to start. They already lift you above half the market, and every next step builds on them.

4. Start AI advice small. A product advisor for one top category, clearly scoped. Measure the impact on inquiries and orders, then scale.

Conclusion

The B2B Commerce Report Health replaces opinion with measurement: 64 companies, 45 criteria, every rating documented. The diagnosis is digital mediocrity.

And mediocrity means: even your first steps can really impress your customers. Invest now in AI visibility, advisory features, and frictionless ordering, and you'll stand out from the market quickly and visibly.

Where does your platform stand?

All rankings, all 14 insights, the complete methodology: b2b-commerce.report. And if you want to know where your company stands, talk to us. We audit your platform with a market comparison and prioritized quick wins.

For reference: the methodology in 30 seconds

The B2B Commerce Report Health tests 64 manufacturers and wholesalers along the buyer's complete customer journey: from digital visibility through search, selection, and product verification to ordering, service, and the technical foundation. 45 criteria, each with a fixed test question and a fixed scale: 0, 1, or 2 points.

Only what can be verified live without a login is scored. No self-reporting, no paid placements, and all ratings can be checked in the company profile with screenshot and timestamp. Manufacturers and wholesalers run through the same catalog but are ranked separately, because they have different jobs online. Data was collected from June 1 to September 4, 2026.

Please note: the report is currently available in German only.

FAQ

What is the B2B Commerce Report Health?

The first neutral benchmark for digital commerce maturity in the German-speaking B2B healthcare market. An editorial team tests 64 manufacturers and wholesalers against 45 criteria along the customer journey; every rating is backed by a screenshot and timestamp.

How is AI visibility measured?

Through standardized search queries and prompts per market segment that reflect typical buyer research, tracked continuously over seven days. Established SEO visibility indices and domain authority scores are added on top. All raw data is archived.

Why are manufacturers and wholesalers ranked separately?

Because they have different jobs online: manufacturers inform and route to purchase, wholesalers process orders. Testing uses the same catalog, evaluation is separate.

Can companies influence their placement?

No. Participation is free, there are no paid placements, and the evaluation is conducted entirely from the outside without self-reporting. The report is self-funded.

What is GEO?

Generative Engine Optimization: optimizing content so that AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews can read, understand, and cite it in their answers. GEO extends SEO to visibility in AI answers.