Youth: The New Force in Chemical Industry Sales
How younger chemical industry workers are driving innovation in chemical industry supply and procurement.
Anyone who has worked in the chemical industry long enough knows that change does come quickly. Processes are long-established, sales relationships are often decades old, and many companies still operate with the same commercial logic that worked in the 1990s.
Yet the pressure to change is growing – and interestingly, most of it is not coming from management or consultants but from younger people entering the industry and bringing very different instincts about how chemical business should work.
The Generational Shift in B2B
“It’s no secret that B2B buyers are getting younger.”
That simple statement carries a lot of weight, as today, roughly half of B2B buyers were born between 1981 and 1996. They grew up with the internet, smartphones, and instant access to information.
For them, online interaction isn’t a “digital transformation project”; it’s simply how things work and how things get done. From entertainment, to shopping, to dating, to talking to friends—it is all done online.
As this younger generation enters the workforce, it is bringing with it a new perspective on how business should function. As one executive recently noted, “Young people don’t ask first about earning more money and advancing their career; they want to work less – Monday to Thursday, with Fridays off, 30 hours a week, ideally flexible.”
Whether companies accept those requests or not, the point is bigger than working hours. It reflects a generation that questions long-standing systems, including how chemical companies buy and sell.
And that’s where the chemical industry often struggles, with chemical product trading and distribution historically relying on personal relationships, deals negotiated over the phone, in face-to-face meetings, or through long-standing partnerships. The entire sales process (including pricing or availability) isn’t designed around customer need; it is designed around internal functions: sales, production, logistics, and finance.
But like much of the modern world, both the B2C and B2B buying processes have already changed. For example, research from chemical industry consultants at firms like Gartner and McKinsey & Company shows that modern B2B buyers behave very differently from the traditional model that many chemical companies still rely on.
According to Gartner research, buyers now complete most of their research independently. In fact, they spend only about 17% of the buying journey meeting potential suppliers, meaning the majority of the decision process happens before a salesperson is even involved. In fact, another Gartner survey from March 2026 shows that around two-thirds of B2B buyers prefer an almost completely rep-free experience, choosing to research suppliers, compare products, and build shortlists on their own before engaging with a vendor.
Meanwhile, studies from McKinsey highlight how digital behaviour has become the norm, with B2B buyers now expecting a mix of self-service digital tools, remote interaction, and traditional sales channels, with online platforms playing a major role throughout the journey.
Taken together, these insights explain why many analysts now describe a buying process where:
- Up to 80% of the decision is made before contacting sales.
- Buyers prefer online research and self-service tools once they know what they want.
- Many would rather avoid early interaction with sales representatives.
- Multiple stakeholders are involved in evaluating suppliers.
- A large share of time is spent on product discovery, comparison, and internal discussion.
For an industry where around 80% of chemical transactions are still conducted offline, this creates a serious disconnect between how buyers want to purchase and how suppliers are structured to sell.
The Role of the Next Generation of Chemical Sales Teams
Interestingly, the push for digital change is increasingly coming from younger professionals inside the chemical industry, as for them, online product search, transparent pricing, and instant information are not radical innovations. They are the baseline expectation.
When they encounter processes that still depend on manual emails, spreadsheets, or phone calls just to obtain a quotation, the friction becomes obvious and the sale breaks down.
In that sense, the younger generation may become one of the most powerful drivers of digitalisation in the chemicals sector. Not because companies suddenly decide to transform, but because new employees and buyers simply expect business to work differently.
In short, the industry is slowly being pushed toward change – even if it still prefers doing things the old way.
The companies that embrace this shift early will gain a real advantage, and those that wait too long may discover that their customers have already moved on.
SPOTCHEMI is a digital marketplace designed to make chemical trading faster, clearer, and more efficient by connecting buyers with suppliers and simplifying sourcing, comparison, and chemical product discovery.
SPOTCHEMI reduces friction around documentation, specifications, and compliance, saving time on routine transactions. The platform (which sponsors this webpage) supports both quick reordering of standard products and deeper engagement for complex requirements, helping chemical companies trade smoother and smarter.
How the SPOTCHEMI platform works.
