90% of shippers say technology capabilities are a key factor when they select a third-party logistics provider, according to the 2026 Third-Party Logistics Study, led by Penn State's John Langley with NTT DATA and Penske Logistics. A separate 2025 survey by Adelante SCM and Magaya found the same 90% rating technology "extremely or very important" when choosing a 3PL or forwarder. For most shippers, the first place they can test that claim is the provider's website.
This page collects the dated numbers on how logistics services are bought: how far buyers get before contacting a provider, what they want to do alone, which channels they still prefer, and what the website has to carry. It closes with a five-page test order for a logistics site. Most logistics figures come from software vendors, a factoring company and a 3PL with an interest in the answer, and each is labelled.
Where the logistics numbers come from
No large survey measures the logistics buyer journey on its own. The best known buyer studies pool every B2B category, and two of them, G2 and TrustRadius, survey software buyers only. We use those for direction and contrast, not as a logistics benchmark. Our B2B SaaS buyer journey statistics cover the software side in full.
The logistics data comes from three kinds of source. The annual Third-Party Logistics Study surveys shippers and 3PLs every year and is the closest thing the industry has to a neutral benchmark, though its sponsors sell logistics and consulting services. Shipper surveys from Echo Global Logistics, a 3PL, and Denim, a freight factoring company, add selection criteria and channel preferences. Freightos, which sells digital quoting software, and Container xChange, a container trading platform, measure how quotes and bookings actually move.
Research time: how far shippers get before the first call
The cross-industry numbers set the frame. 6sense, which sells buyer-intent software, surveyed nearly 4,000 B2B buyers with a minimum spend of $25,000 for its 2025 Buyer Experience Report.
| Measure | Figure | Source and sample |
|---|---|---|
| Average buying cycle, all categories | 10.1 months, down from 11.3 | 6sense, nearly 4,000 buyers, 2025 |
| Services cycle against physical goods | 4.8 months longer | 6sense, 2025 |
| Software cycle against services | About 2 months shorter | 6sense, 2025 |
| Point of first contact | 61% of the journey, down from 69%, about 27 weeks in | 6sense, 2025 |
| First contact initiated by the buyer | 79% | 6sense, 2025 |
| Winner was on the day one shortlist | 95%, up from 85% | 6sense, 2025 |
Source: 6sense 2025 B2B Buyer Experience Report
6sense's sample is 41% services purchases, which is the category a 3PL, warehousing or managed transport contract falls into. It does not publish a logistics row. Its shortlist figure is the one to remember: in 95% of deals the winner was already on the list before the buyer spoke to anyone. The buyer usually makes the call, too, in 79% of cases.
The logistics data says shippers do research alone but rarely buy alone. Container xChange and Copenhagen Business School surveyed 137 freight forwarders and NVOCCs, reported in November 2022: 84% still sourced quotations by email and phone, although 60% used online quotation tools such as carriers' booking interfaces. Shippers report a similar split. In the 2025 FreightWaves and Echo Global Logistics survey, most shippers said they were very likely to use online shipping platforms, but they still preferred email for quoting, booking and escalations.
Self-serve preference: online for status, email for the price
Gartner's headline is the one most often quoted, and it keeps rising.
| Measure | Figure | Source and sample |
|---|---|---|
| B2B buyers preferring a rep-free experience | 67%, against 61% a year earlier | Gartner, 646 buyers, August to September 2025 |
| Activities done via self-service only, reps only, or both | 1.8, 2.3 and 3.0 on average | Gartner, 632 buyers, August to September 2024 |
| Buyers who avoid suppliers sending irrelevant outreach | 73% | Gartner, 632 buyers, 2024 |
| Shippers' preferred channel for quoting and booking | FreightWaves and Echo, 2025, sponsored | |
| Shippers' preferred channel for tracking, documents and invoices | Online platforms | FreightWaves and Echo, 2025, sponsored |
| Forwarders requiring an account to request a quote | 65%, up from 20% in 2021 | Freightos, 2025, vendor-sourced |
Sources: Gartner, via Digital Commerce 360, March 2026, and MarketScreener, June 2025; FreightWaves, June 2025; Freightos, May 2025
Gartner's activity counts show the limit of its own headline. Buyers who say they prefer no rep still complete more steps with a rep, or with a rep and digital tools together, than through self-service alone. The shipper data draws the line more precisely. Status, paperwork and invoices have moved online. The price conversation has not.
The quote is where self-service breaks. Freightos, which has tracked online freight sales for ten years, reported in April 2025 that half of the top forwarders and four of the five largest ocean carriers offered instant quotes, against none in 2015. Its follow-up analysis puts low-touch instant quoting for ocean freight at 38% of logistics service providers, rising to 72% when tools gated to onboarded customers are counted. Of those low-touch tools, 80% include direct online booking. The catch is the gate: 65% of forwarders now require account creation just to submit a quote request.
For a new shipper, an account wall in front of the first price is the opposite of a rep-free experience. Our Logistics Demo Request and Lead Form Statistics 2026 post covers quote form fields and reply times in detail.
What shippers weigh when they choose
The two shipper surveys of 2025 disagree on price, and the disagreement is useful.
| Survey | Sample | Ranked first |
|---|---|---|
| FreightWaves and Echo Global Logistics, 2025 | Not stated; shippers and carriers | Price, by more than 35% of shippers |
| Denim with Peerless Research Group, 2025 | Nearly 100 shippers in manufacturing, food and beverage, retail and construction | Service level and reliability, 67%; price, 10% |
| 2026 Third-Party Logistics Study | Shippers and 3PLs; sample not given in coverage | Technology a key selection factor for 90% |
| Adelante SCM and Magaya, 2025 | Shippers and forwarders, November 2024 | Technology extremely or very important for 90% |
Sources: FreightWaves, June 2025; Denim, June 2025; Inside Logistics, October 2025; Magaya, January 2025
Echo sells freight brokerage, Denim sells factoring, and Magaya sells forwarding software, so each survey has a reason to find what it found. Read together, the pattern is consistent enough: price gets a provider considered, reliability keeps it, and technology is the proof the shipper can check before signing. In Denim's data, nearly half of shippers had walked away from a provider over inconsistent service or missed pickups and deliveries, and 38% named chasing paperwork as a top frustration.
What technology means to a shipper. Adelante SCM and Magaya found the three capabilities shippers want most are real-time shipment tracking, integration with their own systems, and automated documentation and compliance. On the supply side, only 23% of forwarders had digitised more than 75% of their processes, and fewer than 40% used a freight forwarding management system. That gap is why a technology page is worth more on a logistics site than on most B2B sites: the shipper expects to be disappointed and is looking for evidence otherwise.
Website touchpoints: the long relationship and the many readers
Logistics relationships are long, and the website is read at several points in them, not only before the first call.
| Measure | Shippers | 3PLs |
|---|---|---|
| Describe the relationship as successful | 88% | 100% |
| Use AI or machine learning | 67% | 73% |
| Deploy advanced analytics | 80% | 81% |
| Use quarterly business reviews | 68% | 94% |
| Use gain-sharing agreements | 16% | 44% |
Sources: 2026 Third-Party Logistics Study, as reported by Inside Logistics and Material Handling 24/7, October 2025
Only 55% of shippers' logistics spend goes to partnerships they class as strategic, according to the same study. The rest is transactional, which means it is rebid. Shippers' top reasons for deepening a partnership were supply chain disruption (81%), cost optimisation (76%) and digital transformation (57%). Each is a page a logistics site can carry: how the provider handled the last disruption, how it shares savings, and what the integration looks like.
More readers than the one who asked. Forrester's 2026 survey of nearly 18,000 business buyers counts 13 internal and nine external stakeholders influencing an average purchase, with procurement acting as a decision-maker 53% of the time. G2's 2026 survey of more than 1,000 software buyers found finance involvement rising from 31% to 46% in a year. A logistics RFP is read by operations, finance and procurement, and each of them visits the site with a different question. Gartner found 69% of buyers see inconsistencies between a supplier's website and what its sellers say, and on a logistics site the usual gaps are a service area, a transit time or a certification the sales team quotes and the site does not mention.
AI is now a research layer. Forrester found 94% of business buyers use AI during buying, and Gartner 45%. In G2's software data, 80% used tools such as ChatGPT or Google AI Mode for recommendations, yet review sites (38%) edged past AI chatbots (37%) as the source that shaped the shortlist. TrustRadius's 2026 survey of 1,862 technology buyers found 63% used AI and 94% of those fact-check its answers at least some of the time. None of these surveys splits out logistics. The practical point carries over: an answer engine can only repeat the lanes, modes and certifications a site states in plain text. Our B2B website statistics post covers AI search referrals across industries.
Transparent pricing is the most requested missing page. Transparent pricing has topped TrustRadius buyers' wish list for vendors four years running. Freight rates move too often to publish, but a page that explains how a quote is built, what accessorials cost and how long a reply takes answers most of the question.
What this means for a logistics site: a five-page test order
A logistics site has to serve a shipper checking reliability alone, an operations lead asking about integration, and a procurement team comparing three bids. We build marketing sites in Webflow on a four-week process, which is our bias; this is the order we would test in on a freight, 3PL or forwarding account. Before testing, set a baseline: our guide to what a good B2B website conversion rate is explains how to find yours by page type.
1. The quote request page. Most shippers want to quote by email, and 65% of forwarders put an account wall in front of the first price. Test an open quote form with a stated reply time and a visible email address against the gated version, and measure quotes sent, not form fills.
2. A tracking and portal page for prospects. Shippers already prefer online platforms for tracking, documents and invoices. Show the portal with screenshots before login, and measure quote requests from visitors who saw it against those who did not.
3. A technology and integrations page. 90% of shippers weigh technology when choosing a 3PL, and tracking, integration and automated documents are the top three asks. Name the systems you connect to and the formats you send.
4. A reliability proof page. Reliability comes first for 67% of shippers in Denim's survey. Publish on-time figures you can stand behind, the claims process and a named reference for each main mode, and test it against a logo wall.
5. A "how we price" page. More than 35% of shippers rank price first and transparent pricing tops the buyer wish list. Explain how a quote is built and which charges change it, then measure whether quote requests from that page need fewer clarifying emails.
Our marketing websites service page explains how we scope a logistics site around this journey.
