AI Adoption Grows in Distribution Sales but Key Performance Metrics Remain Untracked, Phocas Report Finds

Nearly half of wholesale distributors in the United States are now using artificial intelligence for selling, according to the State of Sales in Distribution 2026 Report released by Phocas on September 22, 2026. The report, based on a survey of more than 100 wholesale distributors, also reveals that many sales teams are failing to track the core metrics needed to evaluate their own performance.

Phocas, which describes itself as a business intelligence and financial planning and analysis platform for middle-market distributors, found that 49% of respondents are already using AI for sales. A further 29% said they plan to adopt AI within the next six months, while 22% reported no plans to use it.

Despite that adoption rate, the report highlights notable blind spots in performance measurement. According to the findings, 39% of distributors do not track sales forecasting accuracy, 34% do not measure new business win rate, 32% do not measure existing-account win rate, and 27% do not measure customer retention.

Among distributors already using AI, the capability most cited as likely to improve sales performance was greater collaboration across the business, named by 40% of AI adopters. Distributors not yet using AI were described in the report as more focused on fundamentals such as CRM adoption and account prioritization.

The report also underlines the continued importance of human relationships in distribution sales. Fifty-five percent of respondents identified field or outside sales as their most effective channel, compared with just 5% who pointed to e-commerce. Seventy-five percent ranked strong product and usage knowledge among the most important attributes of an effective sales representative.

The data also reveals a gap between distributors based on their stated growth priorities. Among those identifying new-customer acquisition as their top priority, 87% track their new-business win rate. By contrast, only 46% of distributors prioritizing expansion with existing accounts do the same.

One vertical stood out on pricing: 50% of consumer goods brands distributors said their customers value best price above all else, making it the only segment in the survey where price was identified as the outright top priority over relationships.

Myles Glashier, CEO and Co-Founder of Phocas, said the findings point to an opportunity for technology to strengthen existing sales strengths. "Distribution-specific AI can build on these strengths by giving sales reps faster access to reliable information about products and performance down to the SKU level," Glashier said, adding that this would help reps "make better decisions when they are with customers or talking to them on the phone."

Phocas said the report's release coincides with the launch of its Phocas Sales Performance Suite, a product aimed at distribution sales teams. The company said it supports more than 2,900 customers and 48,000 users globally.