Nearly half of wholesale distributors — 49 percent — now use AI for selling, according to Phocas's State of Sales in Distribution 2026 Report. The same survey found 39 percent don't track forecasting accuracy and roughly a third don't measure win rates. The tools arrived. The scoreboard did not.

Phocas, a business intelligence and FP&A platform for middle-market distributors, surveyed more than 100 wholesale distributors. The sample is modest, so read the percentages as directional. The gaps, however, are hard to dismiss.

What are distributors not measuring?

The report's measurement blind spots, by metric:

• 34 percent don't measure new-business win rate
• 32 percent don't measure existing-account win rate
• 39 percent don't measure forecasting accuracy
• 27 percent don't measure customer retention

For teams investing in AI tools, this matters at the evaluation stage. You cannot benchmark an algorithm's forecasts against a baseline you never recorded.

Who measures what, and why it correlates

The most disciplined cohort is also the most growth-hungry. Among distributors naming new-customer growth as their top priority, 87 percent track new-business win rate. Among those prioritizing expansion of existing accounts, only 46 percent do.

That is the report's sharpest contrast. Teams chasing new logos measure the thing they are chasing. Teams farming existing accounts often fly on instinct.

Does AI change the workflow?

Adoption splits into three camps: 49 percent use AI now, 29 percent plan to within six months, and 22 percent have no plans. Adoption is mainstream by any reasonable definition of the middle market.

But the wish lists diverge along adoption lines. Among distributors already using AI, 40 percent say greater cross-business collaboration is the single capability that would most improve sales performance. Non-adopters want fundamentals: CRM adoption and account prioritization. That divide suggests AI users have moved past tooling questions and hit process bottlenecks instead.

Phocas CEO and Co-Founder Myles Glashier argues AI should amplify, not replace, the human channel: "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."

His framing pairs with the report's finding that product expertise still carries the deal. "Product expertise and face-to-face selling continue to define distribution sales," Glashier said.

Is the field rep still the channel that closes?

Decisively, yes. Field and outside sales is the most effective channel for 55 percent of respondents. E-commerce earns that title from just 5 percent.

The rep-skill hierarchy is equally unambiguous:

• 75 percent rank strong product and usage knowledge as the top attribute of an effective rep
• No other skill comes close, per the report

Digital investment, in other words, has not displaced the van and the handshake in wholesale distribution.

Does price ever win?

Relationships beat price overall — with one exception. Among consumer goods brand distributors, 50 percent say their customers value best price above all else. It is the only vertical in the survey where price wins outright. Pricing teams in that segment should calibrate accordingly; everywhere else, the relationship rep still holds the advantage.

What to watch next

The report is a vendor publication, and Phocas sells the analytics layer these findings say distributors lack. Treat that as context, not disqualifier. The measurement gaps are self-reported and the sample exceeds 100 firms, which is respectable for this niche. If the 29 percent planning adoption within six months follow through, roughly 78 percent of surveyed distributors will run AI-assisted selling by late 2026 — and the competitive question will shift from who has the tool to who can prove it works.