Purchasing decisions are moving towards territories where brands can barely observe what is happening. According to the report “Sales Foresight 2026: Opening the doors of change”, prepared by ESIC Business & Marketing School, 71% of purchase decisions already occur in “dark social” environments, that is, private conversations and closed spaces such as WhatsApp groups, direct messages on social networks or communities on platforms such as Discord. 

This data, which summarizes one of the main findings of the study, reveals the extent to which the purchasing process has moved beyond the reach of traditional digital analytics tools. The report is based on the opinion of more than 100 commercial managers and experts belonging to ten sectors, and was presented last week at the ESIC campus in Madrid at a meeting that brought together heads of companies such as Naturgy, Aegon, Pernod Ricard, Ikea Spain, Salesforce and Repsol. 

The main conclusion of the document is that the classic sales model, structured around a linear funnel and identifiable touchpoints, no longer describes how customers really buy. The digitalization of consumption, the proliferation of channels and the growing autonomy of the user have transformed this journey into a much more fragmented process, in which much of the relevant information circulates in spaces that brands cannot track.

From the funnel to the ecosystem of invisible decisions

For years, companies have interpreted consumer behavior through a relatively predictable scheme: the customer discovered a product, evaluated it and finally made a decision. However, this scheme responded to a media and technological environment very different from the current one.

The report maintains that today the purchasing process is more like an ecosystem of distributed decisions than an ordered itinerary. Consumers do their own research, compare opinions, consult trusted people, and compare information on multiple platforms before deciding. Along this journey, many of the most influential conversations occur in private environments, which reduces brands’ visibility at key moments in the process.

This loss of visibility has direct implications for business management. When companies do not have clear signals about what is really happening in the market, the pipeline commercial ceases to accurately reflect customer behavior. Forecasts rely more on estimates than on verifiable data and decision-making inevitably becomes more uncertain.

“Companies are leaving behind a linear sales model to face a purchasing process that is much more fragmented and difficult to track. Today the customer informs themselves, compares and makes decisions, which forces sales teams to rely increasingly on data analysis and new technological tools”says Enrique Benayas, general director of ESIC Business & Marketing School. 

In this new context, the role of the commercial manager also changes. The Chief Sales Officer stops operating in a relatively predictable system to manage an environment where the customer increasingly controls the pace and direction of the purchase.

One of the phenomena identified by the report is the growing distance between commercial activity and the results obtained. In many cases, sales teams intensify their operational efforts without this translating into commensurate improvements in conversion. The reason is that when companies don’t know where the customer actually is in the process, frequent mismatches occur. Some opportunities are worked on when the decision has already been made, while others are approached too late, when the purchasing process has practically concluded. The result is a feeling of constant activity that, however, does not always translate into greater efficiency.

This phenomenon is not only a question of commercial skills, but also a problem of the sales system. The report highlights that many organizations operate with fragmented processes, dispersed data and technological systems that do not always communicate with each other, making it difficult to accurately understand how business opportunities evolve.

Artificial intelligence: the great promise of sales

In the midst of this transformation, artificial intelligence appears as one of the main vectors of change for the commercial function. 73% of the managers consulted consider that AI will be key to improving customer prospecting, facilitating the identification of business opportunities and the personalization of commercial interactions. 

However, the actual adoption of these technologies is still progressing somewhat slowly. The report indicates that 64% of companies recognize that they have not yet integrated artificial intelligence structurally into their sales processes. Lack of knowledge or not seeing value in its implementation are mentioned as some of the main reasons.

This gap between expectation and reality reflects the difficulties that many organizations encounter when incorporating new technological tools. Integration with legacy systems, the lack of specialized data profiles or the uncertainty about the return on investment are some of the factors that slow down the implementation of these solutions.
Even so, the report anticipates that artificial intelligence will play an increasingly relevant role in tasks such as identifying leads, prioritizing commercial opportunities or improving sales forecasting systems.

Technological change not only affects companies, but also the way in which consumers search for information before purchasing. The report notes that searches based on artificial intelligence are changing the way users formulate their queries.
While traditional searches in search engines usually contain between three and five keywords, queries made using generative tools take the form of much longer prompts, between 15 and 20 words, which allow more complex questions to be formulated and more contextualized answers to be obtained. 

This evolution forces brands to rethink their digital positioning strategies. It is no longer just about optimizing content for traditional search engines, but also about understanding how generative engines work and how they influence the pre-purchase research phase. According to McKinsey data cited in the report, 50% of consumers already use search tools based on artificial intelligence, and the conversion rates associated with these queries can be double those recorded in conventional searches.

But beyond the specific tools, the report suggests that the commercial function is entering a new stage. The sales of the future, Enrique Benayas points out, will not simply be a digital version of the current model, but a different system, characterized by being more automated, more predictive, more integrated and more personalized. 

Organizations that manage to integrate technology, data and automation into their business processes will be better prepared to compete in a market where consumer behavior becomes increasingly dynamic and difficult to anticipate. In this scenario, understanding how purchasing decisions are formed – even when they occur outside the brands’ radar – becomes one of the most valuable strategic capabilities for any company.