This is common internal resistance when implementing. The article's perspective is: self-service online purchasing doesn't replace sales staff—it frees them from "tedious manual order entry tasks" so they have more time to do work that "builds deeper relationships with customers."
In reality, the core value of sales staff has never been taking orders, but rather understanding customer needs, handling exceptions, recommending new products, and maintaining relationships. These are things systems cannot do. When systems take over routine order execution, sales staff can proactively contact customers to discuss future needs, or step in promptly when a customer's order has issues.
The key is to clearly communicate during implementation what tasks the system will handle and where the focus of sales responsibilities should shift. Clear communication is much better than going live suddenly and letting everyone figure it out on their own.