- A Survey of 210 Global Purchasing Professionals June 2020 PROS tasked Hanover Research with conducting a study to understand how current market and socioeconomic conditions have affected how (B2B) purchasing professionals view the commerce experiences delivered by their vendors in the U.S./Canada, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand
Slightly less than half of companies indicate that current conditions have accelerated purchasing behavior (40%), while nearly half indicate (45%) current conditions have decelerated purchasing. Budgets for purchasing have increased at a third of companies (39%) and decreased for a third of companies (37%). Over half of companies (54%) anticipate that their budget for purchasing will increase in the next year, while very few companies expect a decrease (16%)
Since the COVID-19 outbreak…
Characteristics of buyers experiencing or anticipating budget changes
Buyers are more likely to observe an increase in purchasing budget if they are… In the services (69%) industry In the IT services (80%), medical distribution (100%), or pharmaceutical distribution (100%) industries Purchasing goods from the biotechnology (70%), electronics distribution (63%), electronics manufacturing (68%), and financial services (61%) sectors In a company with fewer than 500 employees (88%), compared to a company with 500-999 employees (45%) or 10,000 or more employees (43%) Buyers are more likely to observe a decrease in purchasing budget if they are…
Working in the pricing (100%) or sales management/sales administration (85%) departments
Looking ahead (next 12 months)…
Buyers are more likely to anticipate an increase in purchasing budget if they are… In the IT industry (95%) versus the automotive manufacturing (33%) and accommodations (33%) industries A procurement officer (94%) compared to an operations manager (68%) or technical staff (64%) Buyers are more likely to anticipate a decrease in purchasing budget if they are… Purchasing goods and services from the automotive manufacturing sector (54%)
A third of Buyers indicate that most of their existing vendors are well-prepared to support them in a virtual environment
A plurality of companies reports that about half of their existing vendors are well-prepared (40%), while a quarter indicates most vendors are underprepared (23%)
60% of B2B buyers said only half their vendors were well prepared to support them in a virtual environment
About half of companies replaced/stopped using certain vendors due to the COVID-19 outbreak
The most common reason to terminate vendor relationships is the unavailability of supply (64%). North American (51%) buyers are more likely than Oceanic (31%) buyers to replaced vendors as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Perspectives On Purchasing In Covid-19
Vendor preferences have changed for three-quarters (70%) of North American buyers as a result of current conditions. Competitive pricing (43%) is the top reason some vendors are preferred to others. Two-thirds of North American buyers are likely to take up an offer to switch to a vendor offering personalized real-time, dynamically updated pricing reflecting market conditions (67%). Buyers cite pricing & quoting challenges as the top challenges they face with their current distributors: Inconsistent and highly variable pricing (35%) Slow/inefficient responses to inquiries (32%) Non-competitive or market relevant pricing (31%) 3 out of 5 of Technology buyers are likely to take up an offer to switch to a vendor offering personalized realtime, dynamically updated pricing reflecting market conditions. 
COVID-19 B2B Buyer Trends Report
