PROS Global Survey: Two-Thirds of B2B Buyers Have Experienced Vendor Challenges with COVID-19
July 28 2020 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Buyers Want Vendors That Offer Digital
Purchasing and Personalized Pricing Through Self-Serve
Channels
PROS® (NYSE: PRO), a provider of AI-powered solutions that
optimize selling in the digital economy, today announced the
findings of its recent survey on digital purchasing trends and
vendor preferences as a result of COVID-19. The “COVID-19 B2B
Buying Trends Report” reveals that B2B buyers are more likely to
purchase from vendors that offer digital self-serve purchasing
channels, are quick to respond to buyer inquiries, provide
personalized and consistent pricing and offer a transparent view of
inventory.
Procurement and purchasing leaders have steadily been shifting
purchasing from traditional reliance on sales reps to self-serve
ordering through digital channels, and according to the survey,
COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated this shift. Key findings from
the survey indicate:
- Since the start of COVID-19, 37% of businesses are primarily
purchasing through digital channels – up from 29% prior to the
outbreak and expected to continue rise to 40% post-pandemic
- Only 1/3 of buyers stated that most of their vendors were
well-prepared and had already enabled digital channels
- The top three challenges identified by B2B buyers in working
with their vendors were (1) slow and inefficient responses, (2)
inconsistent, highly variable pricing and (3) a lack of
transparency into inventory
Additionally, according to the survey, vendor preferences have
changed for three quarters of companies as a result of
COVID-19:
- 70% of buyers reported that current conditions are compelling
them to shift their vendor preferences due to challenges in working
with existing vendors – 19% of which said they were shifting
preferences “a great deal”
- Competitive pricing (40%), supply availability (39%) and better
digital purchasing experience (35%) are top drivers of change in
vendor preferences
- 2/3 of North American buyers would switch to a company that
offers personalized real-time pricing
“Our survey confirms purchasing professionals are quickly moving
wallet share to vendors that can offer competitive prices,
personalized digital experiences and transparency into inventory
across digital self-serve channels,” said PROS Solution Strategy
Director Valerie Howard. “B2B companies need to ensure their
digital channels are delivering on these buyer expectations or
they’ll risk losing market share to competitors that do.”
The global study, conducted by Hanover Research on behalf of
PROS in June 2020, examined the expectations of 210 procurement and
purchasing leaders from 11 countries on what drives business buyers
to select certain vendors, what causes them to switch to new
vendors, and what they value in the purchase experience. The
respondents work for businesses across a variety of industries,
including industrial manufacturing, IT services, oil and gas,
chemicals and healthcare.
The full “COVID-19 B2B Buying Trends Report” is available for
download here.
About PROS
PROS Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PRO) provides AI-powered solutions
that optimize selling in the digital economy. PROS solutions make
it possible for companies to price, configure and sell their
products and services in an omnichannel environment with speed,
precision and consistency. Our customers, who are leaders in their
markets, benefit from decades of data science expertise infused
into our industry solutions.
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements,
including statements about the functionality and benefits of
AI-powered solutions to organizations generally as well as the
functionality and benefits of PROS software products. The
forward-looking statements contained in this press release are
based upon PROS historical experience with AI-powered solutions and
its current expectations of the benefits of AI-powered solutions
for organizations that implement and utilize such software. Factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
described herein include the addressability of an organization’s
AI-powered solution needs, the risks associated with PROS
developing and enhancing products with the functionality necessary
to deliver the stated results and the risks associated with the
complex implementation and maintenance of AI-powered solutions such
as PROS software products. Additional information relating to the
uncertainty affecting the PROS business is contained in PROS
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These
forward-looking statements represent PROS expectations as of the
date of this press release. Subsequent events may cause these
expectations to change, and PROS disclaims any obligations to
update or alter these forward-looking statements in the future
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200728005361/en/
Media Contact: Amanda Parrish aparrish@pros.com 832.924.4731
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