Software Buying Trends in 2024: A Balance Between Innovation and Value

Why this report matters

This survey report sheds light on trends impacting B2B software purchases, offering a nuanced understanding of buyers’ spending decisions.

Marketing and sales professionals can leverage these trends to appeal to buyers at each stage of the software purchase journey and improve the quality of leads.

Finding success despite economic challengers

Businesses are balancing value and innovation in 2024. They are investing more in technology than before, with AI-based software stealing the spotlight. However, they are also ensuring these investments are worth the cost, especially in current fragile economic times.

Our survey reveals that nearly half (49%) of respondents consider price a top consideration when searching for software. At the same time, they are considering investing in emerging technologies such as AI to speed up innovation — 71% of businesses say they are extremely likely or certain to invest in AI-powered software in 2024.

5 stages of the software buying journey

The B2B software purchase cycle typically has five stages, each marked by unique needs, challenges, considerations, and opportunities. Here’s what matters to buyers at each stage of the buying journey.

Stage #1: Recognizing the need for software 

In this awareness stage, buyers recognize a gap, a problem, or an untapped potential that can be addressed through software. This is the critical moment when they realize the need for change.

At this stage, the business need becomes clear for buyers, and their primary purchase motivation often comes from a desire to maximize productivity, improve operations, or reduce security vulnerabilities.

Stage #2: Gathering information

After recognizing a problem, buyers seek information and conduct research to understand the multitude of software options available to them. Customer reviews and ratings are critical in this process, with 98% of buyers reading reviews before making a purchase decision.

Reviews provide a true account and genuine experience of existing users, and thus have a remarkable influence in shaping purchase choices.

Initiate a review collection campaign with your customers through Gartner Digital Markets and harness the power of social proof in your marketing and sales strategies.

Stage #3: Evaluating software options

As buyers evaluate prospective software providers, they establish a baseline of priorities to narrow down their options. On average, this process takes approximately five months.

During this assessment, buyers are primarily concerned with a software provider’s ability to provide integration support (44%) and their willingness to collaborate (42%). Other significant factors include the sales team’s understanding of the business issue/situation (38%) and the effectiveness of product demonstrations (36%).

Moreover, pricing mismatch is the biggest deal breaker for 50% of buyers at this stage. If pricing doesn’t align with buyer expectations, software providers are dropped from consideration. Overly complex pricing structures, hidden charges, and unforeseen costs often contribute to the breakdown of potential deals.

Create a profile on Gartner Digital Markets and reach in-market buyers actively searching for the right software and services to fit their needs.

Stage #4: Purchasing software 

Shortlisting is a crucial point in the software buying journey. Software purchases involve five stakeholders, on average, who collaborate to create a final list of vendors. Our research suggests that most buyers make their final pick from this list. If your software brand makes it to this shortlist, your odds of securing a potential buyer’s business increase significantly.

Stage #5: Rightsizing software post purchase

The post-purchase phase is the moment of truth that influences customer success. With consistently evolving business needs, many buyers (about 58% according to our survey) are replacing, modifying, or rightsizing software more frequently since the beginning of 2023. 

The reason for these changes can vary, depending on whether a buyer intends to switch providers or cancel a purchase without seeking a replacement altogether. Regardless of the cause, the top two reasons for modifying a software purchase are the availability of superior alternatives and dissatisfaction with the software cost.

Read more: Understanding Software Buyer Regret: How to Reach the Right Customers and Avoid Churn

Get exclusive recommendations and insight to accelerate growth

Balancing cost efficiency and process innovation is a challenging task. As we move through 2024, software providers must be prepared for shifts in how businesses approach technology purchases. With the right insight, you can anticipate changes in buying behavior, adapt your strategy, and build trust with B2B buyers. 

Stay informed on what to expect at each stage of the buying journey with exclusive insight and recommendations from Gartner Digital Markets’ Global Software Buying Trends Report.

Want to delve deeper into the evolution of software buying in 2024? Download the full report to gain actionable insight, adjust your strategy, and accelerate growth.

Amita Jain

Amita Jain covers B2B content creation and strategy to help businesses reach their marketing goals. She received her master’s degree from King’s College London, U.K. Exploring the world of art and reading fiction are some of her usual happy distractions outside of work. Connect with Amita on LinkedIn.

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Survey Methodologies

Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Software Buying Behavior Survey was conducted to understand the makeup, triggers, budgets, and challenges of software buying teams at global businesses across industries and sizes. We sought to uncover the software types these buyers are adopting, their evaluation methods, and what factors convince them to make a purchase, from vendor reputation and sales team interactions to content materials and user reviews.

The survey was conducted online in August and September 2023 among 2,499 respondents from the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France, India, Germany, Brazil, and Japan, with businesses across industries, employing between 5-10,000 or more workers, and reporting up to $1 billion in annual revenue. Respondents were screened to ensure involvement in software purchasing decisions.

Gartner Digital Markets’ 2024 Tech Trends Survey was designed to understand the timeline, organizational challenges, adoption & budget, vendor research behaviors, ROI expectations, satisfaction levels for software buyers, and how they relate to buyers’ remorse.

The survey was conducted online in July 2023 among 3,484 respondents from the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France, India, Germany, Brazil, and Japan, with businesses across industries and company sizes (5 or more employees). Respondents were screened to ensure involvement in software purchasing decisions.