57% of global B2B buyers expect ROI within 3 months of a software purchase – with even higher expectations for AI-powered tools, finds G2’s 2024 Buyer Behavior Report
G2 published its 2024 Buyer Behavior Report, based on an annual survey of more than 1,900 B2B software buyers across the globe to understand their plans, behaviors, and attitudes. This year’s report, titled “Proving Value in the Age of AI,” finds that while a majority of buyers believe software budgets are increasing over the upcoming year, the opportunity to win and retain the customers that hold those budgets is harder than ever.
“Proving Value in the Age of AI”
“Today’s software buyer is not willing to wait to see value. These rising ROI expectations are coupled with slowed deal velocity, increased buying cycles, and extra scrutiny on software investments by executive leadership,” said Chris Voce, VP of Market Research at G2. “For software and services vendors, the added pressure and intensity of this landscape means understanding today’s buyer and their context is essential to navigating the turbulence and achieving growth.”
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Some of the top trends observed in G2’s 2024 Buyer Behavior Report include:
- AI has moved from hype to reality.
- 77% of respondents agree or strongly agree that software companies have genuinely advanced AI technology in their products beyond merely capitalizing on the AI hype.
- Of buyers who said their organization had purchased an AI platform within the last 3 months, 83% reported their organization has already seen a positive ROI from that purchase.
- Employee productivity was the number one method (44%) noted for how organizations measure the ROI from their investments in AI software or AI-powered software.
- Buyers are under increased pressure.
- Shortlists are shrinking, as 31% of buyers said this list includes 4 to 7 products, compared to 45% who said this in 2023. Additionally, nearly half (49%) reported having just 1 to 3 products on their shortlists – up from 33% in 2023.
- ROI expectations are heightened with 57% of buyers expecting ROI within 3 months of purchase and 11% expecting this immediately after purchase.
- In 2024, executive and legal teams are a part of stricter sign-offs. During the software selection process, the CFO always or frequently holds the final decision-making power (79%), while the legal team tends to slow or block purchases (61%).
- The role of trust rises in importance.
- Public product review websites are the most consulted information source, according to 31% of buyers when planning to purchase goods or services for their company. This is up from 23% in 2023, 18% in 2022, and 13% in 2021. Independent peer forums and communities followed closely behind.
- When asked which source was more valuable for decision-making, respondents chose independent software and services review sites over analyst firms at every stage of their purchasing journey.
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- Security and integrations are top buyer considerations.
- Security is the top consideration for buyers purchasing accounting/finance, engineering, R&D, purchasing, HR & operations, IT & security software.
- The ability to integrate with other systems is the top consideration for buyers seeking customer service, marketing, sales, and customer success solutions.
- Service provider choice influences software decisions.
- More than two-thirds of software buyers (69%) say service providers/implementers are a factor in their software decision-making process.
- Buyers are thinking about service providers at the onset of their purchasing journey. More than a third (38%) say they start considering service providers during the research phase and about one-quarter (24%) say they begin considering service providers even earlier during the discovery phase.
This year’s research also found that while businesses are fervently seeking how AI can supercharge their strategy, they vary in how they feel it can make an impact — as well as their attitudes based on region, size, and industry. In the report, G2 examines the differing maturity and purchasing behavior across five self-reported software buyer groups: AI Power-Users, AI Learners, AI Laggards, AI Buyers, and AI Non-Buyers.
