Report: 49% of B2B Buyers Have Decreased Tech Spend Over COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the marketing industry in many ways, and new research shows that B2B buyers, in particular, are changing the way they invest in areas, such as technology.

TrustRadius recently published its “2021 B2B Buying Disconnect” report, and statistics showed that 49% of B2B buyers decreased technology spending over the course of 2020, primarily due to the impact of COVID-19. Of those buyers who said their overall tech spending had changed due to the pandemic, 56% believe that spending will either return to previous levels or increase in 2021, while 16% think it will continue to decrease.

More than half of B2B buyers (64%) expect to invest more on video and web conferencing software in the upcoming year, as well as online collaboration and project management software (53%). However, they predict that they will be reducing their spend in other areas, such as “other hardware (25%),” “construction software (22%),” and “professional services (22%).”

B2B Buyers Continue to Delay Purchases

This is not the first report to indicate that B2B buyers have been hesitant to make purchases as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DemandGen conducted the “B2B Buyer Behavior Study,” and data indicated that most B2B buyers (47%) have had to delay potential purchases due to budget freezes. Approximately 30% have escalated some purchases due to changing business needs, and 7% say they are looking for more hands-on attention/engagement from their solution providers.

Compared to about one year ago, the majority of B2B buyers (68%) claim that their B2B purchase cycle has increased in length.