IDEATECH, a company providing 'Research-PR' services—a one-stop solution from survey planning to PR—conducted its second survey on Japanese B2B large-scale procurement processes in collaboration with Hiroyasu Kitagawa (Demagen Research Institute, former Microsoft Executive).

The survey targeted 330 individuals involved in the introduction, review, or renewal of B2B software, SaaS, or IT infrastructure/security products with annual contracts exceeding 5 million JPY within the last 12 months.

Key Findings: - Over 70% of respondents experienced extended evaluation periods. - 'Estimating operational load after introduction' was the most challenging factor to judge before vendor contact (56.3%). - Over 60% of buyers use generative AI to understand product features.

Key Statistics: - 50% of large-scale projects were replacements or re-evaluations, while 37% were new introductions. - Approximately 60% of projects involved 7 or more decision-makers. - Departmental coordination for functional requirements (56.9%) and budget allocation (51.7%) were the primary bottlenecks for consensus. - Waiting for executive judgment (63.6%) was the top cause of delay.

Comment from Hiroyasu Kitagawa: 'Global debate surrounds the stall in B2B procurement due to larger decision-making teams and information overload. Our survey confirms these realities in Japan. One solution is buyer enablement, and these findings offer insights to that end.'

FACT BOX

  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: Survey
  • Organizations: Microsoft