Decoding software purchases: Know the secrets to success from satisfied buyers

56% of regretful software buyers experienced increased costs as a consequence of a bad software purchase.

43% of U.K. software buyers didn’t regret any of their technology purchases over the 18 months prior.

35% of regretful software buyers experienced security vulnerabilities.

A third of regretful software buyers in the U.K. indicate that having clearer goals and working more closely around desired outcomes would have improved their software selection process.

54% of non-regretful software U.K. buyers will have 1–2 vendors on their final shortlist to choose from, which is shorter than regretful purchasers, where well over half of cases (63%) have 1-3 finalist options.

23% of non-regretful software buyers say their initial list remains unchanged compared to their final list, compared to 11% of regretful ones.

34% of regretful U.K. software buyers indicate that higher-than-expected expenditure is the biggest factor leading to regret. This is above the global average of 31%.

24% of regretful software buyers experienced competitive disadvantage.

56% of successful software buyers use insights from industry experts.

42% of regretful sofyware buyers experienced reduced productivity.

34% of regretful software buyers experienced adoption difficulties.

38% of U.K. software buyers face security worries when planning new technology investments.

37% of U.K. software buyers face compatibility issues when planning new technology investments

39% of U.K. software buyers face product identification challenges when planning new technology investments.

72% of non-regretful software buyers listed 1-4 possible software vendors on their initial list, compared to 59% of regretful buyers. Around 54% of non-regretful U.K. buyers listed as few as 1-3 options.

48% of successful software buyers use customer testimonials.

70% of U.K. buyers with no regrets in buying software are more likely to trust review and comparison sites over vendor sites for gauging customer satisfaction, compared to 30% of regretful buyers.

Only 17% of non-regretful software buyers always stick with an option from their original selection of choices, compared with 22% of regretful buyers.

60% of buyers with no software purchasing regrets say their choices from the initial to the final list change slightly.

57% of U.K. software buyers have regretted one or more technology purchases over the 18 months prior. This is roughly in line with the global average of 59%.

35% of IT software buyers express dissatisfaction, which is the highest among software buyers, followed by marketing and communication, and finance and accounting software buyers.

47% of successful software buyers use product review and comparison websites.