Business Buying Situations

The business buyer faces many decisions in making a purchase. How many depends on the complexity of the problem being solved, newness of the buying requirement, number of people involved, and time required. Three types of buying situations are the straight rebuy, modified rebuy, and new task.⁴⁶

• • Straight rebuy. In a straight rebuy, the purchasing department reorders items like office supplies and bulk chemicals on a routine basis and chooses from suppliers on an approved list. The suppliers make an effort to maintain quality and often propose automatic reordering systems to save time. “Out-suppliers” attempt to offer something new or exploit dissatisfaction with a current supplier. Their goal is to get a small order and then enlarge their purchase share over time.
• • Modified rebuy. The buyer in a modified rebuy wants to change product specifications, prices, delivery requirements, or other terms. This usually requires additional participants on both sides. The in-suppliers become nervous and want to protect the account. The out-suppliers see an opportunity to propose a better offer to gain some business.
• • New task. A new-task purchaser buys a product or service for the first time (an office building, a new security system). The greater the cost or risk, the larger the number of participants, and the greater their information gathering—the longer the time to

a decision.⁴⁷

The business buyer makes the fewest decisions in the straight rebuy situation and the most in the new-task situation. Over time, new-buy situations become straight rebuys and routine purchase behavior. The buying process passes through several stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. Mass media can be most important during the awareness stage;

salespeople often have the greatest impact at the interest stage; and technical sources can be most important during evaluation. Online selling efforts may be useful at all stages.

Many business buyers prefer to buy a total problem solution from one seller. Called systems buying, this practice originated with government purchases. In response, many sellers have adopted systems selling or a variant, systems contracting, in which one supplier provides the buyer with all MRO (maintenance, repair, and operating) supplies. This lowers procurement costs and allows the seller steady demand and reduced paperwork.