What Enterprise Buying Committees Get Wrong When Evaluating Wholesale Software

Most enterprise committees can tell you what a wholesale platform should do. The feature checklist is rarely where the decision goes wrong. It goes wrong in how the committee itself works: who decides, how problems get framed, how scores get combined, and who the committee actually talks to before it signs.

This post is about those process mistakes. We've written plenty on what to ask a vendor, so we link to that work instead of repeating it. We also couldn't find independent research on how enterprise brands evaluate wholesale software specifically, so the evidence below comes from general B2B and technology buying. Where a point is our own view rather than a finding, we say so. RepSpark is a vendor, and this is written from our seat.

Why the Committee Is the Hard Part

The groups making these decisions are large and rarely aligned. Gartner's 2025 sales survey of 632 B2B buyers, fielded in August and September 2024, found buying groups of five to 16 people across as many as four functions. It also found that 74% of buyer teams show unhealthy conflict, and that groups that reach consensus are 2.5 times more likely to report a high-quality deal. Forrester's 2026 State of Business Buying, drawn from nearly 18,000 business buyers, puts the average at 13 internal stakeholders and nine external participants, and says procurement acts as a decision-maker 53% of the time.

Technology buyers often regret what they choose. In a 2023 Gartner survey of 1,503 technology buyers making renewal and expansion decisions, 60% regretted nearly every purchase they made. Gartner said the regret "usually has little to do with the provider or the products themselves." The scope there is as-a-service renewals and expansions, not first-time platform purchases, so read it as a pattern, not a prediction. Gartner's earlier 2022 survey of 1,120 technology buyers found 56% reported a high degree of regret on their largest purchase, and those organizations took seven to 10 months longer to decide.

Stalls are common too. 6sense's 2026 Buyer Experience Report, which covers 1,011 journeys that ended in no decision on purchases of $25,000 or more, found 61% stalled and 39% were abandoned, and difficulty reaching vendor consensus was among the reasons buyers gave for pausing. 6sense sells account-based marketing software and the data is self-reported, so treat it as directional.

None of it is specific to wholesale. It does describe the room your decision gets made in.

Mistake 1: Running the Committee as a Vote

A vote feels fair. It also hides the thing that matters, which is who can actually stop the deal and on what grounds.

Consensus matters. Gartner's finding on high-quality deals says as much. But you can reach consensus on a scorecard, not on a vague mandate. Before the first demo, write down three lists: who decides (one name), who can veto and for what reasons, and who is consulted. Limit vetoes to named non-negotiables, such as security sign-off and ERP proof. Everyone else gets a voice, not a veto.

This is our recommendation, not a tested result. We found no study of decision rights in wholesale platform selection. For who belongs in the room, see Who Should Be in the Room When Choosing a B2B Wholesale Platform.

Mistake 2: Letting the Loudest Function Write the Problem

The brief that becomes the RFP gets written by whoever feels the pain most. Sales writes about lost orders. Ops writes about errors. Finance writes about cost. Whichever version wins shapes which vendor wins. Gartner's research on tech buying regret names conflicting objectives, distributed buying teams, and too many options among the drivers.

Write the problem statement from measurements instead of opinions, before any vendor is in the room. Useful ones: rep hours spent re-keying or working around the system, the share of orders that arrive invalid, how many registered retailers actually reorder, and how long an order takes to reach the ERP. Numbers settle arguments that opinions can't.

A baseline also makes results possible to claim later. Stance sales rep Sam Lovell says: "I save 260 hours per year by using RepSpark. I don't need to call customers back to provide them with tracking or proof of delivery." L*Space cut invalid orders from roughly 20% to near zero. You can only make that kind of statement if you know where you started. Why the three functions disagree in the first place is covered in Why Sales, Ops, and Finance Rarely Agree on When It's Time to Switch Platforms.

Mistake 3: Averaging Scores Instead of Gating on Non-Negotiables

A weighted average can crown the wrong winner. Say five criteria carry equal weight. Platform A scores 5, 5, 5, 5 and 1, and Platform B scores 4 on all five. A averages 4.2 and wins. If the 1 is ERP sync on your data, A is the platform that fails in production.

The fix is a gate before the scorecard. Pick the few non-negotiables, such as ERP proof on your own data, the security review, and your hardest order scenario. Define in writing, before demos, what a pass looks like. A platform that fails a gate doesn't get scored. Weight the rest. This is our view of how to run a scorecard, not a research finding. What Makes Evaluating a New Wholesale Platform So Time-Consuming covers how to run the gate tracks in parallel so they don't stretch the timeline.

Mistake 4: Evaluating the Demo Team, Not the Delivery Team

The people who run the demo are rarely the people who run your project. The committee spends weeks assessing the first group and meets the second after signing.

Implementation is where regret tends to start. Capterra's 2026 Software Buying Trends, based on more than 3,300 global software buyers, found that two-thirds of software buyers experience disruptions during implementation, purchase regret, or both, and that 89% of buyers who regretted a purchase had implementation disruptions. Capterra is a software review marketplace, so attribute it by name.

Ask to meet the implementation lead and the ERP resource before you sign. Ask who your day-to-day contacts will be, what the handoff from sales looks like, and get the project staffing list in writing. Our post on what C-suite buying committees should require before signing includes an implementation staffing checklist.

Mistake 5: Calling the References the Vendor Hands You

Every vendor offers references. The mistakes are in who you call and what you ask.

Call the operators, not the sponsor. The executive who bought the platform will tell you it was a good decision. The IT director and the ops lead will tell you what it took. L*Space's IT Director, Ben Brown, is an example of the kind of answer to listen for: "The integration was straightforward and offered many mapping options. From an IT perspective, it is low maintenance."

Then ask what broke in the first 90 days, what they built or worked around, and what they'd change in the contract. If you run several brands or divisions, ask for a reference that runs several. Our best wholesale platform post covers how to find references that look like you.

Mistake 6: Skipping a Bounded Proof on Your Own Hardest Data

A demo runs on the vendor's data. The only way to see how a platform handles yours is to put yours through it.

We found no independent data on pilots for wholesale software, so this is our recommendation. Agree a small, time-boxed proof before you sign: your real ERP data in a non-production environment, your hardest orders (for example, a multi-division order with customer-specific pricing), and a pass definition written in advance. Ask every vendor, including us, what that proof looks like and what it costs.

Rollout is a separate question. Our roadmap to digital transformation in wholesale describes a phased launch that starts with a small group of retailers.

Mistake 7: Measuring Success Against the Vendor's Promise

Committees often leave the vendor's ROI model as the definition of success. It is the vendor's hypothesis, not your target. Gartner's 2024 CIO and Technology Executive Survey of 3,186 CIOs and 1,126 non-IT executives found only 48% of enterprise digital initiatives meet or exceed their business outcome targets. That's about digital initiatives broadly, not wholesale platforms, but it's a reminder that the default outcome isn't success.

Use the baseline from Mistake 2. Pick three to four outcomes, set a target for each, and name an owner for them after go-live. Our posts on what enterprise brands should budget for a wholesale platform switch and structuring a team to own your wholesale technology stack cover the cost side and the ownership roles.

Plan the exit while you negotiate the entry. Data portability, renewal terms, and exit support are cheap to ask for before signing and expensive to ask for afterward. Why Some Apparel Brands Outgrow a Second Wholesale Platform, Too explains why.

A One-Page Check for Your Committee

How RepSpark Helps

RepSpark is built for lifestyle, golf, apparel, and outdoor wholesale. More than 250 brands run on it, including 5.11 Tactical, Oakley, Ray-Ban, Peter Millar, and L*Space.

• Enterprise covers multi-brand, multi-division, and ERP-connected operation.
• Integrations lists the 35+ integrations RepSpark connects to, including 20+ ERPs.
• Trust and security covers SOC 2 Type 2, PCI DSS, and GDPR. The SOC 2 report is available on request.
• Case studies include L*Space and johnnie-O.

The Bottom Line

The committee's biggest risk isn't picking a platform that can't do the job. It's a decision that stalls, gets made by the loudest voice, or rests on a demo, an average, and a hand-picked reference. Fix how the committee runs and the platform decision gets a lot easier.

If you're building a committee process now, schedule a discovery call and bring your gates, your baseline, and your hardest orders.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do enterprise buying committees get wrong when evaluating wholesale software?

The common mistakes are about process, not features: running the committee as a vote, letting the loudest function define the problem, averaging scores instead of gating on non-negotiables, evaluating the demo team instead of the delivery team, relying on vendor-picked references, skipping a proof on the brand's own data, and measuring success against the vendor's promise.

How many people are on a B2B buying committee?

Gartner's 2025 survey of 632 B2B buyers found buying groups of five to 16 people across as many as four functions. Forrester's 2026 State of Business Buying puts the average at 13 internal stakeholders and nine external participants, with procurement acting as a decision-maker 53% of the time. Both are cross-industry.

Who should have veto power on a wholesale platform decision?

We recommend naming one decision-maker and limiting vetoes to explicit non-negotiables, such as security sign-off and ERP proof. Others should be consulted but not hold a veto. This is our view; we found no study of decision rights in wholesale platform selection.

Why do software purchase decisions stall?

6sense's 2026 Buyer Experience Report, which covers 1,011 no-decision journeys on purchases of $25,000 or more, found 61% stalled and 39% were abandoned, and difficulty reaching vendor consensus was among the reasons buyers gave for pausing. 6sense sells account-based marketing software and the data is self-reported. Gartner's 2025 survey found 74% of B2B buyer teams show unhealthy conflict.

Why do technology buyers regret their purchases?

Gartner's 2023 survey of 1,503 technology buyers found 60% of those making renewal decisions regretted nearly every purchase, and Gartner said this usually has little to do with the provider or the products. Gartner's 2022 survey found 56% reported high regret on their largest purchase, and those organizations took seven to 10 months longer to decide. Capterra's 2026 survey found 89% of buyers who regretted a purchase had implementation disruptions.

How should a buying committee score wholesale software vendors?

Set pass/fail gates for the non-negotiables first, such as ERP proof on your own data, the security review, and your hardest order scenario, and define a pass in writing before demos. Score only the vendors that clear every gate, and weight the remaining criteria. A plain average can let a vendor win despite a failure on something critical.

Is there research on how enterprise brands evaluate wholesale software?

We found no independent research on that specific question. Published wholesale reports we found come from platform vendors, and they describe feature use, not evaluation practice. The evidence in this post comes from general B2B and technology buying research from Gartner, Forrester, and Capterra.

How does RepSpark support an enterprise evaluation?

RepSpark publishes information committees ask for early: 35+ integrations including 20+ ERPs, SOC 2 Type 2, PCI DSS, and GDPR on AWS, with the SOC 2 report available on request, plus case studies from brands such as L*Space and johnnie-O. Schedule a demo and bring your gates, your baseline, and your hardest orders.