There are three types of buying situations that have an impact on the way that the DMU is organized and how products and suppliers are selected: Straight re-buy, modified re-buy, and new-task purchase.
- Straight re-buy - The buyer reorders without requesting any product or service modifications. The buyer simply chooses a supplier from an approved list based on past buying satisfaction. Because it is a routine reordering situation, the supplier may propose an automatic reordering system both to save purchasing time and to reduce the risk of losing profitable, regular purchases.
- Modified re-buy - Although the company has prior experience of the product, the particular purchase situation demands some degree of customization, such as changes in the product specification, price, terms or supplier. Approved suppliers, including those currently under contract to the customer, may use the purchasing opportunity to make a better offer to the customer in order to win new business.
- New-task purchase - A company buying a product or service for the first time may have no experience of supplier capabilities or performance evaluation. Consequently, the greater the cost or risk, the larger the DMU and its informational requirements. The new-task situation represents the marketer's greatest opportunity and challenge: the aim is to reach as many key buying influencers as possible, and to provide help and information.
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