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In BTU’s 2026 model of Georgian business purchasing, relationships and trust account for 44.5% of the distribution of dominant switching barriers, while process and integration costs account for 40.1%; BTU researchers calculate a gap of just 4.4 percentage points. Georgian companies therefore need to distinguish confidence in a partner from the difficulty of moving to another supplier when interpreting customer retention.

Key Takeaways

• In BTU’s 2026 Georgian business-purchasing model, process and integration costs account for 40.1% of the dominant-barrier distribution, only 4.4 percentage points below relationships and trust at 44.5%.
• BTU researchers calculate that these two distinct dominant-barrier categories together account for 84.6% of the model’s distribution; the low-barrier category accounts for 15.4%.
• BTU researchers assess that a new supplier in Georgia needs a credible transition plan alongside a price advantage, while an incumbent can improve service by understanding why a customer stays.

A business does not finish choosing a supplier when it signs the first order. Employees gradually learn the supplier’s routines, reporting adjusts to its formats, and the people responsible understand one another’s capabilities. When a new offer arrives, the buyer compares more than two prices. It weighs an established working relationship against a transition whose performance is still uncertain. A cheaper offer can lose its advantage in that comparison.

Analysis of BTU’s research materials identifies two nearly equal foundations for staying. One is confidence in the relationship. The other is the cost or difficulty of changing how work is done. Their shares in the 2026 model are 44.5% and 40.1%, respectively. That proximity matters because a single retention measure merges both reasons into the same visible outcome. [1]

Geostat’s 2025 figures, published on 1 October 2026, establish the scale: enterprises purchased GEL 123.5 billion in goods and services. Small and medium businesses accounted for 40.9% and 19.7% of business-sector employment, or 60.6% combined by BTU’s calculation. Procurement is therefore a broad economic issue. These totals cannot be used to turn the model’s shares into monetary market estimates. [2]

Two different reasons for staying

The relationship and trust barrier can reflect practical experience. A buyer knows whom to contact, how reliable a promise is, and what a partner does when an order goes wrong. Rebuilding that knowledge takes time. Even with attractive terms, a new supplier must establish that it can perform when reliability matters most.

A longstanding relationship can contain much more than personal familiarity. It can preserve knowledge of a customer’s requirements, a shared understanding of quality, and clear responsibilities. That knowledge makes everyday coordination easier. When it reduces mistakes and uncertainty, continuing the relationship has an economic rationale beyond habit.

Process and integration costs work differently. Integration means incorporating a supplier’s product or service into everyday operations. A change may require transferring records, retraining employees, adjusting inventory routines or rebuilding reports. Each task consumes attention even when the new service carries a lower recurring price.

Both mechanisms can operate within one business. The source table, however, classifies the dominant barrier into three categories. The 84.6% obtained by adding 44.5% and 40.1% is therefore the combined share of two categories, not the share experiencing both barriers simultaneously. A particular buyer still needs to identify what actually constrains its choice. [1]

Dominant barriers to switching suppliers

Source: BTU’s 2026 business-purchasing behavioral research, aggregate modeled distribution of dominant switching barriers. Shares are reported by the source; the difference and combined share are additional BTU calculations. [1]

Trust ranks first, but a 4.4-point gap offers little reason to disregard operational obstacles. The 15.4% low-barrier category also matters. In that modeled decision pattern, an existing relationship presents less resistance to change. An incumbent relying only on the length of the relationship may have a particularly weak argument for retaining that buyer.

Why a lower price cannot answer every question

Price is usually the most visible part of a new offer. Comparing the current charge with a proposed charge is straightforward. Transition work is often spread across employees and never appears on a single invoice. The seller may consequently see savings while the buyer’s team sees additional demands. They are examining different parts of the same change.

Consider an illustrative hotel changing its accounting system. Beyond acquiring software, it must transfer records, check compatibility and prepare staff. If the transition coincides with a busy operating period, avoiding errors becomes especially important. This example explains the mechanism; it is not a measured hotel case or an estimate of losses from the research.

A retailer considering a distributor, a manufacturer evaluating a materials supplier, and a service company choosing an accounting partner can face related questions. The work differs, but each needs to know who will carry out the transition and who will be responsible if operations are interrupted. Without an answer, a discount improves only one component of the offer.

Recognizing transition costs makes price comparison more accurate. A buyer may conclude that savings justify the extra work. Another may find its incumbent remains the better overall option. The useful distinction is between a reasoned decision to stay and a decision whose underlying reason the business has never examined.

Time also matters. Some transition costs occur once, whereas service charges recur. Ignoring that distinction can turn a temporary obstacle into an indefinite advantage for the incumbent. The opposite mistake is possible too: anticipated future savings can obscure a real near-term operational risk. A sound comparison needs both time horizons rather than an automatic winner.

The opportunity for a new supplier

BTU researchers assess that making the transition easier can itself become part of the offer. A general promise that switching will be simple is insufficient. The buyer needs to understand how operations will continue. A visible scope of work, clear responsibilities and a way to check performance make an unfamiliar change easier to evaluate.

For a relationship-based barrier, a technical plan alone will not resolve the issue. The buyer needs grounds for believing the new partner can deliver. Relevant experience, evidence of actual results and access to responsible people address that concern. A familiar brand or appealing advertising phrase may leave the original uncertainty untouched.

For an operational barrier, compatibility may be the most useful evidence. Can a new system preserve required records? Can employees use it under everyday conditions? An offer’s quality includes the amount of unexpected work left to the buyer. A cheap service can look expensive if the customer must carry almost the entire implementation burden.

A smaller supplier may find a practical opening here. It might lack a large competitor’s visibility but be able to prepare a particular transition better and take clearer responsibility. The behavioral model does not guarantee that such an approach will succeed. It explains why competition deserves to be examined beyond price and advertising alone.

What an incumbent needs to understand

A supplier may interpret strong retention as complete validation of its service. Yet a customer can stay because it lacks the time or capacity to move. Continuing a relationship and being satisfied answer different questions. Retention establishes that business continues; understanding satisfaction requires knowing what value the buyer sees in that relationship.

Missing this distinction can also delay improvement. A company convinced that every retained customer is loyal may pay too little attention to recurring difficulties. If a competitor later takes responsibility for the difficult transition work, the incumbent’s protection weakens. Dissatisfaction previously obscured by continued purchasing may then become visible.

A stronger relationship rests on service the customer wants to keep even when alternatives are feasible. Using accumulated knowledge, resolving problems promptly and making results understandable can support that choice. Artificially complicating departure may preserve business temporarily, but it cannot replace value. The practical purpose of this analysis is to understand that value, not to exploit a customer’s difficulty against it.

Competition depends on usable alternatives

The number of suppliers describes only part of a buyer’s choice. A company also needs to be able to use the alternatives. Confusing offers, incomparable terms or unclear transition responsibilities can make nominal choice narrower in practice. The quality of competition therefore also depends on how understandable it is to begin, continue and, when necessary, end a business relationship.

The buyer’s objective should not be to replace every longstanding partner. Stability can create knowledge and reliability that a new contract cannot immediately reproduce. What matters is recognizing where stability supports the business and where it has become an unnoticed constraint. Distinguishing those conditions behind the same outward result helps a business choose more deliberately.

BTU’s answer is that both trust and the work required to change can keep a business with its supplier. Their shares in the 2026 model are close enough that an explanation based only on relationships is incomplete. A challenger’s opportunity lies in reducing transition risk. An incumbent’s task is to sustain value that remains persuasive when the customer’s options expand.

Questions and answers

What does the model’s 40.1% mean?

It is the process-and-integration-cost category’s share of the aggregate distribution in the 2026 business-purchasing behavioral model. It describes modeled decision logic rather than predicting the outcome of a particular contract.

Can trust and switching costs operate together?

Yes. The table isolates a dominant barrier, while an actual decision can involve several reasons. The 84.6% combines two distinct categories; it is not a measure of both reasons occurring together.

Does staying establish satisfaction?

Staying shows that a relationship continues. Understanding satisfaction requires finding out whether the buyer values the service or finds moving to an alternative difficult.

What is the main lesson for a new supplier?

A price or quality advantage needs a credible account of the transition: what work is required, how operations will continue and who will be responsible.