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In 2026, hotel technology buyers are more informed than ever. They have access to more data, more peer insight, and more technology options than at any point in the industry’s history. Yet despite this progress, many procurement mistakes have not disappeared. They have simply become more subtle, and more costly.
The challenge today is not finding solutions. It is making decisions that still make sense months or years after go-live.
The 2026 procurement reality, what buyer behavior is telling us
Procurement in hospitality has fundamentally shifted. Buyers are no longer acting alone, and they are no longer evaluating technology purely on feature lists or brand familiarity.
Across discovery, comparison, and shortlisting journeys, several consistent behavioral patterns are emerging.
Buyers are comparing fewer vendors, but in greater depth.
Evaluation cycles are longer upfront, followed by faster decision-making once confidence is established.
Integration readiness, scalability, and long-term fit are prioritized much earlier.
Cross-functional input is influencing decisions sooner in the process.
At the same time, many teams still default to legacy habits. Shortlists are narrowed too quickly, integration complexity is underestimated, and procurement is treated as a transactional step rather than a strategic one.
This gap between how buyers want to buy and how buyers actually buy is where most procurement mistakes now occur.
Mistake #1: Buying tools instead of outcomes
One of the most persistent procurement mistakes is evaluating technology based on what it does, rather than what it delivers.
Feature-first buying often leads to overlapping functionality across the tech stack, tools that perform well in demos but struggle in day-to-day operations, and difficulty measuring impact or ROI after implementation.
In 2026, more confident buyers are flipping the process. Instead of starting with feature comparisons, they begin with outcomes.
They ask what problem they are solving, what success should look like six or twelve months after go-live, and which KPIs the decision should meaningfully influence.
This shift also changes how vendors are evaluated.
As Graham Rushin, VP North America at IRIS Software Systems Ltd, explains:
“Buyers should look beyond feature lists and take a closer look at a provider’s track record in hotels, not just hospitality broadly. How long they’ve been operating, whether hotels are their core focus, and which hotel groups already trust them all matter. Proven experience, and proven results, make a meaningful difference once a solution is live.”
When outcomes are defined upfront, feature relevance becomes clearer, unnecessary complexity is easier to avoid, and post-implementation success is far easier to measure.
Mistake #2: Treating integrations as a later problem
Many buyers still assume that if a solution has an API, integration will be straightforward. In reality, integration complexity remains one of the most common sources of post-purchase friction.
Issues typically emerge when data flows are poorly understood, integration ownership is unclear, or dependencies between systems are underestimated.
In 2026, integration readiness is no longer a technical detail. It is a procurement filter.
More mature buyers are asking how data moves between systems, not just whether they connect. They want to know whether integrations are one-way or two-way, how exceptions are handled, and who owns and maintains integrations over time.
Treating integration as an early evaluation criterion, rather than a post-contract task, significantly reduces downstream risk and implementation delays.
Mistake #3: Shortlisting too early
Speed can feel productive, especially when budgets, timelines, or leadership pressure are involved. But narrowing a shortlist before fully understanding the category remains one of the most damaging procurement habits.
Early shortlisting is often driven by brand familiarity, existing relationships, or limited peer recommendations. The result is that buyers may never encounter solutions that are better aligned with their actual needs.
Stronger buyers take the opposite approach. They invest more time in discovery, compare approaches rather than just vendors, and understand category differences before eliminating options.
In 2026, better procurement is not about faster shortlists. It is about better-informed ones.
What technology providers are seeing in 2026 procurement decisions
Based on their work with hotel groups and multi-brand operators, technology providers continue to see procurement outcomes shaped less by speed and more by long-term consistency and operational fit.
Rushin highlights the importance of evaluating technology at a portfolio level, not just property by property.
“For multi-brand groups, a unified guest-facing platform across properties simplifies operations and delivers a more consistent experience. Staff moving between hotels don’t need to relearn systems, and guests benefit from familiarity wherever they stay. That consistency is often overlooked during procurement, but it has a major impact on adoption and long-term value.”
These perspectives reinforce a growing trend. Stronger procurement decisions increasingly consider how technology supports scale, internal mobility, and guest expectations over time, not just immediate functional requirements.
Mistake #4: Ignoring internal adoption and change management
Even the strongest technology will underperform if it is not adopted by the teams expected to use it.
Procurement decisions made without operational input often result in low adoption rates, workarounds outside the system, and a perception that the technology does not work.
More confident buyers involve operations, revenue, and on-property teams earlier in the evaluation process. They also ask more direct questions about onboarding, training, and time-to-value.
In 2026, procurement success is not measured at contract signature. It is measured by sustained usage and real operational impact.
Mistake #5: Confusing speed with confidence
There is growing awareness that rushed decisions create long-term inefficiencies. Yet procurement timelines are still frequently driven by budget cycles, project deadlines, or pressure to just decide.
The irony is that decisions made too quickly often slow organizations down later.
More mature buyers recognize that slower upfront evaluation leads to faster execution. Confidence reduces internal friction, shortens implementation cycles, and improves alignment across teams.
In 2026, speed is no longer about how quickly a decision is made. It is about how confidently it stands up over time.
The assumptions that quietly derail procurement decisions
As procurement becomes more deliberate, many issues still stem from assumptions made early in the evaluation process, particularly when replacing legacy systems.
Aditya Sanghi, CEO of Hotelogix, points to two recurring misconceptions.
“When moving away from legacy technology, buyers often fall into two misconceptions. The first is comparing cloud subscription fees directly to legacy AMC, instead of evaluating total cost of ownership. The second is viewing the modular, best-of-breed nature of cloud systems as a weakness. In reality, this approach gives hotels modern, scalable solutions across departments for a negligible share of overall revenue.”
These assumptions are often compounded by how technology budgets are structured, particularly in the mid-market, where spend is rarely aligned with property size, operational complexity, or revenue potential.
The result is that cloud platforms are undervalued, despite offering significantly greater flexibility and long-term efficiency.
What 2026 tech buyers are prioritizing instead
As procurement maturity increases, buyer priorities are shifting in noticeable ways.
Across evaluation journeys, stronger buyers are prioritizing clarity over quantity, fewer tools with a clearer purpose, interoperability over novelty, systems that work together, proof over promise, validation over assumptions, and long-term alignment over short-term wins.
This shift is reflected in deeper engagement with shortlisted vendors, repeated comparison cycles, and more deliberate validation before initiating contact.
Procurement may appear slower at first glance, but it consistently delivers faster value and fewer regrets.
Procurement as a competitive advantage
In 2026, procurement is no longer a back-office function or a final checkbox. It is a strategic lever that directly influences operational efficiency, guest experience, and commercial performance.
The most successful buyers are not the ones with the most technology. They are the ones who choose with intent, validate with confidence, and build tech stacks that can evolve alongside their business.
Stopping these procurement mistakes is not about perfection. It is about progress.
And in a market where technology decisions are increasingly difficult to undo, better procurement has quietly become one of hospitality’s most powerful competitive advantages.