What is Adoption Rate?


Core concept	It quantifies acceptance and answers the question: How many people are actually using the new solution we rolled out?
Tip	Success on gauging the worth of an adoption rate hinges on clearly defining what constitutes an "active user" (e.g., logging in, completing a core task, or making a booking) for the specific tool you are measuring.
Also known as	User adoption, utilization rate, uptake
Category & use cases	Program Health: Travel & Expense (T&E) programs, Procurement processes Change Management: Digital Transformation projects, New Policy Rollouts Technology/Product: SaaS (Software as a Service) rollouts, New Feature Adoption

What Is an Adoption Rate?

Adoption rate is the share of people who start using a new tool, policy, or process out of everyone who could use it.

This matters because even the best travel or expense system delivers zero value if employees ignore it. For example, if 1,000 employees are supposed to book trips through a new tool like Navan, but only 400 do, your adoption rate is 40% and most spend is still happening elsewhere.

In business travel and expense management, adoption rate shows how often employees use the “preferred” channels: your approved booking tool, corporate cards, and expense app. High adoption means better data, stronger policy control, and more savings.

What Are the Key Components of an Adoption Rate?

To measure adoption rate, you need:

Eligible user base: The group that should be using the tool or process, like “all employees who travel” or “all cardholders.”
Active users: People in that group who actually used it during a period, such as logging in, creating a trip, or submitting an expense.
Time period: A clear window like a month, quarter, or year.
Basic formula: Adoption rate = (Number of active users ÷ Number of eligible users) × 100

Types of Adoption in Travel & Expense

Travel booking adoption: Percent of trips booked through your approved tool or travel management company.
Expense tool adoption: Percent of employees submitting expenses through your expense platform instead of spreadsheets or paper.
Card adoption: Percent of eligible spend happening on your corporate or virtual cards instead of personal cards or manual invoices.
Policy adoption: Percent of bookings or expenses that follow your travel and expense policy.

Platforms like Navan make these adoption metrics visible in dashboards so travel and finance teams can track usage over time.

How Has the Adoption Rate Evolved As a Concept Over Time?

Historically, the focus of companies was primarily on the deployment and launch of new tools and policies. The measure of success was often based on project completion—the tool was live, the policy was published, and the job was considered done. There was less emphasis on whether employees actually used the new systems or adhered to the new policies.

Today, this perspective has shifted dramatically, driven by the nature of cloud software and self-service models (common in areas like travel, expense, and SaaS). Success is now measured by active engagement and behavior change.

Modern Success is Measured By:

Sign-ups and Activations: Measuring the initial Penetration and user setup.
Regular Usage Patterns: Tracking Usage Frequency—how often users return to and rely on the tool.
Percentage of In-Policy and In-Channel Spend: Assessing the Compliance Rate—ensuring the use of the tool translates directly into desired business outcomes and policy adherence.

The Adoption Rate is now considered one of the main health metrics for any major organizational program (like travel, expense, or digital transformation) because it directly links deployment to business value.

Common Misconceptions About the Adoption Rate
“Adoption is just logins.” True adoption is about meaningful use, like completed bookings or submitted reports, not one‑time logins. “High adoption automatically means success.” If the tool is used but people hate it, you may see high adoption but low satisfaction and lots of workarounds. “Adoption is a one‑time goal.” Adoption can spike at launch and then drop. Ongoing engagement and training matter.

Common Misconceptions About the Adoption Rate

“Adoption is just logins.”

True adoption is about meaningful use, like completed bookings or submitted reports, not one‑time logins.

“High adoption automatically means success.”

If the tool is used but people hate it, you may see high adoption but low satisfaction and lots of workarounds.

“Adoption is a one‑time goal.”

Adoption can spike at launch and then drop. Ongoing engagement and training matter.

Why Does the Adoption Rate Matter As a Metric?

Companies with high adoption of their travel and expense tools usually see better control, cleaner data, and higher savings.

Here is why:

They increase their program effectiveness.

If employees book and expense through your chosen systems, you can actually enforce policy, preferred vendors, and negotiated rates.

Their data quality and reporting improve.

High adoption means most spend is visible in one place, so finance can track total cost of travel, by team, trip type, or region.

They save costs and increase compliance.

With strong adoption, more bookings flow through approved channels where you have discounts, and you can catch out‑of‑policy spend earlier.

They optimize user experience and support.

Adoption is a signal that tools are easy to use. Low adoption often signals friction, confusion, or poor communication.

They can evaluate the ROI on technology investments.

You only get a return on a travel or expense platform like Navan if employees actually use it. Adoption rate shows if that investment is paying off.

Adoption Rate in Practice: The 5-Step Cycle

Use this repeatable process to measure adoption of a travel tool and act on the results.

1. Define the Eligible Employees

Specify who could reasonably use the tool in the period (e.g., all employees who traveled in the last 12 months, or all sales staff and field engineers).
Exclude ineligible users (new hires not yet onboarded, terminated employees, contractors if out of scope).
Fix the time window (monthly or quarterly) and keep it consistent.

2. Determine What Counts As Active Use

Travel: at least one booking made through the approved tool within the period.
Expense: at least one expense report submitted in the platform within the period.
Clarify edge cases: cancellations, proxy/delegated bookings, partial bookings outside the tool.

3. Pull and Align Your Data

Travel platform (e.g., Navan) for bookings and user IDs.
Expense platform for submitted reports.
HR/identity systems for the total eligible population and org attributes (department, region, manager).
Normalize user identifiers, de-duplicate records, and align on date logic (book date vs. travel date).

4. Calculate the Rate.

Formula: Adoption rate = number of active users / number of eligible users in that given period of time.
Track on a regular cadence (monthly or quarterly) and monitor trends against targets.
Optionally pair with usage frequency (e.g., bookings per active user per month) for depth.

5. Segment the Information and Act

Break results down by department, region, role, or manager to locate gaps and best practices.
Compare adoption with compliance (e.g., in-policy booking rate) to get a full picture.
Turn insights into actions: targeted training, nudges, default settings, or policy tweaks.

Adoption Rate in Action

Scenario 1: Travel Booking Adoption
A company has successfully rolled out Navan Travel to a total of 1,000 employees who are classified as frequent travelers. After a period of three months, tracking shows that 700 of these eligible travelers have successfully made at least one booking using the new Navan platform. The resulting Adoption Rate is calculated by dividing the 700 active users by the 1,000 eligible users, which equals 70%. If the finance department analyzes this data and observes that the sales team has achieved a 90% adoption rate while the engineering team only has 40%, this immediately indicates a need for targeted intervention, such as implementing more communication or specialized training specifically aimed at the engineering department.

Scenario 1: Travel Booking Adoption

A company has successfully rolled out Navan Travel to a total of 1,000 employees who are classified as frequent travelers. After a period of three months, tracking shows that 700 of these eligible travelers have successfully made at least one booking using the new Navan platform.

The resulting Adoption Rate is calculated by dividing the 700 active users by the 1,000 eligible users, which equals 70%. If the finance department analyzes this data and observes that the sales team has achieved a 90% adoption rate while the engineering team only has 40%, this immediately indicates a need for targeted intervention, such as implementing more communication or specialized training specifically aimed at the engineering department.

Scenario 2: Expense Tool Adoption
A company decided to replace its manual Excel-based expense reporting with the new automated platform, Navan Expense, for 500 eligible employees who regularly submit expenses. During the first quarter following the rollout, 350 employees submitted at least one expense report using Navan Expense. The resulting Adoption Rate is calculated by dividing the 350 active users by the 500 eligible employees, yielding a rate of 70%. Crucially, the Accounts Payable (AP) department continues to receive email and spreadsheet reports from the remaining 150 holdouts, which significantly increases the volume of manual work required. To address this gap and improve the rate, the company plans to implement short, targeted training sessions and establish clear, mandatory cut-off dates to successfully migrate the remaining non-adopting employees to the new digital process.

Scenario 2: Expense Tool Adoption

A company decided to replace its manual Excel-based expense reporting with the new automated platform, Navan Expense, for 500 eligible employees who regularly submit expenses. During the first quarter following the rollout, 350 employees submitted at least one expense report using Navan Expense.

The resulting Adoption Rate is calculated by dividing the 350 active users by the 500 eligible employees, yielding a rate of 70%. Crucially, the Accounts Payable (AP) department continues to receive email and spreadsheet reports from the remaining 150 holdouts, which significantly increases the volume of manual work required. To address this gap and improve the rate, the company plans to implement short, targeted training sessions and establish clear, mandatory cut-off dates to successfully migrate the remaining non-adopting employees to the new digital process.

Scenario 3: Card Adoption for Travel and Expense
A total of 300 corporate cards were issued to employees identified as frequent travelers for their Travel and Expense (T&E) needs. Over the course of one month, the data revealed that only 180 of these travelers actually charged any T&E expenditure to their new corporate cards. The resulting card adoption rate is calculated by dividing the 180 active users by the 300 eligible cardholders, yielding a rate of 60%. Following this measurement, the company decided to dig deeper into the root cause of the non-adoption and discovered that some travelers were hesitant due to confusion regarding the policy for personal versus business use. To effectively encourage greater adoption, the company's next steps involve clarifying the expense policy, strategically adjusting card limits, and implementing automatic expense matching capabilities.

Scenario 3: Card Adoption for Travel and Expense

A total of 300 corporate cards were issued to employees identified as frequent travelers for their Travel and Expense (T&E) needs. Over the course of one month, the data revealed that only 180 of these travelers actually charged any T&E expenditure to their new corporate cards.

The resulting card adoption rate is calculated by dividing the 180 active users by the 300 eligible cardholders, yielding a rate of 60%. Following this measurement, the company decided to dig deeper into the root cause of the non-adoption and discovered that some travelers were hesitant due to confusion regarding the policy for personal versus business use. To effectively encourage greater adoption, the company's next steps involve clarifying the expense policy, strategically adjusting card limits, and implementing automatic expense matching capabilities.

What Are the Common Challenges Associated With the Adoption Rate and What Are the Recommended Solutions?

Challenge 1: Low Adoption After Launch

This happens when you announce the new tool once, then move on. To solve this:

Run simple onboarding guides and short videos.
Use champions in each department to encourage use.
Make the new way clearly easier than the old way.

Challenge 2: Employees Still Use Old Channels

People keep booking directly with airlines or sending spreadsheet expenses. This happens when those paths still “work.” To solve this:

Phase out unofficial channels by setting clear deadlines.
Require preferred tools (like Navan) for reimbursement or approvals.
Highlight benefits: faster reimbursement, better support, fewer forms.

Challenge 3: Confusing or Segmented Tools

If the user experience is bad, people avoid it. To solve this:

Choose intuitive platforms with consumer‑grade UX, like Navan.
Collect feedback and fix the highest‑pain areas first.
Simplify forms, fields, and steps wherever possible.

Challenge 4: Poor Communication and Training

Users do not know what to use, or why. To solve this:

Explain the “what’s in it for me” for travelers, managers, and finance.
Offer bite‑sized training options: quick guides, short live demos, office hours.
Send reminders at travel peaks, like before conference season.

Challenge 5: No Ongoing Measurement

You cannot improve what you do not measure. To solve this:

Track adoption monthly by department and region.
Set realistic targets (for example, 80% travel tool adoption in 6 months).
Share results with leaders and hold managers accountable for their teams.

Modern platforms like Navan provide analytics that make it easy to see adoption trends and where to focus.

Adoption Rate: A 4-Way Comparison

Metric	What It Measures (Focus)	How It Relates to Adoption Rate	Key Distinction
Adoption Rate	Breadth of Use: The percentage of eligible users who use the tool at all in a given period.	This is the core metric for initial user acceptance.	Focuses on user count (Did they use it? Yes/No).
Usage Frequency	Depth of Use: How often the users who adopted the tool actually use it (e.g., bookings per user per month).	It is a measure of engagement and stickiness after adoption.	Focuses on activity level (How often/how much?).
Compliance Rate	Correct Use: The percentage of actions that follow policy or rule (e.g., in-policy bookings or expense limits).	It measures the quality or legitimacy of the adopted usage.	Focuses on policy adherence (Did they follow the rules?).
Penetration	Potential Use: How widely a product is distributed or enabled (e.g., cards issued to 90% of travelers).	It measures the opportunity for adoption (the total potential market or user base).	Focuses on availability/distribution (Who can use it?).

Understanding adoption rate is easier when you know these related terms:

User engagement: How actively and frequently users interact with a tool. Adoption asks, “Who is using it?” while engagement asks, “How deeply are they using it?”
Compliance rate: The percentage of actions that follow defined policies, like travel booking rules or expense limits. Strong adoption is a base for strong compliance.
Change management: The structured approach to rolling out new tools or policies. Good change management usually leads to higher adoption.
Onboarding: The process of getting new users set up and comfortable with a tool. Clear onboarding has a direct impact on early adoption.
In‑policy booking: Trips booked within defined travel policy rules. Travel tool adoption is often measured alongside in‑policy booking rates.
Channeling: Steering employees to use preferred booking channels (like Navan) or payment methods (corporate cards). Adoption rate tells you how well this is working.
Utilization: How much a resource, such as a tool or card, is used relative to its capacity. Higher adoption often supports higher utilization.