Procurement is an essential aspect of any business but can also be a major time and resource drain. From sourcing suppliers to processing purchase orders, there are numerous steps involved in procuring the goods and services a business requires. Fortunately, technological advancements have made it possible to streamline and optimise procurement processes, resulting in significant time and cost savings. One such technology that has revolutionised procurement is ‘guided buying’.
Guided buying is a procurement strategy that leverages technology to guide users through purchasing. It is an intuitive and user-friendly approach that not only streamlines the procurement process but also reduces the risk of errors and en href=”sures compliance with company policies. The use of guided buying in procurement has grown in popularity due to its ability to simplify the process, reduce costs and enable organisations to make data-driven decisions, improving user experience and adoption.
This topic will delve into the advantages of guided buying in procurement, with a particular focus on SAP Ariba procurement solutions.
What is Guided Buying?
Guided buying is a persona-based strategy that helps to guide users through the procurement process. It’s a technology-driven approach that simplifies the buying process and helps to ensure compliance with company policies. Guided buying is designed to provide a user-friendly and intuitive experience for procurement professionals, enabling them to find the products and services that they need quickly and easily.
One of the key features of guided buying is the use of personas. Personas are fictional characters that represent the various roles involved in the procurement process such as a purchasing manager, requisitioner or supplier. By tailoring the guided buying experience to the needs of these personas, the process becomes more streamlined and efficient.
Advantages of Guided Buying in Procurement
Guided buying has many advantages for businesses looking to optimise their procurement processes. Here are some of the key advantages:
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Improved Efficiency
Guided buying can help to improve procurement efficiency by simplifying the buying process. By providing a user-friendly and intuitive interface, guided buying can help users quickly find the products and services that they need. This helps to reduce the time and effort required to make purchases as well as enables employees to focus on their core responsibilities. Therefore, businesses capitalising on procurement solutions like SAP Ariba can benefit from the ability to streamline their procurement processes and improve their efficiency.
SAP Ariba being a cloud-based procurement platform also helps improve efficiency by reducing the number of errors a business makes. Therefore, partnering with experts like CJV Partners help users through the guided buying procurement process and ensures that all the necessary steps are taken and that all the necessary information is captured. This helps reduce the risk of errors and reduce the time it takes to correct them.
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Cost Savings
One of the most significant advantages of guided buying in procurement is cost savings. By streamlining the procurement process, businesses can reduce costs associated with purchasing goods and services such as supplier onboarding, contract negotiation and invoice processing. Guided buying tools such as SAP Ariba can help businesses achieve these cost savings by providing a personalised procurement experience that directs users to pre-approved suppliers and contracts.
Guided buying can also help businesses negotiate better prices and terms with suppliers. By directing users to pre-negotiated contracts, businesses can leverage their purchasing power and secure better prices and terms than if they were negotiating with suppliers individually. This approach can result in significant cost savings for businesses, particularly those with high-volume purchasing needs.
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Increased Compliance
In today’s business landscape, fraudulent spending is unfortunately common and businesses need to be proactive in mitigating risks associated with non-compliance. Compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements is crucial as non-compliance can result in severe legal penalties, fines and reputational damage.
Guided buying is a valuable procurement strategy that can help businesses increase compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements that provides a structured procurement process that ensures all purchases are made in compliance with policies and regulations.
Here are a few ways that guided buying reduces the risk of non-compliance:
- Standardises the Procurement Process
Guided buying provides a standardised procurement process that ensures all purchases are made in compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements. The standardized process helps eliminate non-compliance issues that may arise from decentralized or unstructured purchasing processes.
- Provides a Centralised Procurement Platform
Guided buying offers a centralised procurement platform that provides real-time visibility into purchasing activities. This enables businesses to track spending, monitor compliance, and identify potential areas of non-compliance.
- Ensures Approval of All Purchases
Guided buying ensures that all necessary approvals are obtained before purchases are made. This eliminates the risk of fraudulent or inappropriate spending and unauthorised purchases, reducing the risk of non-compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements.
- Enables Compliance with Supplier Contract
Guided buying ensures compliance with supplier contracts, ensuring that purchases are made in accordance with negotiated terms and conditions. This eliminates the risk of non-compliance with supplier contracts, which can result in legal penalties and reputational damage.
Guided buying is a valuable procurement strategy that can help businesses to improve their procurement processes and achieve cost savings while ensuring compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements.
By providing a user-friendly and intuitive interface, we believe that guided buying simplifies the buying process and reduces the time and effort required to make purchases. With the use of cloud-based procurement platforms like SAP Ariba, businesses can significantly reduce their risk of non-compliance and associated costs with non-compliance.
