Skip to Main Content
Back
Blog

E-Procurement Definition and Benefits

Leanne Strickler
Published January 07, 2021

In today’s world, procurement plays a crucial role in supply chain processes. Procurement, more commonly known as “purchasing,” is no longer simply “to obtain, buy or acquire.” Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium notes in it’s report “Leading Procurement Practices: Trends of the New Procurement Organization” that the procurement trends are shifting from tactical to more strategic activities. Outdated tools like spreadsheets and emails are gradually being replaced with modern procurement tools.

With rapid advancements in digital technologies, many procurement professionals today are adapting technology to perform their duties more efficiently and gain a competitive advantage.

What is E-procurement?

E-procurement, also known as electronic procurement, is an emerging process of selling and purchasing services electronically over the Internet. Over the years, e-procurement has shown its capabilities to dramatically help businesses streamline procurement and supply chain processes.

E-procurement automates repeatable tasks to boost efficiency and improve effectiveness via continuous investment in collecting, enriching, and analyzing spend data.

As more and more procurement professionals embrace technology, it’s critical to understand the background of how e-procurement could help an organization. Here are some major benefits of e-procurement that traditional procurement doesn’t have:

  1.  Increased Productivity

Traditional procurement requires humans to get involved in every step of the process. With e-procurement and automated approval process, the whole process is less time-consuming, and the issues are spotted quickly and easily. People can save time and focus on another area of business, such as analyzing a company’s spend behaviors and patterns.

  1. Eliminating Paperwork

It’s a nightmare to see a pile of papers in the office and also think about where to store all that paperwork. With e-procurement, you could finally ease the burden because everything is saved, well-ordered and stored electronically.

  1. Electronic Catalog

Using e-catalogs helps businesses market their products/ services, which is convenient for both buyers and sellers. Because of price transparency, buyers can quickly check the cost and compare the other offers from different vendors within the system.

  1. Boost in Compliance

It was hard for procurement professionals to manage suppliers’ relationships with traditional procurement and track their performance. E-procurement software helps to provide a comprehensive view of all purchasing transactions to ensure suppliers comply with contractual procedures. 

By choosing our seamless and robust procurement software, you have a chance to quickly enable the automation of your supply chain processes, which helps optimize procurement costs and standardize workflows. In addition, your instant-on, best value solution will help to minimize risks, improve visibility and enhance accuracy.

To learn more, please visit our website.