An efficient procurement
operation begins with a
smooth shopping experience
that employees can make
their own.
ONLINE SHOPPING is here to stay. Consumers of
all ages now routinely browse the web and popular e-commerce stores when looking for goods and
services. Sometimes it’s just to check prices before
visiting a brick-and-mortar store, but increasingly
the entire transaction – from search through to delivery – is taking place without the buyer needing
to leave the comfort of their own home.
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BUYING AT WORK IS
BECOMING JUST LIKE AT HOME
One of the effects of this is that employees now expect the procurement experience at work to be just
as easy as shopping at home. They want to open
a browser on a device of their choice – be it a PC,
tablet or smartphone – and easily find and order
the goods and services they need for their work.
Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case,
as legacy procurement platforms are often notoriously clunky and difficult to navigate. Search functions may yield incomplete results, product menus
are poorly arranged, item descriptions are often too
technical to be of any use, and cumbersome requisition and form-filling procedures often result in buyer
frustration before a purchase is even completed.
BUILDING ON EXISTING BEHAVIOR
The silver lining in all this is that procurement departments don’t need to teach employees anything
new when it comes to modern online shopping.
The right buying behavior already exists. Companies now just need to ensure that employees have
access to online purchasing tools that work in the
same way as the web shops they use in their private lives. This means providing requisitioners with
a simple user interface, a powerful search engine, a
OpusCapita: tailored shopping in action
The fast, convenient and tailored nature of
OpusCapita’s procurement solutions are brought
to life on the following pages in a customer case
study about Austria’s largest mobility services
provider. In the intensely people-facing transport
business, employees always need to look their
best. So the company implemented a solution
that empowers its employees to buy their own
uniforms, with some special customization and
delivery options that match the efficiency of the
company itself.
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well-organized catalog, smart help functions, and
the familiar shopping basket.
A TAILORED EXPERIENCE
Procurement departments can even go one step
further and introduce features that tailor the individual purchasing experience. It’s this personalized
dimension that – in the world of private online
shopping – makes for loyal, repeat customers. So
why not employ the same techniques at work too?
When a company has a procurement system that
employees enjoy using, it automatically leads to a
reduction in maverick spend. This in turns makes it
easier for the procurement department to forecast
costs and manage cash flow, so that more resources can be devoted to strategic-level initiatives,
such as sourcing, contract negotiation and supplier
management. It’s a virtuous circle of happy requisitioners, smooth catalog management, and a purchasing department that runs like clockwork.
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