e-Procurement allows users, procurers and suppliers to work directly together online for e-Sourcing, e-Tendering and e-Contracting. e-Procurement can help improve operational efficiency and reduce costs for all parties involved. The main benefits of enterprises using e-Procurement are summarized as follows:
Reduce Costs
e-Procurement features such as e-Tendering and e-Auction allow higher price transparency and help enterprises to reduce purchasing costs. e-Procurement also makes centralized procurement easier and increases enterprises negotiation power. Enterprises using e-Procurement can also directly reduce transaction costs by eliminating paperwork and reducing rework and errors.
Improve Spend Visibility
e-Procurement systems present enterprise-wide spend information in an organized manner in real-time. Data aggregation and data mining can provide insight about the past, helping to deliver cost reduction and cost-avoidance savings by anticipating future behavior.
Boost Productivity
e-procurement systems boost efficiency and productivity. Using these systems, buyers can follow a consumer-like shopping experience and purchase items from pre-approved catalogs according to the organizations business rules, and thus without the involvement of the procurement team. With the bulk of standard transactions off their to-do list, the procurement staff can concentrate on improved strategic sourcing and enhanced supplier relationships.
Enhance Controls and Compliance
e-Procurement systems can enforce policies and controls defined by enterprises. e-Procurement systems also have automatic audit trail and potential fraud detection built-in to facilitate audits and fraud avoidance.