If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us in the business world, it’s that so much of what was traditionally done manually can more quickly and easily be accomplished online. This includes the procurement process which has been plagued with the inefficiencies and cost of manual, paper-based requisitioning, ordering, invoice reconciliation, and payment processing. Outdated, inflexible, and costly purchasing systems also restrict the ability to conduct broad-based online procurement with the supply community.

What if there was an “easy” button for the procurement process? Over the last two decades, eCommerce has exploded in the consumer world with companies like Amazon making buying almost anything as easy as 1-2-3. By digitizing the procurement process, the shopping experience for businesses can be just as easy and can lead to increased savings and operational efficiency.

EqualLevel’s eProcurement marketplace allows organizations to quickly deploy a cloud-based, multi-vendor procure-to-pay marketplace that ensures compliance and the best value and can be accessed anywhere, any time. From increasing transparency, efficiency, compliance, and value for money, the marketplace enables organizations to conduct business in the office or remotely and provides greater access into an approved and fully digital supply network.

The marketplace seamlessly integrates with existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems so that all approved suppliers/vendors and all goods and services managed by procurement are located in one easy-to-use, easy-to-administer system.  It spans the entire procurement lifecycle, from punch-out commerce solutions through requisitions/shopping for goods or services, approval workflow, catalog and contract pricing, purchase order automation, receipt and invoice matching.

Many organizations that have implemented an eProcurement marketplace have quickly recognized the many benefits of digitizing the procurement process including:

Efficiency: By automating a significant portion of the procurement process, an eProcurement marketplace leads to faster cycle times and improved productivity. The elimination of paper and manual steps also frees up time for employees to focus on more value-added activities.

Cost Saving: Cost-saving with an eProcurement system comes not only from ordering from preferred vendors but also from increased spend visibility. The EqualLevel Savings Advisor (ELSA) analyzes quotes to ensure the best value and uses machine learning to become smarter with every purchase. With real-time federated search across punchout sites, similar to Travelocity or Orbitz, data is collected across distributed sources and artificial intelligence (AI) technology uses this data to identify savings opportunities.

Compliance: Implementing a one-stop, multi-vendor punchout marketplace of all approved suppliers and contracts ensures compliance with state and federal regulations. The system automatically creates a three-bid process to determine product price, selects the supplier (among approved vendors), and creates the requisition or shopping cart for approval.

Transparency: eProcurement also makes it easier to write and analyze reports on the procurement systems to ensure that the procedures conform to established policies. Real-time visibility into what employees are purchasing, where dollars are being spent, and what supplies are being ordered from which vendors, provides valuable business insight and eliminates maverick spending.

Innovating an outdated procurement process with an online eProcurement marketplace provides a single, seamless platform to facilitate all processes associated with the shop-order-pay transaction. It also provides employees with a more streamlined and efficient experience so they can optimize every dollar spent.

When it comes to procurement, time is money, and neither time nor money should be wasted. Isn’t it time for your organization to hit the easy button and jump on in?

Learn more about the EqualLevel eProcurement marketplace at https://equallevel.com/marketplace.