Why not e-procurement shakehands with e-commerce?

[Former Member]

How many of us prefer going to a shopping mall where we have access to various brands rather than visiting a brand outlet.

How many of us buy (for eg: a laptop) from XYZ company website than a renowned e-commerce website where there are dedicated teams for customer support and chances of getting it for a best price.

What happens when the same is applied to the procurement system of your organization.

what do you think happens when e-commerce shakes hand with e-procurement.

• Improved shopping experience
• Reduced spends on non-contract based orders
• En-cash on competitive environment among various vendors
• Employee purchasing a product best suiting his needs
• Increased probability of finding the catalog product, thereby reducing free text items
• Reduced costs on catalog management
• Customized pricing for your organization
• Contracts for items can be replaced with contracts at category level.
• Contracts can be created for a supplier group partnered with e-commerce website.

I have also listed down few general disadvantages of it which can be hindered with cautious measures. The following are some

• Unwanted purchasing (can be restricted with necessary approvals and budget allocations).
• Trustworthiness of products/suppliers (feedback can be obtained with integration of e-commerce with social networking sites which has already gone to the next level).
• Invoicing issues ( Supplier grouping can be done and payment is done to the head supplier, which is a feature already available in SAP SRM 7 Ehp 2 for Public sector procurement).
• Access to irrelevant items (Can be restricted at various levels of organization).

As a first step, can these be added as one of the punch-out catalogs?

Is your organization already using such an idea in the same or any other way?

Please share your ideas and suggest necessary.