Most folks that don’t know e-procurement will think of it simply as purchasing necessary goods and services in the most cost-effective manner. However, what most don’t think about is the importance of the buying experience (much more than making it Amazon-like) and the specifics that go on behind the scenes.

When using e-procurement for the P2P process, buyers (requesters) rely heavily on the accuracy of the catalogs to provide the most informed information. They also expect that using e-procurement will provide them with the most dependable suppliers. In order to uphold the buyers’ expectations, the quality of the catalog itself, the availability of product, and the effectiveness of its search capabilities are key. The more organized and accurate the catalog listing, the better the buying experience.

From the procurement and finance teams’ perspective, e-procurement isn’t just about putting more spend through the system, the end game is the ability to control the goods and services offered and thus create more leverage for the business across the entire supply base.

Quality catalogs, in this case, are a means to both ends, i.e., a better requester experience and better leverage for the business. Quality catalogs start with the implementation of good clean data upfront and continue with controls in place to avoid data proliferation and ongoing maintenance of price agreements and supplier status. Learn more about our Imperfect Data Management and how our data analytics capabilities can get you started off on the right foot.