How to Stretch Your Agency’s Procurement Budget During Times of Need

Local communities are often on the front lines in major emergencies and disasters. The ability for communities and states to effectively respond and recover from disasters depends largely on actions taken before the disaster. Proactive procurement is an essential component of emergency disaster preparedness. The benefits of early planning and effective procurement preparation will include responding to and mitigating the extreme damages of a disaster, restoring essential services, and engaging in the recovery and reconstruction process.

Every dollar counts during a time of need. Here are three guidelines to keep in mind to help stretch your agency’s budget through Amazon Business.

1. Create a workflow to make quick purchases

When planning, you want to ensure that your team is purchasing items that align with your agency’s policies and not adding unauthorized items to the cart. Amazon Business online store allows departments that use tools like Guided Buying, a Business Prime feature, to create multiple workflows for separate budgets or approval needs, restrict certain items and automate the ordering process. Guided Buying takes the mystery out of shopping for work by providing clear answers to the question: What am I allowed to buy?

Government purchase card administrators can set their accounts to default to these policy parameters, setting guardrails for cardholders to purchase within agency requirements and drive toward purchasing goals. Buyers can pick the recommended product based on agency preferences. This option appears at the top of the search making it quick to locate and purchase.

2. Fast and reliable shipping matters

In a time of need, every second counts. Procuring items from Amazon Business offers benefits like Same Day shipping on eligible products. Manage your delivery preferences to receive your orders when it’s most convenient. Agencies can also consolidate all shipments to arrive on the day of their choice through the Amazon Day shipping program.

3. Look for cost-effective quality items

Over 88% of respondents of a Lexipool study said a product’s price influences their procurement decisions and more than 2/3 of respondents said that a product’s quality is key. Amazon Business sources from thousands of sellers and directs organizational spending to credentialed businesses by searching certifications that allow you to comparison shop to find the lowest prices. Additionally, agencies can use our First Responder Storefront to purchase 100’s of millions of items ranging from high-quality apparel, uniforms, PPE, accessories, and more from 65 unique name brands across 12 different categories in one convenient spot.

Deep discounts are often available on high-volume purchases with the Bulk Buying Tool and Request for Quote.
Our Bulk Buying Tool can:

• Consolidate offers from multiple suppliers when a single supplier doesn’t have enough inventory, ensuring your team’s bulk needs are met
• Combine offers from multiple suppliers to find the lowest price – even if a single supplier has enough inventory – to maximize savings

The Request for Quote tool allows government agencies to request a discounted price on high-volume purchases (>$10k or >999 units). The tool helps with your spot buying or Request For Quote needs, supporting customized bulk quotes, and saving time on negotiations by enabling the receipt of 3+ quotes from one request. We’ll take care of finding pre-vetted bulk suppliers for them so they can get competitively priced offers.

No matter how prepared your agency becomes, you can’t prevent an unexpected disaster, but you can be prepared for one. Amazon Business is proud to support local, state, and federal government organizations on the front lines with priority access to critical supplies and resources to help solve procurement challenges.