Every member of a small and medium-sized business (SMB) plays a crucial role in its success, making it essential to find ways to continuously enhance operations. SMB employees work alongside a small or even non-existent procurement team, making it even more important for them to have robust tools to operate their business, learn new skills, and leverage advancing technology to boost productivity and growth. With the right tools to streamline procurement, businesses can master operations, reduce administrative burdens, and free up staff to focus on strategic tasks.
SMBs face a range of unique challenges, including inflation, limited access to credit, and recent rising costs. Additionally, they are dealing with a critical shortage of talent and skills amid these economic issues.
This shortage is challenging for procurement teams, who often find themselves understaffed and sometimes even overlooked. According to The Hackett Group's "The CPO Agenda, 2024," the lack of talent, coupled with increasing procurement workloads, means existing procurement teams in SMBs face the hardship of doing more with fewer resources. Thankfully, technology provides a much-needed relief in easing procurement teams' workloads. Investing in the right tools and systems is vital for procurement teams not only to bridge the talent gap but to make smart business buying decisions.
A recent survey by Gartner, Inc. uncovers a striking reality: only 14% of procurement leaders feel confident in their current talent pool, highlighting a shift towards needing stronger business acumen and technology/data skills over traditional procurement expertise. 46% feel their existing talent needs to be improved, with leaders apprehensive about future readiness and questioning if their teams are truly prepared for what's ahead. This signals a strong call to action for SMBs to embrace new technology and innovation to upskill their workforce, ensuring they are well-equipped to navigate the complexities of the future.
For small businesses, every moment counts, which means staying as efficient as possible while working within tight constraints. With technology, though, small businesses should be able to take control, significantly reduce their workload, and ultimately allow employees to focus their time on strategic decisions and, most importantly, their customer.
Amazon Business has a variety of procurement solutions that allow businesses of all sizes to automate repetitive tasks, which helps SMBs do more with fewer resources so they can focus on running their business. One simplification is the ability to consolidate vendor searches within an e-procurement system, allowing SMBs to streamline the procurement process as they find products from multiple vendors on one site, eliminating the arduous process of visiting individual vendor websites. Reducing the number of clicks and steps needed to complete a purchase saves SMBs time and money, while still ensuring all purchases are made through a preferred procurement system. For example, a business can use the integrated search capability to find and order all necessary office supplies in one place, instead of shopping directly from each vendor and manufacturer separately. Additionally, this one stop shop also reduces the time of manually sorting through invoices as Amazon Business has digital invoices, making managing payments and reconciling easier.
SMBs also have access to tools that allow them to create and manage lists on Amazon Business of frequently purchased products. Equivalent to a standard shopping list, by using Business Lists, SMBs can save and reorder items quickly and efficiently. The convenience of this tool assists SMBs in staying organized and maintaining in-stock levels on essential, commonly purchased supplies. For example, a restaurant manager can create a business list of daily-used cleaning supplies. When these items start to run out, the manager can place a new order quickly, with all the items needed in just a few clicks - making the process simple and streamlined.
SMBs often spend more time reviewing the finer details of their purchasing behavior data, but their time is precious. Amazon Business Analytics offers SMBs user-friendly dashboards that provide quick insights on spending trends and monthly expenditures, while highlighting savings and order histories. With these data-driven tools, SMBs can make more informed decisions based on spending patterns by discovering areas to reduce costs. Amazon Business Analytics can also provide businesses with the transparency required to track expenses and savings. For instance, a procurement officer can harness the power of Amazon Business Analytics to compare the current month’s spending on office supplies to the same time 12 months ago, discovering products where they spent more money than last year, thus finding targeted opportunities to focus on cost reduction with their suppliers.
Learning how to harness the power of advanced analytics is a game changer when looking to streamline day-to-day operations. According to the Deloitte Global Chief Procurement Officer (CPO) Survey 2023, which surveyed 350 senior procurement leaders in over 40 countries, large enterprises are taking advantage of tools to streamline operations. SMBs do not always have the luxury of a dedicated CPO, and so it is an asset to have Amazon Business provide companies of all sizes with access to similar solutions.
Amazon Business also offers tools that aid in the day-to-day running of the business, such as simplifying and automating accounting and expense management for purchases, streamlining purchasing processes, and making buying more accessible for users.
Amazon Business offers integration methods, including Punchout and Punch-in, each tailored to a different part of the procurement process.
Punchout begins within an SMB’s existing e-procurement system, where employees access their internal procurement software, which ‘punches out’ to the Amazon Business website. This method allows organizations to browse and select the items they need, and once the selection is complete, the cart can be transferred back to the e-procurement system for the SMB’s approval and order processing. This Punchout process ensures all purchases follow protocol, by being compliant to their individual company budgets and standards.
The Punch-in process, on the other hand, gives employees the chance to start shopping directly on the Amazon Business website. They can browse and select the items they need. Once complete, the cart is submitted to the SMB’s e-procurement software for review and approval. This works well for those who are more comfortable using the Amazon interface for their shopping requirements, offering a seamless shopping experience while still adhering to the company's procurement policies.
Both tools ensure that procurement processes remain secure and compliant, and by funnelling purchases through e-procurement systems, SMBs maintain oversight of items and spending.
While challenged to find top talent, SMBs are turning to their procurement partners, like Amazon Business, for tools and solutions to bridge gaps in their procurement teams. Jukin Media, a digital media company specializing in viral video licensing, faced challenges in managing their rapid growth and procurement needs. Initially, they struggled with chaotic purchasing processes, relying on a single shared Amazon account, which made tracking and reimbursing expenses difficult and time-consuming.
By adopting Amazon Business and Business Prime (a paid feature), Jukin Media streamlined their procurement process, achieving greater efficiency and transparency. The solution provided them with predictable delivery, trackable ordering, and high organizational visibility. This allowed them to quickly and reliably acquire necessary equipment and supplies, supporting their fast-paced growth.
The outcomes included improved purchasing speed, reduced risk, and simplified workflows, with benefits like free two-day shipping enhancing their operational efficiency. Overall, Amazon Business helped Jukin Media overcome their procurement challenges, enabling them to focus on scaling their operations globally and allowed employees to focus more on their core tasks.
For SMBs looking to enhance their procurement processes, using Amazon Business can offer the same tools and solutions used by enterprises, allowing complete control over the process. From integrated search, saving clicks and time, to the Punchout and Punch-in offerings – these solutions ensure businesses can maintain control of their spending while enjoying a seamless shopping experience. SMBs now have the power to remain competitive, efficient, and financially healthy in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
Originally published in Procurement Magazine.
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