Compliance vs Savings in Purchasing: How an AI-Powered Marketplace Can Change the Game

Welcome to the third instalment of our procurement marketplace blog series—a series that will teach your procurement team everything you need to know about procure-to-pay marketplaces and how you can transform your agency and empower your employees with access to a marketplace platform. Check out part one to learn what a procurement marketplace is, and part two to learn how to bridge the gap between on-contract spend and staff enablement.

This blog discusses the historical yet intangible tension between achieving both compliance and savings in agencies through procurement, and how to overcome the myth that you must prioritize one over the other.

The History of Choosing Compliance Over Savings

In the purchasing world, compliance and savings have often been at odds with each other. On one hand, agencies need to ensure that all their spending is compliant with regulations and policies. On the other hand, they also want to make sure they’re getting the best price and value on their purchases, but there’s not enough time in the day to review and optimize each transaction.

The tension between compliance and savings leads many agencies to use blanket contracts—stating a buyer can purchase any good or service from that supplier. For example, if a school district forms a contract with Walmart and says that buyers can purchase anything through that punchout site, that generalizes purchases and cuts off opportunities for savings. Buyers have access to what they need and don’t think about price since everything through that contract is approved. Though blanket contracts reduce off-contract spend—it’s not the best course of action because:

  1. Walmart has no stake in and doesn’t know your purchasing regulations or budgets.
  2. Only shopping at Walmart reduces comparison shopping and misses out on cost savings.

How to Strike the Balance Between Compliance and Savings

With the rise of procurement marketplaces and advancements in technology, finding that balance between compliance and savings is getting easier. Instead of sacrificing one for the other, your procurement department can now achieve both simultaneously. This shift has been made possible by AI-powered savings advisors, such as the ones offered by Euna Procurement.

These platforms promote compliance by providing access to all approved and awarded contracts while using artificial intelligence to analyze shopping cart data in real-time to identify opportunities for cost savings. This means that agencies no longer have to choose between being compliant or saving money – they can now achieve both objectives at the same time.

How Euna Procurement Pulls Everything Together

With Euna Procurement’s marketplace solution, you can ensure compliance and maximize savings on every purchase. This platform factors in things like identical or alternate goods, shipping fees, and more to consistently ensure best value purchases. Savings are captured before budget dollars are spent, ensuring compliance as well as a return on investment for the platform that can be measured in months, not years.

Here’s a few of the benefits you can expect:

Pre-Authorized Procurements:

Since the marketplace only features your pre-approved contracts and terms, agencies can minimize the risk of non-compliant transactions — and the cost and burden that goes along with them.

Eliminate the temptation for off-contract spend:

By providing a superior shopping experience and making on-contract spend more accessible, Euna Procurement eliminates any temptation for rogue/maverick spend.

Find savings fast:

Purchasers can rely on a first-of-its-kind AI Savings Advisor that will help find the best deal — on an item or on an entire cart. By integrating the best practices of 3-bids-and-a-buy, Euna Procurement automates comparison shopping.

A screenshot of Savings Advisor in Euna Marketplace.

Onboard ALL your suppliers – not just the big ones:

Euna Procurement levels the playing field for DBEs by providing them with a free and easy to use marketplace store. These integrated storefronts streamline vendor onboarding & reduce the burden on IT.

Delegate shopping while maintaining control:

With Euna Procurement, staff is equipped to shop for the goods and services they need. Once found, they can transfer their cart to designated procurement professionals to review, approve, and checkout once validated.

Embrace the Future of Procurement with Euna Procurement

The old way of procurement, where compliance and savings were at odds with each other, is no longer the norm. Thanks to advanced technology like AI-powered procurement marketplaces, agencies can now achieve both compliance and cost savings simultaneously.

Request a demo today to learn how you can embrace both cost savings and compliance in your agency.

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