Lecture Notes: e-Procurement and Marketplaces

Introduction

• Tools were purpose-built and served well for 20+ years.
• Now facing issues with inflexibility and poor user experience.
• Users are driven away from traditional e-procurement tools.

Emerging Marketplaces

• Amazon Business and B2C retail-like marketplaces are attracting users.
• These marketplaces offer a delightful user experience.
• The problem is users flocking to B2C-like marketplaces.

Competing Interests

• Marketplaces measure success by sales and growth.
• Procurement officers focus on savings and operational efficiency.
• This creates competing interests between businesses and marketplaces.

Value Addition in Marketplaces

• Marketplaces can add value in various ways:
  • Service-oriented
  • Quality-oriented
  • Trust and relationship-building
• E-commerce marketplace experiences enable these values.
• TradeShift aims to bring these values to the forefront for customers.

Investments in Marketplace Capabilities

• Category leaders should invest in marketplace capability.
• Lack of investment may lead to loss to Amazon and Alibaba.
• Recommendation: Add a marketplace technology layer for better user experience.

Unified Marketplace Experience

• Apple's OCTA unified experience example.
• Seamless buyer and seller experience in a unified tool.
• Trend already happening, needs to happen in B2B procurement.

Benefits for Operators

• Network growth benefits all marketplaces.
• Sourcing supply becomes faster, easier, and more transparent.
• Attracting new buyers is simplified.

Conclusion

• The digital experience is crucial for buyers, suppliers, and operators.
• Enhancing user experience and control is key.