Local teams
Describe the need, its context and the location concerned. Specify receiving hours, the contact and practical constraints; flag missing information.
TO UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE
Retail indirect procurement.
Connect stores with head office.
A retailer needs to understand requests from its stores while preserving local requirements. Start by distinguishing spend needed to run the network from goods intended for resale.
Roles, practices and project support
METHOD AND CONTEXT
- Choose
- Describe
- Organise
Sourcing Force + Buy Made Easy
Store needs come together in one portal.
Each outlet orders point-of-sale materials, services or travel from different contacts.
Sourcing Force centralises the network's one-off purchases and links requests to the store, budget and ERP/S2P workflow.
Buy Made Easy becomes the single supplier for outsourced procurement and coordinates the suppliers used by the sites.
The starting point
Define the scope of retail indirect procurement.
Operating supplies, communication materials and one-off services may follow different workflows across sites. Before bringing these requests together, identify who raises the need, who specifies it and who decides. A store manager's authority may vary with the spend or entity.
The project may cover class C procurement across stores, offices and distribution sites. Explicitly define the sites and categories included. Goods for resale, assortments and commercial inventory management require a different scope; their presence in the retail business does not automatically include them in the project.
Seasonal campaigns make this preparation particularly useful. Distinguish the requested date, the feasible date and store access conditions. An urgent request benefits from including an available contact and the exact receiving location from the outset.
Information that matters
Organise store coordination.
Head office
Define common references and rules. Identify permitted exceptions, decision owners and reporting needs by entity or area.
Operations
Make steps and responsibilities visible. A reference change, delay or partial delivery must be traceable to the relevant request.
One portal, several purchasing workflows
Procurement across a store network
Business travel and events
Hotels, venues, transport and MICE services create fragmented bookings, sometimes committed outside the procurement process.
Explore the process →
Point-of-sale displays and marketing
A marketing campaign brings together printing, point-of-sale displays and promotional items from different suppliers.
Explore the process →
Freelancers and services
A one-off assignment becomes harder to track when requirements, deliverables and approvals are scattered across separate conversations.
Explore the process →A clear workflow
Prepare a pilot across a few sites.
Information moves between teams. Responsibilities stay clear.
- 01
Choose
Choose representative stores by format, area and access constraints. Limit categories to observe differences.
- 02
Describe
Collect a routine request and an exception from each site. Compare the information needed and current workflows.
- 03
Organise
Agree on references, approvals and receiving arrangements. Define any operations to be assigned to BME.
- 04
Review
Examine incomplete requests and receiving difficulties before extending the workflow across the network.
The client's ERP / S2PSystem of record for rules, approvals, commitments and orders.
Your procurement system, extended
Centralise flows: retail and stores.
Store ERP / S2P
Master data, budgets, approvals and commitments remain within your management framework.
Your sites and requesters follow the same workflow.
The one-off purchasing portal
Requests · quotes · catalogues · AI assistance · tracking
Buy Made Easy · Single supplierOutsourcing and active follow-up of assigned operations.
Your specialist suppliers
- In-store displays
- Team travel
- Network service providers
Master data to the portal · Requests and baskets to the procurement workflow · Shared statuses and supporting documents
A preparation checklist
Make non-resale spend comparable.
| Situation | Useful information | Owner to identify |
|---|---|---|
| Promotional campaign | Required date and materials | Marketing and store |
| Operating need | Use and reference | Local team |
| One-off service visit | Access and scope | Site manager |
| Partial receipt | Quantities and reservations | Person receiving the delivery |
A practical scope
An example of scoping across the network.
For an in-store campaign, describe the materials, sites, dates and receiving contact. If a reference changes, specify who approves the alternative. This scenario illustrates a preparation method; it describes neither a customer deployment nor measured logistics performance.
Your initial scope
Preserve useful local rules.
A shared workflow must be able to explain exceptions. A store's format, access or operating model can affect receiving and request processing. Document these differences before seeking uniformity that would lose information from local teams.
Sourcing Force provides the application workflow; BME carries out the assigned operations. Your ERP/S2P remains the system of record for rules, approvals, commitments and orders. The project defines site identifiers, references and the information exchanged with that environment.
For class C purchases, examine the causes of rework: an imprecise address, missing contact, ambiguous reference or missing receipt information. A useful pilot checks whether information flows better and teams know whom to contact about an exception.
Before expanding, distinguish data issues from organisational issues. A new common reference alone does not resolve the absence of a receiving owner. Plan instructions, local contacts and follow-up on feedback from each site.
Prepare your project
Implementation questions.
Does the retail scope cover products resold in stores?
This page covers the indirect spend needed to operate the network. Goods intended for resale require a scope separate from the project presented here.
What information should we prepare for a store request?
State the site, need, required specifications, requested date and receiving constraints. Identify the local contact and the person responsible for deciding on alternatives.
How should we choose stores for the first pilot?
Choose a few sites representing different conditions, with available contacts. Compare difficulties across defined categories before extending the workflow.
Your next step
Make room
for the purchases that matter.
Let's discuss your class C purchases and how your organisation works.
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