Commercial procurement

Conducting commercial online procurement can seem like a real "dark forest" if you have not yet ventured into becoming a tender organizer. Although in Ukraine this method is used to purchase a huge amount of goods, works, and services.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs have several myths and fears about tenders that prevent them from saving on purchases. Valeriia Bilous, SmartTender Commercial Procurement Project Manager, will dispel these myths and explain why entrepreneurs and companies, regardless of the size of their business, should conduct online bidding on an electronic platform.

Myth #1: Tender Preparation and Execution Takes a Lot of Time

This is the first and most common myth that can be heard from companies that have no experience with tenders. And there is only one answer: your company is the organizer, and only you decide how exactly your tender will take place. Based on the internal procurement regulations, you can generate the relevant documents or conduct an auction without them, filling in only the required fields when forming a tender.

This also applies to the time of the procurement, and more specifically, the duration of the acceptance of proposals from suppliers. The customer personally fixes the period during which he/she will expect proposals from the participants, and they are already adjusting to this time. It should be noted that all purchases are different, so one of them can be carried out in a week, and the other can be completed in a few hours. Creating the purchase itself does not take much time – only 8 gradual steps separate you from getting the result.

Myth #2: There Will Be no Offers in the Tender Because Suppliers Won't Take the Time to Participate

An electronic trading platform is a place where the customer finds suppliers, and the supplier has the opportunity to offer their product and find new customers.

SmartTender.biz has a large database of companies in various fields of activity that participate in auctions every day. It currently has over 90,000 suppliers who are looking for orders to fulfill and are informed of newly published purchases every day. And if the company does not have access to a computer, a special SmartTender department for attracting participants will contact it personally and inform them about your purchase. This eliminates the chance that your tender will go unnoticed and increases the number of offers from suppliers.

Participation in a commercial tender for suppliers is free of charge, so for them, each submission of a proposal is not only a chance to win but also an opportunity to remind the customer about themselves.

Myth #3: The Supplier I Want to Get a Quote from Doesn't Participate

This issue can be resolved at the tender formation stage, since you, as a customer, have the opportunity to see the list of participants who will receive information about the tender before publication. In most cases, you will find your supplier on this list.

But if the right company still does not appear there, SmartTender has appropriately qualified specialists working to attract new suppliers. They will independently contact your potential counterparty, advise and help them get started and participate in the auction.

Myth #4: It Is Not Known How Reliable Suppliers on the Site Are, and We Cooperate Only with Trusted Counterparties

The SmartTender.biz system works in such a way that only trusted companies can start working. Even at the registration stage, companies are checked, and when they start working on the site, they accumulate information about their activities in the system. Therefore, each customer, before deciding whether to cooperate with the winner or not, can familiarize themselves with the information about the counterparty:

- whether the company has experience in tenders;
- in what number of tenders the company took part and in which it won;
- what rating the company has among the customers who have already cooperated with it.

Also on the site, you can view individual comments about the supplier and other important information.

Myth #5: It Makes no Sense for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses to Hold Tenders Since It Only Benefits Large Companies

In Ukraine, we are all saying “a penny saves a hryvnia”. Even with small online purchases on a budget, you get savings every time. And several purchases in total can save a significant figure.

Want to check it out? Even after a month of working in the SmartTender.biz system, try to analyze all your purchases. To do this, you do not need to carry out calculations manually, because the platform system records all procedures and collects analytics. SmartTender.biz stores all information on conducted tenders and documentation for them. The platform system automatically generates analytical data for you by certain parameters or periods and eliminates the possibility of error due to the human factor. Thanks to this tool, you can see the result of savings after the first purchases.

Using SmartTender.biz, you also get additional conveniences:

- you do not have to worry about finding new suppliers – they will find you on their own;
- no need to reduce all offers for comparison – the system does this automatically;
- there is no need to accumulate a lot of paper documents and a large file cabinet – you will have access to all data in electronic format from anywhere.

Conclusion

Conducting commercial tenders on online platforms is becoming increasingly popular among entrepreneurs, as it is convenient, fast, and efficient. Do not believe the myths about commercial auctions – most of them were invented by companies that do not want to compromise and offer better prices and more convenient conditions for the customer.

E-procurement has the following advantages:

- obtaining the most advantageous offer, since the supplier would not be so loyal outside of a commercial tender;
- screening out suppliers whose offers or conditions seem doubtful to the customer;
- transparency of all stages of the procurement;
- high level of competition, contributing to a greater price reduction;
- reducing the time spent on collecting and analyzing proposals from suppliers;
- the possibility of fixing customer’s conditions for the execution of the contract, with which suppliers agree when submitting their proposals.

Therefore, if you decide to become a commercial organizer, use modern IT tools, seek professional help, focus on the experience of companies that have already started conducting online auctions, and confidently save up to 30% on purchases using SmartTender.biz.

How to become a commercial customer on SmartTender.biz?

If you want to make your purchases online and save up to 30%, leave a request on this page or call: 0 800 75 10 10 (line No. 4).

After registration, you will be provided with free 2 weeks of adaptation in electronic procurement on SmartTender.biz with constant support from our managers.