The Best Sourcing Software Of 2024

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Choosing the right procurement tool can make or break your supply chain. To help you on your software selection journey, our analysts have researched the market and picked the top five sourcing software. Here are our top picks:

Compare Top eSourcing/Procurement Software Leaders

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  Product Analyst ScoreAwardsUser Sentiment ScoreStart PriceFree TrialCompany Size
SAP Spend Management 96 Best Overall

80%

Great
$15,000
Annually, Quote-based
Yes
Small
Medium
Large
JAGGAER ONE 92 Best for Budget Management

90%

Excellent
$45,000
Annually, Quote-based
No
Small
Medium
Large
Oracle Procurement Cloud 90 Best for Budget Management

84%

Great
$400
Per User, Monthly
Yes
Small
Medium
Large
Basware P2P 86 Best for Mobile CapabilitiesNot Enough Reviews
$15,000
Per Invoice Transaction, Annually
No
Small
Medium
Large
Tradogram 79 Best for Mobile Capabilities

90%

Excellent
$168
Monthly, Freemium
Yes
Small
Medium
Large

Best Sourcing Software

SAP Spend Management — Best Overall

SAP Spend Management is a cloud-based software that gives you a holistic view of expenditures across all categories and tools to manage your spending effectively. You can achieve greater control over procurement processes, identify cost-saving opportunities and build stronger collaborations with suppliers.

Its spend analytics module provides valuable insights from disparate data sources. The built-in AI helps you classify and build taxonomies, create graph databases, automate data cleansing, analyze historical trends and much more.

You can use generative AI to create documents, translate languages and summarize complex information. This frees up time, allowing your team to focus on more strategic initiatives.

SAP Spend Management Dashboard

Rationalize and unify data models to receive embedded insights from built-in generative AI. Source

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

  • Dashboard and Reporting — 100
  • Mobile Capabilities — 100
  • Integration and Extensibility — 100
  • Product Catalog — 100
  • Sourcing — 100

Top Benefits

  • Data-Driven Decisions: Gain valuable insights from spend analytics to make strategic procurement choices that benefit your bottom line.
  • Future-Proof Scalability: The suite adapts and grows with your business, using cutting-edge AI and ML for automation and intelligent recommendations.
  • Focus on Strategic Initiatives: Generative AI automates repetitive tasks like document creation and translation, freeing up your team to focus on high-value activities.

Primary Features

  • Integrated Sourcing and Contracts: Access a global network of suppliers and use negotiation tools like bid management, optimal pricing suggestions and automatic contract generation to find the right partners for your business.
  • Advanced Procurement Management: The platform offers tools for managing all types of spend (direct, indirect and services), provides a guided buying experience for employees, and automates tasks from purchase requisition to order fulfillment. Content management tools help create and enrich catalogs for different categories.
  • Automated Invoice and Payment: Capture and approve invoices electronically to optimize payment processes. The system improves processing speed and accuracy, reduces costs and risks, and helps identify opportunities for collaboration with suppliers on discounts.
  • Supplier Management: Streamline the entire supplier lifecycle, from onboarding to performance evaluation. By consolidating supplier information into a unified record, you can ensure suppliers source from reliable partners. The system also integrates risk management into the procurement process, allowing buyers to make informed decisions and mitigate potential risks within their supply base.
  • External Workforce and Services: Use a unified platform to find and vet talent, manage engagements and track performance. It offers a guided experience for onboarding, managing, and paying workers and service providers. It also helps you analyze performances and build a strong external workforce ecosystem.
  • Travel and Expense Management: The platform automates expense reporting and approvals, giving you greater control over employee spending regardless of location. Integrating travel, expense and invoice management provides a unified view of all travel-related costs. Employees can easily submit and approve expenses on the go, while businesses can comply with spending policies and pay vendors.

Limitations

  • Complex pricing structure and high initial costs.
  • The platform involves a steep learning curve.

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

  • Unordered Receipts — Not Supported
  • Purchase Order Auto Filling — Not Supported
  • Multi-Tier Risk Model Assessment — Not Supported
  • Digitizing Existing Contracts — Supported With Integrations
Price:$$$$$
Deployment:
Platform:

Company Size Suitability: S M L

Basware P2P — Best For Sourcing

Basware offers a unique procure-to-pay (P2P) automation approach that starts by streamlining accounts payable (AP). You can customize automation to set up touchless invoice processing. Its smart coding module uses machine learning to automate invoice coding that’s not linked to a payment plan or purchase order.

The platform uses AI to route, match and maintain an audit trail for purchase orders and invoices. This method minimizes risk and provides data to inform strategic sourcing decisions. The intelligent AP automation tools help deliver faster ROI by realizing costs quickly and efficiently.

Beyond AP automation, Basware recognizes the importance of strong supplier relationships within the P2P lifecycle. It promotes smooth collaboration with features like no-registration invoice ingestion, ensuring effortless invoice submission for suppliers. Additionally, it facilitates timely payments and provides transparent status updates, fostering trust and satisfaction among vendors.

Agreement Price List Items interface with item details and quality score in Basware

Define KPIs and let the system automatically rate suppliers and shipments. Source

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

  • Sourcing — 100
  • Dashboard and Reporting — 100
  • Mobile Capabilities — 100
  • Budget Management — 98
  • Requisitions — 97

Top Benefits

  • Faster Time to Value: Unlike competitors who might push for a complete P2P overhaul, Basware prioritizes AP automation. This targeted approach leads to faster cost savings by freeing up resources and expediting the ROI compared to more complex implementations.
  • Data-Driven Strategizing: The platform gathers insights into your spending habits across all categories. This data becomes the cornerstone for developing a strategic procurement approach, helping you identify areas for improvement and cost-saving opportunities.
  • Enhanced Supplier Experience: You can offer unique portals to suppliers with guided navigation, allowing them to create catalogs, receive purchase orders, send order confirmation, ingest invoices and receive payments. This focus on supplier experience helps build transparency and accountability throughout your supply chain.
  • Easy Connectivity With External Solutions: Basware integrates with any ERP system, ensuring a smooth transition to automated P2P. This is a significant advantage as its adaptability minimizes disruption and allows businesses to leverage their existing infrastructure.

Primary Features

  • AP Automation: Define rules to process invoices, purchase orders, goods receipts and contracts. You can automatically send documents to concerned parties based on your approval workflow. The platform uses AI to identify non-PO invoices, such as utility bills and mobile charges and automates their coding and distribution based on schedule, budget or amounts.
  • E-Invoicing Network: Access a large network of global suppliers and manage your interactions from a centralized dashboard. The platform electronically records purchase order and invoice information regardless of your or the supplier’s preferred format. Ensure compliance with various invoice receipt, processing and archival standards, including Peppol, IDOC, cXML, UBL and more.
  • Invoicing and Tax Compliance: The solution handles e-invoicing in over 190 countries, automates tax calculations and electronically archives invoices according to regional requirements. This empowers you to navigate the complexities of global trade and mitigate compliance risks.
  • E-Procurement: A user-friendly interface mimics online shopping experiences, with guided navigation to help employees quickly find verified suppliers and pre-negotiated contracts. Approvals are automated for individual line items within a requisition, eliminating the need to wait for the entire order if only certain parts require review. Real-time budget tracking can prevent maverick spending.
  • Advanced Analytics: Gain a comprehensive view of your finances, including spending patterns, supplier performance and cash flow. Identify cost-saving areas, set efficiency targets and benchmark against industry leaders. Predictive analytics helps anticipate future cash flow needs, optimize early payment discounts and identify bottlenecks. You can measure supplier quality, track delivery performance and set goals to build a stronger, more sustainable supply chain.

Limitations

  • The platform involves a learning curve.
  • It offers limited options for customizing workflows and reports.
  • Higher initial costs.

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

  • Reopening Closed Contracts — Not Supported
  • Accounting Software Integration — Not Supported
  • Branded Purchase Orders — Not Supported
  • Advanced Shipment Notices — Not Supported
  • E-Signatures — Supported With Integrations
Price:$$$$$
Deployment:
Platform:

Company Size Suitability: S M L

Jaggaer One — Best For Budget Management

JAGGAER One is a cloud-based procurement platform that uses AI to streamline operations and optimize business spending. The platform offers a vast supplier network, allowing companies to build diverse and ethical supply chains. Real-time supplier collaboration ensures continuous product or service flow and minimizes disruptions.
Its built-in budget management capabilities empower you to make informed spending decisions and optimize your budget allocation. AI-powered insights provide real-time visibility into spending trends, allowing you to identify cost-saving opportunities and maintain budget control.

The platform helps manage purchase requests, purchase orders and invoices against your allocated budget, preventing overspending and ensuring financial accountability. It also helps you track your business’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, promoting sustainable practices and creating a strong brand reputation.

Jaggaer One customizable dashboard

Customize your dashboards to include search bars, reports, links and everything else you need to be efficient. Source

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

  • Budget Management — 100
  • Dashboard and Reporting — 100
  • Sourcing — 100
  • Supplier Management — 100
  • Product Catalog — 97

Top Benefits

  • Improved Risk Management: Jaggaer One goes beyond basic supplier risk management by leveraging AI to proactively identify and mitigate potential disruptions throughout a supplier lifecycle. This translates to a more resilient and dependable supply chain, ensuring your business experiences minimal interruptions.
  • Enhanced Sustainability: The platform facilitates communication and information sharing with suppliers. This allows businesses to work together to implement and optimize sustainable practices across the supply chain. It also supports supplier performance criteria regarding your business’s ESG requirements and goals.
  • Connected Ecosystem: Jaggaer One offers a dedicated third-party partner ecosystem, seamlessly integrating with pre-vetted solutions like accounting solutions, ERP, BI platforms and more. This fosters flexibility and ensures your tech stack scales with your business needs.
  • Optimized Spend Management with Predictive AI: You can analyze historical spending data and market trends to predict future procurement needs. Proactively manage budgets, optimize inventory levels and negotiate more favorable contracts with suppliers using predictive capabilities.

Primary Features

  • Spend Management: Gain complete control and clarity over your organization’s procurement spending. Pre-configured analytics tools help you identify areas for improvement and ensure compliance with spending policies. You can make informed decisions about future procurement needs by analyzing historical data and current market conditions.
  • Category Management: With intuitive reports and dashboards, you can easily identify trends, assess supplier performance and make data-driven decisions to optimize spending in each category. A centralized view of category spending allows you to visualize patterns, identify key suppliers and perform supplier Pareto analysis all in one place.
  • Supplier Management: Access a supplier network and leverage insights from profiles, transactions and performance data throughout the source-to-pay (S2P) cycle. Get a 360-degree view of supplier performance data and risk factors. AI-powered recommendations suggest corrective actions and optimize risk mitigation strategies. Credential management and multi-factor authentication ensure strong security policies and minimize fraud risk.
  • Strategic Sourcing: You can automate scenario creation and analysis to quickly compare different sourcing options and identify the most suitable decision. Flexible rate management allows you to adjust contracted pricing without initiating a full-blown sourcing event. Finally, get oversight into cost reductions, cost avoidance, efficiency improvements and potential revenue generation.
  • Contracts Management: Configurable templates and AI help you automatically generate contracts while identifying potential risks and recommending alternative clauses. OCR and ML help extract key data and clauses from legacy documents, streamlining contract search and analysis. Access negotiation tools like online redlining, collaborative editing, real-time audit trails and version control. Automated scorecards help track performance against key milestones.

Limitations

  • The platform involves a steep learning curve.
  • It offers limited options for customizing workflows and reports

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

  • Reopening Closed Contracts — Not Supported
  • Mobile Photo Uploads — Not Supported
  • Mobile Receipt Management — Not Supported
  • E-Signing Purchase Order Approvals — Not Supported
  • Creating Drop Shipments — Not Supported
Price: $$$$$
Deployment:
Platform:

Company Size Suitability: S M L

Oracle Procurement Cloud — Best For Purchase Order Management

Oracle Procurement Cloud is another end-to-end, cloud-based solution to streamline your procurement process, from analyzing spending patterns to managing invoices and everything in between. One of its standout features is the intuitive self-service portal for suppliers that reduces purchase order processing time and improves collaboration and communication.

The platform automates tedious manual tasks, such as purchase order creation and invoice processing, freeing up your team’s time to focus on more strategic initiatives. It is a central hub for all your procurement activities, providing real-time insights into spending data, supplier performance and the overall health of your procurement process.

The platform allows you to analyze historical spending patterns to identify trends and uncover cost-saving opportunities. On top of that, its mobile app allows you to stay connected to your procurement activities and approve requisitions or check on order statuses even when you’re away from your desk.

Supplier management dashboard in Oracle Procurement Cloud

The advanced search bar helps you find suppliers and buyers using the taxpayer ID. Source

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

  • Purchase Order Management — 100
  • Product Catalog — 100
  • Budget Management — 100
  • Integrations and Extensibility — 100
  • Dashboard and Reporting — 100

Top Benefits

  • Single Source of Truth: Oracle Procurement Cloud integrates seamlessly with other apps like ERP and supply chain management. This creates a unified view of your operations, eliminating information silos and providing a holistic view of procurement within your business.
  • Mobility and Flexibility: The mobile app goes beyond just basic access by allowing you to approve requisitions, check on order statuses, manage supplier information, track performances and perform approval tasks on the go.
  • Increased Efficiency: The built-in generative AI automatically creates complex documents like contracts and purchase orders based on user rules. It also helps you plan, implement and track sourcing strategies for different categories. Additionally, it can summarize complex information and translate languages, saving time and reducing manual errors.
  • Enhanced Supplier Collaboration: The platform empowers suppliers to manage tasks independently, such as updating their information, submitting invoices and tracking order status. This reduces your team’s workload, freeing them for more strategic tasks, and fosters a collaborative relationship with suppliers.

Primary Features

  • Supplier Management: A self-service portal empowers suppliers to manage tasks and access information while you gain a unified view of supplier data, including performance metrics and risk factors. The platform also offers tools to assess suppliers during onboarding, monitor potential risks throughout the relationship and incentivize high-performing partners.
  • Procurement: Use analytics to identify cost-saving opportunities and develop strategic sourcing programs to optimize your supply base. Streamlining the requisition process and guiding users through best practices helps teams initiate negotiations faster and leverage data-driven recommendations to secure the best value from suppliers.
  • Contract Lifecycle Management: Guided authoring tools and pre-approved templates ensure faster contract creation and compliance with corporate standards. Built-in collaboration features and e-signatures expedite approvals and negotiations. A centralized repository provides easy access to all contracts and vital insights into risk factors, obligations and upcoming renewals.
  • Purchasing Workflows: The platform offers an intuitive interface that simplifies shopping and ensures users find the right goods and services at pre-negotiated prices. This promotes compliant spending and reduces maverick buying. Additionally, it automates purchase order creation, streamlines invoice processing and manages supplier rebates, minimizing manual tasks, errors and processing times.
  • Direct Procurement: Manage project-specific procurement needs and define rules to automate replenishment purchases to avoid stockouts. This ensures a steady flow of materials and services that keep your core business functions running smoothly.
  • Analytics: AI automatically classifies spending across requisitions, purchase orders, invoices and expenses, ensuring accurate financial reporting. It analyzes spending across categories, business units and locations to provide actionable insights. You can gain valuable insights into supplier performance to identify opportunities for improvement, diversification and risk mitigation.

Limitations

  • High cost of ownership.
  • Complicated setup and implementation process.
  • Steep learning curve.

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

  • Native Mobile App — Not Supported
  • Backorder Management — Supported With Integrations
  • Barcode Scanner — Supported With Integrations
Price:$$$$$
Deployment:
Platform:

Company Size Suitability: S M L

Tradogram

Tradogram is an all-in-one cloud-based procurement management solution that streamlines your purchasing process and provides better visibility into spending habits. It automates purchase order creation, requisition management and invoice processing. A user-friendly interface facilitates collaboration between internal departments and external suppliers on a single platform.

The software offers multi-level user permissions, customizable approval workflows and real-time budget tracking. It also provides tools for managing your supplier base, building an item catalog and tracking inventory levels. Additionally, Tradogram allows you to generate reports to analyze your spending patterns and identify areas for improvement.

Tradogram API configuration screen showing organization token setup

Configure your system’s API to connect it with existing third-party IT solutions. Source

Highest Rated Modules According to Our Data

  • Mobile Capabilities — 100
  • Sourcing — 100
  • Requisitions — 92
  • Purchase Order Management — 90
  • Supplier Management — 85

Top Benefits

  • Enhanced Supplier Experience: Tradogram offers a free supplier portal that doesn’t need registration or fees to onboard suppliers. They can interact with your organization, create catalogs, receive purchase requests and fulfill orders.
  • Avoid Stockouts: Built-in inventory management allows you to track stock levels, set reorder points and ensure you have the necessary materials to avoid stockouts and disruptions in your operations.
  • Identify Cost-Saving Opportunities: An expense management module simplifies employee expense reporting and reimbursement processes, reducing administrative burdens and improving employee satisfaction.
  • Real-Time Communication: An internal instant messaging function facilitates real-time communication and collaboration within your procurement team and with suppliers directly on the platform.

Primary Features

  • Multi-Level Management: The platform centralizes the tracking and management of subsidiaries. It automates tasks at the main company level and provides real-time data and spending analysis for informed decision-making. Branch managers can manage vendors, assign roles and customize workflows from a unified dashboard, while the system automatically sends branch reports to headquarters.
  • User Permissions: Tradogram optimizes team performance with granular user permissions. Assign roles like requisitioner, approver or purchaser to grant access only to relevant functionalities. This minimizes clutter, boosts security and streamlines workflows by ensuring each team member has the tools they need to effectively contribute to the procurement process.
  • Approval Workflows: Designate approval hierarchies for different order values or categories for proper oversight and define custom criteria to automate specific approvals. The system prevents bottlenecks with instant email and mobile notifications. Tradogram also allows exemptions for certain users or situations from the approval process, maintaining efficiency and control.
  • Inventory Management: Track inventory levels in real time, set reorder points for automatic purchasing and optimize stock to reduce storage costs and prevent disruptions. This integrated solution empowers you to make informed decisions about your inventory, saving time and resources through automation.
  • Budgeting: Craft customized budgets, track spending in real time and use analytics to optimize costs and achieve financial goals. Manage spend across multiple levels to easily forecast and track expenditures by category, department or project. Intelligent budget capping with real-time alerts and spending limits ensures you stay on track and avoid overspending.

Limitations

  • The vendor offers limited partnerships with third-party software vendors.
  • Pre-configured modules lack customization opportunities.

Features Not Fully Supported According to Our Data

  • Budget Importing — Not Supported
  • Digitizing Existing Contracts — Not Supported
  • Scheduling Daily Reports — Not Supported
  • Global Invoice Compliance — Not Supported
  • Guided Buying — Not supported
Price:$$$$$
Deployment:
Platform:

Company Size Suitability: S M L

How We Choose Products

Our team of writers and analysts at SelectHub is committed to giving you the best recommendations based on our data. To make our list, products had to meet two criteria:

  1. Closely match the topic
  2. Earn a top-5 analyst score in our selection platform

Our analyst scores are based on an in-depth research process using primary and secondary sources. This includes SelectHub Analyst Briefings, direct communication with vendors, and reviewing materials such as user reviews, product brochures, specification sheets, case studies, user manuals, and technical documentation.

Our platform’s Scoring Engine processes the research and computes the analyst score. The score also factors in platform settings such as industry and company size.

Learn more about our research methodology and editorial standards

Real-World Applications

Beyond the feature lists and technical specifications, the true value of eSourcing software lies in its impact on real businesses. We talked to folks at small and medium-sized enterprises who have implemented sourcing software and shared about the benefits they’ve experienced.

Sourcing Tools Benefits

Enhance Decision-Making

Cassie Fields, President at Autoleap, said:

By breaking down data silos, sourcing software has revolutionized our approach to procurement. For instance, AI-driven predictive analysis and forecasting have not only improved supplier selection models but also enabled us to adapt strategies in anticipation of market trends. The foresight played a crucial role in securing advantageous pricing agreements and helping the company avoid supply chain risks before they materialize.”

Cassie Fields Headshot
Cassie FieldsPresident at Autoleap

Boost Productivity

Eli Itzhaki, the CEO of KeyZoo, said:

An example of how sourcing software has helped us improve our process is procurement automation. Our software has helped us streamline tasks like purchase order management, invoicing, and inventory tracking, allowing our team to focus on more strategic activities like supplier relationship management and market research. This has resulted in a significant reduction in manual errors and an increase in productivity of approximately 30%.”
Itzhaki added:
Speaking of productivity, our team’s efficiency has increased substantially since implementing the software. We can now quickly identify the best suppliers, negotiate prices, and track shipments in real-time, all within a single platform. This has saved an average of 5 hours per week per team member, which we’ve redirected towards more value-added activities.”

Eli Itzhaki headshot
Eli ItzhakiCEO of KeyZoo

Improve Supplier Relationships

Fields highlighted the role of eSourcing software in enhancing supplier relationships:

Transparency and fairness in dealing with suppliers are some of the areas where sourcing software improves upon what was obtainable before. Our suppliers have been provided with real-time performance feedback and collaborative forecasting tools resulting in a mutual respect culture among them for continuous improvement. Such relational capital remains essential during times of market volatility thus ensuring resilience in our supply chain.”

Reduce Procurement Costs

Itzhaki discussed how eSourcing tools helped his business save costs:

By using sourcing software’s analytics capabilities, we’ve negotiated better prices with our suppliers, resulting in an average cost reduction of 12% across our top 10 procurement categories. This translates to a yearly savings of around $250,000. Plus, the software’s automated workflows have helped us reduce our processing costs by an additional 8%, which adds up to another $50,000 in annual savings.”

Avoid Stockouts

Lisa Richards, the CEO and Creator of the Candida Diet, said:

Automating creating purchase orders has helped minimize or completely prevent stockouts or overstocking. Nowadays, we’re able to place orders exactly based on our actual sales data. Because there’s no room for estimation errors, we can save on the cost of storage for any excess inventory. A recent example of this is a popular probiotic supplement. By utilizing the sales trend data and automating the process of reorders, we were able to avoid a potential stockout situation while also saving our clients money from unnecessary large bulk purchases.”

Lisa Richards
Lisa RichardsCEO and Creator of Candida Diet

Ensure Compliance

James Wilkinson, the CEO and co-founder of Balance One Supplements, shared an experience where sourcing software ensured compliance with international trade regulations:

One time, a new organic turmeric supplier from Southeast Asia was added to our database, but we found a missing phytosanitary certificate. The missing document could have led to the shipment being held up at customs. But because the software flagged this up, we were able to alert the supplier prompting them to submit the document online, avoiding a hold-up.”

James Wilkinson
James WilkinsonCEO and co-founder of Balance One Supplements

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How To Select The Best Sourcing Software

The global sourcing software market is expected to grow rapidly from $9.52 billion in 2024 to $15.43 billion by 2029. With so many options available, it’s crucial to evaluate your choices carefully. Don’t get stuck with a generic solution that creates more problems than it solves.

Fields advised:

For companies considering software adoption, my advice is clear: embrace change as an opportunity for strategic advantage rather than a disruptive force. Start small, iterate rapidly, and prioritize customization to align with unique business needs. Ultimately, it’s more than just a tool, it’s a catalyst in the organization’s evolution toward competitive differentiation within the dynamic global marketplace.”

For an efficient selection process, gather your company executives to define a clear picture of your needs. Create a requirements checklist outlining every eSourcing tool essential for your operations. This will guide you in comparing and evaluating different sourcing software.

Here are some key features to consider including in your checklist:

  • Customization: Can the software adapt to your specific workflows and processes?
  • Scalability: Will the software accommodate your growth and changing needs?
  • Integrations: Does it integrate with your existing business systems?
  • Data Security: Does it offer robust security measures to protect sensitive information?
  • Reporting Capabilities: Does it generate insightful reports to track performance?
  • Mobile Accessibility: Can you access and manage tasks from your mobile device?
  • Customer Support: Does the vendor offer reliable customer support to assist you?

Ready to streamline your software selection process?

To simplify your decision-making journey, we offer a free comparison report that includes some of the industry’s leading eSourcing tools and solutions.

You can compare leading products across dozens of key features to decide what’s best for you.

Best eSourcing tool comparison table by SelectHub

SelectHub’s comparison platform.

Compare Top eSourcing/Procurement Software Leaders

FAQs

E-sourcing is simply sourcing through technology, such as the Internet and software, to carry out most of the processes involved. This helps businesses keep track of their suppliers and provides visibility into procurement operations.

The type of goods you purchase determines whether you’ll be using direct or indirect sourcing. Direct sourcing focuses on finding the best vendors for the supplies and products you directly sell to customers. Since these products have a clear impact on your bottom line, optimizing costs and securing the best deals are crucial. Think of raw materials used in manufacturing or finished inventory for a retail store.

Indirect sourcing, on the other hand, deals with acquiring goods that keep your day-to-day operations running smoothly. This could include office supplies, IT equipment or maintenance services. While indirect sourcing doesn’t directly impact your profit margin, it’s essential for maintaining efficient operations.

Here’s a quick rundown of the 7-step sourcing process that can help you streamline your procurement journey:

  • Identify Needs: Define what you need to buy and how much.
  • Research & Source: Find qualified suppliers who can meet your requirements.
  • Develop Strategy: Determine your sourcing approach (RFP, auction, etc.)
  • Evaluate & Select: Analyze proposals and choose the best supplier.
  • Negotiate & Contract: Finalize pricing, terms and agreements.
  • Implement & Integrate: Onboard suppliers and integrate them with your systems.
  • Monitor & Improve: Track performance and continuously optimize the process.

While both eSourcing and eProcurement involve suppliers and purchasing, they address distinct stages of the process.

E-sourcing focuses on strategic aspects like spend analysis, supplier discovery, RFI, RFQ and RFP management, contract management, and supplier lifecycle management. This stage essentially sets the groundwork for procurement, which handles the actual purchasing and ordering of goods and services from qualified suppliers identified through eSourcing.

Although often overlooked, eSourcing plays a critical role in cost savings alongside procurement. By optimizing the supplier selection process and negotiating better contracts, eSourcing tools can significantly impact your bottom line. That’s why we believe it deserves just as much attention as procurement!

SME Contributors

Cassie Fields

Cassie Fields is a revenue leader and Stevie Award winner, known for her commitment to enterprise value creation and fostering future leaders. She started her career as an Account Executive and has worked with different departments which broadened her experience in supply chain collaboration. Currently, she serves as President of AutoLeap. In her current role, she utilizes strategic sourcing tools to promote transparency and fairness throughout her business’s supply chain, ensuring optimal efficiency and ethical practices.

Eli Itzhaki

Eli Itzhaki is a locksmith with over 25 years of experience in New York. Driven by a vision to innovate the locksmith industry, he founded KeyZoo Locksmiths in South Florida. Under his leadership, KeyZoo has rapidly expanded to multiple states, with plans to cover the entire U.S. Eli leverages sourcing software to efficiently manage supplier relationships and track inventory, ensuring timely procurement of high-quality materials for his expanding business.

James Wilkinson

James Wilkinson is the CEO of Balance One Supplements, a manufacturer and online retailer of premium dietary supplements. James utilizes sourcing software to efficiently manage compliance with international regulations and streamline the procurement process. The software helps him track essential documents, alerting him to any updates or expirations, and providing data analytics to evaluate supplier reliability and quality-control histories.

Lisa Richards

Lisa Richards is a nutritionist and author of The Candida Diet. Since 2005, her website has attracted over 20 million visitors, offering valuable insights on probiotics, low-sugar diets, Candida, and gut health. As CEO and Creator of the Candida Diet, Lisa leverages sourcing software to efficiently manage supplement inventory, automate purchase orders, and track stock levels in real-time. This automation reduces manual labor, minimizes stockouts and overstocking, and allows her team to focus more on customer support and product development.

Riddhiman RoyThe Best Sourcing Software Of 2024

8 comments

Join the conversation
  • Oliver - January 25, 2023 reply

    Very informative and well-articulated post. Thank you

  • Mike Kinsella - November 20, 2021 reply

    Why is Workday Strategic Sourcing not included in this list?

  • Anand Suresh - April 12, 2021 reply

    Hi! Helpful Article especially in Pandemic remote times.
    Although I do feel Kissflow Procurement cloud would make a great addition to this list.

    What do you think?

    Zachary Totah

    Zachary Totah - May 21, 2021 reply

    Hi Anand, thanks for sharing your thoughts! The products are ultimately determined by our research team, but we’ll consider Kissflow Procurement for the next update to this article.

  • Mr. Kelly Johnson - November 27, 2020 reply

    I’m wondering if you know of any sourcing software that is free? I am a US based sourcing agent and have developed my own web based software for my own business around how I personally source products for clients. Of course it’s no where near as comprehensive as any of these sources, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m looking for free systems that I can compare to mine to see if there is some key things I should add that I am forgetting about. As well as other agents that might be interested in using my system for free for their feedback. I very well might be too close to the forest to see the trees. I’m kind of leaning towards offering my much simpler system to others for free and just selling advertising or something to pay the bills instead of charging the agents directly.

    Richard - March 19, 2021 reply

    Hello Mr Kelly Johnson, I am a sourcing agent too. I am very much interested in your sourcing software. I feel this would be a good one as a sourcing agent made it. Please advise how to get in touch with you?

  • Tenderson Time - August 10, 2020 reply

    Thank you for bringing more information to this topic for me. I’m truly grateful and really impressed. wb e tender

    Avatar photo

    Hunter Lowe - August 11, 2020 reply

    Thank you! I’m happy the article was helpful!

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