Media giant saves money by increasing on-contract spending more than 80%
Global Media & Entertainment Company
Location
Global Operations (Multiple Business Units)
Implementation
< 4 months
Team Size
30,000+ employees, 3,500+ approvers
Key Results
The Challenge
With such buying power, the client is able to negotiate top-notch pricing contracts, but with more than 30,000 employees requesting purchases (along with 3,500+ approvers), educating and updating all those employees was taxing. In addition, their existing indirect purchasing system was based on old technology. It was inflexible, rife with inefficiencies, and offered no direct connection between purchasers and approvers. This caused limited adoption and sparse category coverage. Too many departments had to create their own ad hoc procurement systems specifically focusing on their own purchasing needs. With limited interdepartmental communication, these siloed systems were inefficient as well as wasting money and resources. What they needed was a centralized system for all employees that was easy to use, utilized pre-negotiated pricing, and provided a clear workflow between purchaser and approver. Enter BuyerQuest. For generations people have counted on this BuyerQuest client to meet their media and entertainment needs. The client's focus on delighting audiences makes it vitally important that they are not wasting resources that could be used to support their core mission. Employing tens of thousands of people, this BuyerQuest client has more than 40,000 separate supply vendors for their diverse portfolio of physical and digital properties. Annually, they spend more than $4 billion globally across all their preferred suppliers.
The Solution
In less than four months, BuyerQuest delivered a powerful, yet familiar, purchasing system that was instantly intuitive for anyone who buys online. The client's employees can search products, check pricing, and add required items to their shopping carts. Once ordered, purchase requests are sent for approvals (if required) or instantly to vendors for shipment. "It's amazing. Nobody on my staff needed any training," said one procurement team member. "They just started using it with no problems!" BuyerQuest also integrated fully with the client's existing SAP SRM system. The easy-to-use interface is only the outward face of BuyerQuest's robust purchasing technology. All vendor items can be chosen by category, price, department, etc. Pictures and diagrams can also be included so that buyers choose the correct item every time. "The way the search box actually tells you what you are searching for while you are typing is really cool," commented one user. Purchasing can also be customized for each department, so they can each have their own unique self-service shopping experience. Each user can purchase the items they need at their lowest contract price every time.
Detailed Results
On-contract spending increased from 48% to 98% in less than one year
User adoption metrics passed all-time high within first seven days
More than 15,000 active users made purchases within 30 days
Full-year cost savings and rebate targets achieved within six months
Curated private marketplace went live across multiple business units with no end user training required
Seamless integration with existing SAP SRM system
Automated approval workflows eliminated manual tracking of supervisors
Consumer-like interface requiring zero training for intuitive adoption
Intelligent search functionality with real-time suggestions
Department-specific customization for unique self-service shopping experiences
Complete audit trail and visibility across 40,000+ supply vendors
Unified platform replacing multiple ad hoc departmental procurement systems
$4 billion annual spend brought under centralized contract management
"It's amazing. Nobody on my staff needed any training. They just started using it with no problems! Getting orders processed through approvals is much faster. We just set the rules up and BuyerQuest automates everything. The way the search box actually tells you what you are searching for while you are typing is really cool."
Procurement Team Member
Global Media & Entertainment Company
Global Media & Entertainment Company
Implementation Timeline
Discovery & SAP Integration Planning
4 weeksComprehensive analysis of existing SAP SRM system, workflow mapping for 30,000+ employees and 3,500+ approvers, and assessment of 40,000+ supply vendors across multiple business units.
Platform Configuration & Vendor Integration
8 weeksBuyerQuest platform configuration, full SAP SRM integration development, consolidation of ad hoc departmental systems, and onboarding of preferred suppliers with pre-negotiated contracts.
Curated Marketplace Development
6 weeksCreation of department-specific shopping experiences, intelligent search functionality implementation, approval workflow automation, and customization for diverse portfolio needs.
Multi-Business Unit Rollout
Less than 4 months totalPhased deployment across multiple business units, zero-training adoption validation, and achievement of 98% on-contract spending with full-year cost savings targets met within 6 months.
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