If e-commerce companies want to reduce procurement costs, in addition to purchasing goods from suppliers at the lowest possible prices, they must also start from various departments and strengthen cross-departmental collaboration and communication. Which departments will the procurement business of e-commerce companies involve? Generally speaking, procurement business involves production departments, design departments, R&D departments, quality assurance departments, finance departments and sales departments.
Procurement is a job that deals with many departments and requires cross-departmental collaboration and communication. If the departments do not achieve smooth communication and are not clear about procurement tasks, it is easy to need to replenish stocks urgently, which will greatly increase procurement costs. Let’s take a look at the relationship between the procurement department and other departments.
(1) Procurement Department and Production Department
The production department is the actual user of the goods and has the closest relationship with the procurement department. The practical experience and technical advantages accumulated by the production department in production can provide help to the procurement department, including goods quality and production progress. With this information, the procurement department can determine a reasonable procurement plan and coordinate cooperation between itself and suppliers.
For example, the procurement department of an e-commerce company is mainly responsible for purchasing goods, and the production department will communicate the production plan and actual production situation to the procurement department in a timely manner to inform it of the goods it needs. The purchasing department needs to communicate with the production department regarding the supplier’s goods and delivery dates to ensure the normal development of production.
(2) Purchasing Department and Sales Department
Yang Liu is a purchasing staff member of an online flagship store, mainly responsible for the purchase of alcoholic beverages. Recently, the flagship store plans to purchase a batch of mineral water, so Yang Liu asked the sales department about the purchase quantity. The sales manager believed that the peak sales of mineral water would last for two months, so there was no need to rush to purchase, and small batches would be enough. Therefore, Yang Liu planned to purchase half of the reserved quantity.
The supplier persuaded Yang Liu to purchase more, but Yang Liu rejected the supplier’s proposal on the grounds that the sales manager only took on half of the sales volume and Yang Liu would be responsible if the goods could not be sold. As a result, in mid-May, the temperature rose rapidly and the batch of mineral water was sold out in less than 3 days.
The sales department asked Yang Liu to purchase urgently, but the supplier said that the supply was tight and that if the goods were purchased urgently, they would have to pay more, which put the flagship store in a passive situation. Yang Liu and the sales department both believed that the reason for this situation was entirely the other party’s responsibility.
The purchasing department and sales department of an e-commerce company should work closely together, negotiate and communicate well, and solve any problems in a timely manner without passing the buck.
(3) Purchasing department and warehousing department
The warehousing department is mainly responsible for storing goods. In order to make full use of the warehouse, the warehousing department needs to obtain some information from the purchasing department in advance, including the delivery time of goods, price trends and alternative goods. At the same time, the purchasing department also needs the warehousing department to provide the goods to be purchased so that they can be replenished in time.
Communication between the purchasing department and the warehousing department can effectively avoid the phenomenon of storage space backlog or insufficient inventory, and can also help e-commerce companies save procurement costs.
(4) Purchasing department and financial department
The communication between the purchasing department and the financial department focuses on the handover and payment of goods. The purchasing department needs the financial department to pay the goods in time when it takes the goods from the supplier. If this link is delayed, it will easily affect the supplier’s delivery speed. At the same time, the sales department will also think that the purchasing department is not working in a timely manner, resulting in the supplier’s inability to supply goods, affecting sales.
Of course, in addition to the above four departments, the purchasing department may also intersect with other departments, which depends on the department settings and personnel arrangements of the e-commerce company. In short, the purchasing department needs to communicate and collaborate with other departments. In addition, purchasing personnel will also need to communicate with different departments due to their positions and responsibilities. For example, the focus of the purchasing manager’s work is supervision and guidance, and he is responsible for communicating with the leaders of various departments, and the flow
The reason why we should attach importance to the control and management of procurement costs is because the procurement department is a sensitive department, and like the financial department, it holds the economic lifeline of the e-commerce company. For e-commerce companies, the essence of procurement is not only to spend money to buy goods, but also to spend money to expand channels and implement development plans.
Tips
Purchasing managers and purchasing personnel of e-commerce companies need to conscientiously implement relevant regulations and regulations in cross-departmental communication and self-management, flexibly handle relationships with various departments, and strive for cooperation to complete procurement tasks.