Guided Buying
Guided buying is a procurement approach that steers employees towards preferred suppliers, catalogues and policies as they make purchases.
Guided buying presents users with an intuitive, consumer-like buying experience that quietly enforces the rules — surfacing approved catalogues, preferred suppliers and compliant options first, and routing purchases through the right approvals. It makes the compliant path the easy path, so staff don't need to memorise procurement policy.
The result is less maverick spend, better contract compliance and cleaner spend data, without heavy training. It is especially valuable for occasional buyers who purchase infrequently and would otherwise go off-contract simply because they don't know the correct route.
Frequently asked questions
- What is guided buying?
- Guided buying is a procurement approach that steers employees towards preferred suppliers, approved catalogues and policy-compliant choices as they buy, making the compliant path the easiest one.
- How does guided buying reduce maverick spend?
- By surfacing approved suppliers and catalogues first and routing purchases through the right approvals, it removes the need for staff to know policy and makes off-contract buying the harder option.
Related terms
Self-service Procurement
Self-service procurement lets employees raise their own requisitions and orders through an easy online system, within pre-set rules and approvals.
Read definitionPreferred Supplier
A preferred supplier is a vendor an organisation has chosen to prioritise for a category of spend, usually under agreed pricing and terms.
Read definitionMaverick Spend
Maverick spend is purchasing made outside an organisation's agreed processes, contracts or approved suppliers.
Read definitionGo deeper
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