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From what I’ve studied, e-procurement has 3 main elements – e-sourcing, e-purchasing & e-payment.
in terms of e-sourcing, i think it’s more buyer centric (buyer first) coz it allows buyers to find new suppliers online and establish contracts easily. it saves the buyer administrative time and money.
e-purchasing covers product selection and ordering. i think this one is a little ambiguous. buying and selling online streamlines the whole procurement process. from the supplier’s point of view, it reduces overheads through spending less on administration time and cutting down on bureaucracy. suppliers can also improve on customer service by being able to track orders at any time of the day. buyers can place orders by just a few clicks. suppliers can issue e-catalogue to targeted customers n this saves the suppliers a big sum of money in printing paper catalogues.
e-payment includes tools such as electronic invoicing and electronic funds transfers. it reduces costs and errors and it provides a cost advantage for both buyers and suppliers.
in general, i think there isn’t any buyer centric or seller centric element in e-procurement. fyi, this topic has been tested in june2011 i.e. unlikely to come out in dec2011.