By Nick Georgijev, Head of Amazon Business, Canada
Let’s be honest – while many of us are no strangers to economic uncertainty, it doesn’t necessarily get easier or any less stressful to navigate. This can be especially true for business owners looking to futureproof their ability to achieve sustainable business goals.
According to a recent survey conducted by Statistics Canada on Canadian Business Conditions for Q1 2023, businesses expect to continue facing challenges due to rising inflation and general costs. At Amazon Business, we understand that now more than ever, procurement teams across Canada are making critical decisions about how to maintain business continuity while adapting to ever-changing procurement costs, and are looking for processes to be simplified from start to finish through multi-faceted procurement services.
Historically viewed as a behind-the-scenes support function, procurement has risen to the forefront of company planning in recent years. Through ups and downs of our current economic reality, one trend we’re seeing is businesses re-evaluating suppliers and third-party partners based on the overall cost of supplies. It’s been inspiring to see how procurement systems have helped businesses across the country – and globally – maximize efficiency and respond to evolving market and cashflow demands.
Multi-feature procurement systems offer endless options, tangible cost savings and increased efficiency that can make this a reality and bring peace of mind to business owners knowing their cashflow will continue to operate at fixed intervals – recession or no recession. It also allows for the opportunity to choose the sellers you buy from and prioritize local sellers to support the economy.
In addition to maximizing efficiency, having a strong relationship with direct suppliers that value transparency and mutually beneficial solutions is key to procurement consistency and business continuity. Maintaining these relationships is also a critical piece of the puzzle, which is why many businesses are prioritizing working with a partner with a multi-supplier marketplace, that provides competitive prices and less cost pressure driven by economic factors such as inflation.
Access to analytics is also crucial to have complete control over your spend, and lacking insights on cashflow could result in overspending and missing out on key investment opportunities. Over the years I’ve seen firsthand how proactively planning procurement needs by managing budgets and purchases can drastically increase a business’ chances of being profitable.
At the end of the day, the goal is to ensure consistency is maintained from consumer attraction to financial results. While successful procurement management can seem daunting at times, the good news is that solutions are available at the click of a mouse to seamlessly manage cashflow regardless of business size or sector.
