12 Best Procurement Software in 2024
- Published:
- Updated: November 22, 2024
Procurement enables organizations with an end-to-end process to source the materials, goods, and services required to keep operations running – including vendor management, purchasing, proposal requests, invoicing, contract management, and more.
If the way you manage and track purchases, products, suppliers, vendors, and payments doesn’t work as intended or is overly complicated, everything else falls apart.
While the procurement process is complex, organizations can automate and streamline their source-to-pay workflows through eProcurement solutions.
In this article, we’ll explore the best procurement software solutions to centralize your digital procurement activities, allowing you to make faster decisions, optimize your supply chain, and streamline procurement management.
What is the best procurement software in 2024?
- SAP Ariba
- Coupa Procurement
- Team Procure
- Procurify
- GET SMART
- Precoro
- Netsuite Procurement
- Oracle Procurement Cloud
- Ivalua
- Jaggaer
- Zycus Source-to-Pay
- Kissflow
What Is Procurement Software?
Procurement software (also known as procure-to-pay software) manages the procurement lifecycle, from sourcing suppliers to purchasing materials, managing inventory, generating purchase orders, overseeing bills and payments, and more. It enables organizations to identify inventory shortages before they impact their bottom line, gather data to help improve profitability, and automate reminders about purchase orders or cancellations.
Procurement software is typically delivered through multiple products that provide tailored solutions to some regions of the procure-to-pay process, or as a more extensive software suite that offers modules that work together across the entire procure-to-pay process.
To be considered a procurement software, a product must offer the following features:
- Consolidate procurement-related data from multiple sources or applications.
- Define an organization’s procurement processes and manage all parts of the P2P operational lifecycle.
- Create and manage purchasing policies and approval workflows.
- Monitor finances and procurement-related transactions.
- Automated budget tracing and real-tin procurement cost analysis.
- Create, manage, and inventory contracts.
- Automate and manage the request for proposal, request for information, and request for quote processes.
- Vendor and supplier sourcing, onboarding, and management.
- Identify procurement risks or potential fraud and maintain compliance with automated audits and regulatory checks.
- Custom reporting on all procurement-related processes.
Types of Procurement Software
Procurement software can come as a package suite of applications designed to manage the entire source-to-pay process or can be broken into single applications designed for certain procurement process areas.
Procurement professionals must understand their current eProcurement infrastructure and their contextual needs when selecting a procurement solution, or they risk purchasing duplicate solutions or applications that are incompatible.
With that said, here are the major types of procurement software:
- Source-to-Pay Software: Manages the entire procurement process, from sourcing to vendor payments.
- Accounts Payable & Spend Analysis Software: Accounts payable process automation tracks corporate spending. With accounts payable software, you can automatically monitor the status of your bills and when they need to be paid. You can also use the software to schedule payments, so you never miss an important deadline.
- Contract Lifecycle Management Software: Manages the contract lifecycle, from creating contracts to obtaining signatures and managing contracts.
- Purchasing Software: Automates purchasing-related steps in the S2P process.
- RFP Software: RFP software is designed to manage the entire RFx process – from aiding professionals in creating requests to vendors and responses to the requests they receive. These solutions use tools like template libraries, automatic responses, and even AI to make procurement and bidding processes more efficient.
- Spend Management Software: Track, manage, and optimize expenses for procuring materials, goods, and services.
- Strategic Sourcing Software: Provides procurement teams solutions for assessing and managing all procurement-related projects, like project management, team collaboration, and category management.
- Vendor Management Software: Centralizes all vendor and supplier communication, onboarding, payroll management, and overall relationship management.
- Warehousing Software: Provides solutions for product storing, categorizing, and sorting for warehouses.
12 Best Procurement Software in 2024
Here are the best procurement software applications, including review ratings, pricing, and a description of each platform and vendor.
1. SAP Ariba
- Review Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
SAP Ariba is an e-procurement and supply chain cloud solution for large and midsize companies. It’s a source-to-pay tool that gives you complete control over spending, savings, and your supply chain. SAP Ariba uses innovative technology to help you optimize your procurement processes, including natural language processing for easy search and AI to educate users.
Read our blog post to learn more about SAP Ariba implementation.
Other SAP Ariba features include:
- Connectivity with the SAP Business Network for greater collaboration and connection
- Use analytics, data sources, and integrated solutions to identify buying trends
- Manage global spending and compliance all in one place
2. Coupa Procurement
- Review Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
Coupa is a sophisticated purchasing tool that prioritizes the customer experience. You’ll get visibility into your procurement and buying cycle to maximize spend under management, gain visibility and control, and ensure overall value. Check out our post on Coupa implementation to learn more.
Coupa Procurement features include:
- Creating and managing contracts and catalogs, including approvals, punch-outs, and more.
- Easy-to-use buying processes for goods and services
- Inventory management to keep track of stockrooms and on-hand inventory
- Budget checks and approvals to cut down on overspending
3. Team Procure
- Review Rating: 5 out of 5 (across 2 reviews)
- Pricing: Starts at $250 per month for 3 users, contact for enterprise pricing.
Team Procure is a relatively new cloud procurement platform that covers everything from purchase requests and orders to supplier and warehouse management. It offers platforms and tools that fit the need of every size business and has custom API integrations to fit your unique needs.
Other Team Procure features include:
- Manage RFQ and e-auction bids from multiple suppliers
- Create custom workflows to get appropriate approvals and sign-offs
- Track supplier performance with built-in KPIs and performance metrics
- Track warehouse performance across multiple locations
4. Procurify
- Review Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
Procurify is an all-in-one spend management platform that helps companies manage their spending without slowing down processes. With Procurify, you can customize budgets in real-time, gather approvals, and even provide spending cards to make it easier for team members to buy what they need right when they need it. The Procurify mobile app also simplifies the purchasing process when team members are on the go.
Procurify can also:
- Automate purchasing workflows to save your team time
- Manage approved vendors so your employees can make smarter purchasing decisions
- Integrate with your favorite business management tools
- Give real-time insights to keep an eye on a budget before approving a purchase, not after
5. GEP SMART
- Review Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
GEP SMART is an AI-powered S2P software that empowers organizations with direct and indirect procurement solutions.
GEP SMART’s suite of capabilities and digital tools enables enterprises to digitalize their entire source-to-pay process into one unified system.
GEP SMART provides capabilities such as spend analysis, sourcing, contract management, supplier and vendor management, and of course procure-to-pay.
Additional GEP SMART features include:
- AI-powered platform tailored to your procurement process needs.
- Spend and saving analysis for better cost management.
- End-to-end supplier and vendor management.
- Field-tested procurement process standardization and workflow management.
6. Precoro
- Review Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
Precoro is procurement software that helps eliminate manual errors, reduce expenses, and save time. Teams can use Precoro to generate purchase orders, approve process steps, and generate reports. Precoro can also manage budgets, track inventory, and integrate with the tools you’re already using.
Additional Precoro features include:
- Product catalog for a positive eCommerce experience
- Mobile on-the-go approval
- Smart notifications
- Visual, standard, and custom reporting options with 20 filters and 120+ customizable fields
7. Netsuite Procurement
- Review Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
Netsuite Procurement streamlines the process of buying goods and services by managing vendors all in one place. Generate real-time views into spend and vendor performance and improve communication and collaboration throughout the process. Netsuite Procurement helps increase profitability, enhance visibility, and improve relationships with partners and vendors. It’s also an Oracle suite product, meaning it has native-integration abilities with all other Oracle and Netsuite ecosystem products.
Netsuite Procurement can also:
- Make it easier for employees to select vendors capable of providing the quality services or goods they need
- Track purchases and manage inventory
- Manage and process vendor payments with automated systems
- Ensure vendor compliance with regulations and standards
8. Oracle Procurement Cloud
- Review Rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Starts at $405 per user, per month
Oracle Procurement Cloud automates procure-to-pay, strategic sourcing, and supplier management all-in-one. It streamlines the shopping experience to improve spend management and increase business value. Manage even the most complex procurement processes to keep risk in check and ensure all your projects are moving along smoothly.
Additional Oracle Procurement Cloud features include:
- Optimize productivity with built-in collaboration, editing and approval workflows, and guided authoring
- Manage and track the entire contract lifecycle and enable standards compliance
- Use analytics to drive business value and identify new opportunities
- Enhance supplier collaboration and build stronger vendor relationships
9. Ivalua
- Review Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
Ivalua is a single S2P platform that handles all aspects of managing supplier relationships and spending. It has automation tools to help streamline processes and free up team capacity and collaboration tools to strengthen connections with suppliers. Built-in insights can also help you and your team make better decisions.
Ivalua can also:
- Provide transparency into your procurement process with end-to-end analytics across S2P
- Secure information sharing for enhanced security while maintaining collaboration
- Digitize the entire S2P process for a consistent user experience
- Maximize your ROI and minimize risk with quick deployment and adoption
10. Jaggaer
- Review Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
Jaggaer uses a concept it calls “autonomous commerce” to help B2B brands improve their commerce experience. It uses modular solutions to create custom digital platforms that transform the entire source-to-pay spectrum. Jaggaer covers everything from analytics, category management, supplier management, sourcing, contracts, invoicing, and more.
Additional Jaggaer features include:
- Optimized contract compliance and guided buying experiences
- Flexible integrations to connect with the tools you’re already using
- Self-service support and portals to improve efficiency
- Inventory management to decrease redundant purchases
11. Zycus Source-to-Pay
- Review Rating: 3.6 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Custom pricing
Zycus allows teams to infuse the power of AI to optimize your procurement process. Zycus procurement software uses data to drive actionable insights and increase efficiency. Integrate with leading technologies to get deeper insights and build better experiences for your customers and employees — all on an easy-to-use digital procurement and S2P platform.
Zycus Source-to-Pay features include:
- Uses spend analysis to unlock potential savings
- Manages supplier risk and assesses performance
- Provides a collaborative environment with a built-in supplier network
- Manages procurement requires and projects in one tool
12. Kissflow
- Review Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
- Pricing: Starts at $1,990 per month
Kissflow’s procurement software is a flexible platform that puts you in complete control of your business. It keeps things simple while still providing all the features and tools you need to optimize and improve your procurement process, including analytics, vendor management, invoice management, and purchase requests.
Additional Kissflow procurement features include:
- Three-way matching to match invoices with goods receipts and purchase orders
- Budget management and spend control with custom rules and approvals
- Drag-and-drop customization of workflows and tools
- Integrations to seamlessly connect with your finance and operations software
Barriers to E-Procurement Implementation
No matter how advanced the new digital procurement solution is, your implementation will face challenges. Moving your entire procurement operation online can sound like a daunting endeavor, but there are some great ways for managers to break down common barriers to digital procurement implementation.
- Preference for legacy systems: Once employees are used to doing their job in a certain way, it can be very difficult for them to break free of old habits – even when the impending change is making their lives easier. It is important to make room for this sentiment when planning the rollout of your new system. Set realistic timelines for all updates and communicate the importance and benefits of the new system to enable effective change management within the company.
- Organized data: Digital procurement systems consolidates siloed tools like emails, spreadsheets, chats, etc., and offers you to manage the entire vendor lifecycle from a single interface. The data on all vendor interactions end up in a centralized repository, making it easy to access vendor details anytime and create visual performance reports.
- Expense of new technology: When shifting from doing things ‘the old-fashioned way’ to doing them completely online, the price tag of your new digital procurement software is likely to shock managers. This makes sense – it’s probably a big jump. You can reassure them that this jump in cost will be offset significantly by the savings and opportunities it will bring.
- On-demand performance support: Post-implementation, end-users will require support in the flow of work. Simple onboarding and training won’t suffice, with organizations need to provide detailed support for employees at the moment of need to ensure preferred vendors are selected, procurement workflow governance, and compliance is met.
What to Consider Before Purchasing a Procurement Software
S2P and procurement software are mission-critical to many organizations’ day-to-day operations. IT teams and supply chain application owners must understand their procurement application needs, current S2P infrastructure, and current procurement challenges before starting the procurement software buying process.
Here are a few “before you buy” considerations to remember before staring your procurement software purchasing process:
- Current S2P application stack: What procurement application do you currently use? Inventory all applications used in your procurement process to ensure that any new solution doesn’t have duplicate features and will integrate with these tools.
- S2P suite or individualized “best-of-breed” application: What are your contextual procurement needs? Do you need a solution to manage the entire S2P process, or certain parts of the it? This will help guide you on the type of application you need.
- Communication and collaboration features. Keeping relevant conversations about procurement decisions or contracts in your software can ensure everyone has the information they need to make appropriate decisions.
- Budget insights. When purchasing new materials, you need to keep an eye on your budget. A tool with insights into your budget will make it easier to identify when you’re at risk of spending too much.
- Automation. Automation tools drive productivity and efficiency. Procurement software with automation tools can help you improve accuracy, reduce errors, and keep processes running smoothly.
- Implementation and adoption strategy. While procurement software vendors will promise quick ROI, the reality is that without a change and onboarding strategy built around the people using this new technology (employees, suppliers, vendors), your end-users will fail find value in the tool with low digital procurement adoption.
How to Drive E-Procurement Adoption
Despite the digital transformation challenges, your change management team can overcome these barriers to digital procurement adoption with a few tactical strategies.
1. Create a cross-department change team
While the procurement team might be most likely to use your e-procurement software, this change in operations will have a company-wide effect. Building a team of inter-department employees to develop a rollout plan will ensure that your implementation plan covers every base and satisfies the needs of various team members.
2. Create personalized onboarding and training based on role
Employees in different roles will use your new procurement software differently depending on their role’s responsibilities and tasks. This means the onboarding process must cater training directly to the needs of team members in different positions.
While this may initially mean a bit of extra work, knowing that your employees are well-equipped to take full advantage of your e-procurement solution will ease anxieties and result in a higher overall return on investment with high overall software adoption.
With a digital adoption platform like Whatfix DAP, time-to-proficiency can be accelerated when implementing a new S2P application with in-app guided training experiences. With Whatfix, new users can be enabled with Tours, Task Lists, Flows, Smart Tips, and more in-app guidance to support employees in the flow of work.
3. Invest in a DAP for in-app guidance
When implementing a new e-procurement solution, it will be critical to provide necessary training and support as employees get used to doing their jobs in a completely new way. Investing in a digital adoption platform (DAP) like Whatfix will improve the outcome of your digital procurement implementation by providing easy-to-use tools for in-app support.
A DAP provides L&D, IT teams, and S2P application owners with the tools to create in-app guidance and on-demand help content with a no-code editor that lays directly on your S2P and procurement applications.
With Whatfix, enable your procurement end-users with:
- Tours and Task Lists to accelerate time-to-proficiency for new procurement team members.
- Flows to guide users through complex workflows or infrequently done tasks.
- Pop-Ups to alert employees of procurement process changes, regulatory laws, company news, or upcoming deadlines.
- Smart Tips to nudge end-users to take a specific action or provide additional information at critical steps in your S2P process.
4. Provide your employees with real-time performance support
Learning how to use new software can be difficult, especially for employees who have been around for many years. To boost digital procurement adoption, it is important to provide your employees with avenues for real-time support to make them feel secure, appreciated, and supported to work their way through the new system.
With a tool like Whatfix, teams can embed a self-help knowledge base directly into their procurement applications, allowing end-users to find help content and answers to common challenges and process questions.
When using an S2P or digital procurement tool, employees must correctly input data and adhere to proper workflows to keep their data clean and to achieve ROI from their procurement system. With Whatfix, procurement leaders can create smart tips that remind end-users of mandatory fields they must update for orders, suppliers, and vendors.
You can see an example below of Smart Tip created with Whatfix that provides contextual information, at the moment of need, for end-users updating supplier orders.
5. Keep employees updated on digital procurement implementation projects
It can be frustrating for employees to feel like they’re being dragged around as big changes are happening. Keeping team members in the loop as your e-procurement implementation project evolves could make all the difference in how they approach the change.
Provide regular communications to employees affected by the change, and ensure they have a clear avenue for support if they run into any issues during implementation.
6. Ask employees for feedback on the implementation
The best way to make sure your implementation plan is working is to solicit regular feedback on training efforts and their feelings about the digital procurement software itself. Addressing any issues that arise here will be critical to achieving a successful implementation and driving digital procurement adoption.
With Whatfix, organizations can gather end-user feedback from employees, suppliers, and vendors directly in their S2P and procurement applications and digital processes to understand and improve adoption, onboarding, and end-user support.
7. Track application onboarding, process governance, and overall e-procurement adoption with analytics
In addition to asking for direct feedback, getting quantitative data that shows how the implementation is going is greatly helpful in ensuring success. Employing a digital adoption platform can help here by providing data analytics to clearly show user engagement with the new system and their adoption progress. Being able to see where team members are getting stuck while handling the new software, helps modify the training flows to make the adoption plan as successful as possible.
With a DAP like Whatfix, organizations can capture user events to understand user adoption and understand:
- How employees are engaging with new procurement applications.
- What features or processes are not being adopted.
- What help content and in-app guidance are working, what needs to be improved, and what new content should be created.
- Where users are struggling (ie. identify friction points.)
- How long it takes employees to become productive with new digital procurement processes.
Procurement software is complex, and enterprises must build customized processes and workflows that help them achieve e-procurement objectives and goals.
Finding ROI from your procurement software investment depends on how well you prepare and support your procurement software end-users – ie. the employees, suppliers, and vendors using the platform.
With a digital adoption platform (DAP) like Whatfix, organizations can enable end-users with contextual, in-app guided experiences and self-help support to unlock the true potential of procurement applications and digital processes.
With Whatfix, enable your procurement end-users by:
- Guiding users through the procurement system’s features, tasks, and processes with interactive flows, tours, and task lists.
- Alerting and nudging users with in-app smart tips, beacons, and field validations.
- Providing users with Self Help, which crawls your organization’s knowledge and documentation and curates it into a searchable, embedded self-help wiki that provides a help center for your end-users.
Whatfix for procurement and S2P applications puts the information and context your employees need right within the application, guiding them precisely when they need it most. Automate your processes and boost employee productivity while ensuring you get the most out of your new procurement software investment.
With Whatfix, teams can also understand how end-users engage with your procurement software, allowing you to understand:
- How long it takes for employees to become proficient with your procurement software.
- What help content is the most helpful, and what new content you should create.
- Where there are friction points that your end-users are struggling with.
- What features are (and aren’t) being adopted and used properly.
Software clicks better with Whatfix's digital adoption platform
Enable your employees with in-app guidance, self-help support, process changes alerts, pop-ups for department announcements, and field validations to improve data accuracy.
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