Indirect purchasing: often neglected, but crucial to SME performance
In the majority of small and medium-sized businesses, management efforts naturally focus on so-called “strategic” purchasing: raw materials, production, logistics or equipment linked to the core business. Yet indirect purchasing, often relegated to the background, accounts for a significant proportion of expenditure – between 20% and 30%. of total costs – and have a direct impact on profitability, the“efficiency and resilience.”profitability, efficiency and resilience.
What are indirect purchases?
Indirectpurchasesinclude all goods and services necessary for the smooth running of the company, but which are not directly linked to the main production or service activity. This includes, for example :
- Office supplies, computer equipment and software
- Telecommunications, energy and cleaning services
- Waste management, maintenance, insurance
- Vehicle, transportation and travel expenses
These items are often fragmented, allocated to different departments or decided on an opportunistic basis, and generally fall outside the scope of an overall purchasing strategy. The result: wasted time, dispersed costs and a lack of leverage.‘optimization levers.
Why is indirect purchasing strategic for SMEs?
In an environment marked by economic uncertainty, cost inflation and supply disruptions, controlling indirect purchasing is becoming a sustainable performance lever.Here’s why:
- Direct savings, often underestimated:centralizing, pooling or renegotiating these expenses can generate savings of 10 to 30%, with no impact on core business.
- Operational time savings: by structuring indirect purchasing, teams gain in efficiency and can concentrate on their core business.
- Reduced risks: selection of reliable suppliers, better contracting, compliance with standards (RGPD, security, CSR, etc…).
- A CSR lever: optimizing indirect purchasing is also an opportunity to integrate responsible criteria (green energy, recycling, local service providers, ethics, labor law, etc.).
Why is indirect purchasing often neglected in SMEs?
In many SMEs,indirect purchasing remains poorly identified and unstructured, often perceived as secondary to purchases linked to production or the core business. There are several reasons for this underestimation. Firstly, the lack of dedicated resources leads teams to manage these expenses opportunistically, without any real strategy. Secondly, ashort-term vision predominates: as these items are considered insignificant, they are not treated as performance drivers.
Internal organization also plays a role. Indirect purchasing is often decentralized, spread between different departments or sites, with no consolidation of needs or harmonization of practices. Lastly, in the sometimes tense day-to-day life of SMEs, these purchases are often made in the context of the company“s strategy.”without competition or in-depth analysis.
This lack of structuring may seem trivial, but it has a real cost: dispersed spending, sub-optimal conditions, lack of visibility… and loss of profitability.‘opportunities for improving the company’s overall profitability.
How Widoo helps SMEs optimize their indirect purchases
It’s precisely on these issues that the Widoo model provides a concrete response. By joining the network, member companies :
- Access collectively-negotiated framework contracts with local suppliers recognized for their reliability
- Benefit from“a clear methodology and”to map and optimize their expenses
- Save time by delegating the sourcing phase, while retaining control over decisions
- Achieve sustainable savings without sacrificing quality or compliance
In other words, Widoo transforms this often neglected area into a real performance driver.
In conclusion
Indirect purchasing deserves its rightful place in the strategy of small and medium-sized businesses. Properly managed, they can generate financial gains, improve operational fluidity and strengthen a company’s overall resilience.
Rather than endure them or manage them on an ad hoc basis, structuring and pooling these purchases, within a‘network like Widoo‘means choosing‘more strategic, more efficient… and more serene.
