Purchase marketing: a niche skill for experienced buyers
Po většinu své kariéry jsem se nákupním marketingem nemusel zabývat jednoduše proto, že jsem pracoval pro velké nadnárodní společnosti a navíc byl panel dodavatelů pevně dán a změnit dodavatele bylo stejně obtížně jako sněhové závěje na pyramidách.
Purchase marketing: a niche skill for experienced buyers
For most of my career, I didn't have to deal with procurement marketing simply because I worked for large multinationals, plus the supplier panel was fixed and changing suppliers was as difficult as snowdrifts on pyramids.
However, in my first job, when we were looking for suitable suppliers to export precision machined parts to our sister plants in France, purchasing marketing was a key skill, i.e. Finding suitable suppliers (family-owned companies with special technologies, as the big ones would not be interested in small volumes), motivating suppliers (why should they undergo complex homologation, logistical and communication barriers), price negotiation (explaining that an aggressive target price implies a significant increase in supplier productivity), supplier development (convincing suppliers to invest in new machines, acquiring new skills).
I remember that in the beginning we approached the suppliers in the style of "you can be happy that the French are interested in you," and they sent us to the dartboard. It was only when we learned to sell the vision of a reliable foreign buyer, openly communicated the potential for cooperation, convinced them of the benefits of long-term investment to increase productivity and created a supplier-customer relationship that the cooperation really took off.
In addition to buyers of fulfillment, where they can freely choose suppliers, and buyers of categories with a high degree of innovation, buyers of bottleneck components or non-critical categories, where it is worth checking the competitiveness of existing suppliers from time to time, will also benefit from the knowledge of purchase marketing.
Only a few owners and directors have truly deep experience in procurement—and even fewer with modern electronic tools, which are already standard in companies that manage procurement professionally.
When I look back today, in 2025, I feel a bit like a dinosaur who witnessed the rise of procurement digitalization from the front row, but somehow this incredible tool for improvement actually passed me by.
The key benefit of the digital transformation of procurement is optimization precisely in those areas where money leaks out of the procurement process.
Several companies tested automatic ordering through AI, whose task was to independently evaluate needs, place operational orders, and maintain optimal stock levels. The result often exceeded expectations — unfortunately, in a negative sense.
Return on investment within the first year of project implementation.*
*The ROI estimate is based on real data gathered from our clients and their successfully completed projects.
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