Category strategy · RFP management · Spend analytics
1,000+ across 8 clusters
8-14% typical vs incumbent
6 verticals · 40+ sub-categories
Monthly + quarterly business review
Category lead + 2-4 sourcing analysts
Procurement vs sourcing — the practical difference
Sourcing asks 'where can we buy this SKU?' Procurement asks 'what is our category strategy, what is our TCO, what is our supplier risk exposure, and what is our savings pipeline?' The two disciplines share tools (RFQs, supplier scorecards, audits) but diverge in scope. A procurement engagement typically covers all of a client's India spend across all categories, whereas a sourcing engagement covers one range or one program.
In practical terms, procurement clients get a category strategy memo per vertical every 12 months, a monthly spend-and-savings dashboard, a quarterly supplier consolidation report, and a formal RFP process for any spend event above a threshold agreed at engagement start. Sourcing clients get RFQs and shortlists on demand but no organisational-level reporting.
The four procurement workstreams
Category strategy
For each major category (lighting, furniture, home décor, textile, brass, fashion accessories, plus any client-specific adjacent categories), we deliver a written category strategy every 12 months — supply market map, top 5-8 suppliers by capability and price band, key raw-material trends, geopolitical / labour / logistics risks and mitigations, and the recommended supplier mix (single-source vs dual-source vs distributed).
RFP management
For sourcing events above a threshold (typically $100k+ FOB), we run a formal RFP — 5-8 shortlisted suppliers, structured questionnaire, sample production, pricing negotiation via sealed-bid or reverse auction (depending on category), award recommendation, and full audit trail for the client's procurement compliance team.
Spend analytics and savings tracking
Monthly dashboard covering: spend by category, spend by supplier, savings vs baseline (both PPV and TCO), maverick spend flags, and forward pipeline. Delivered as a Google Sheet or Power BI dashboard depending on client preference. Includes drill-down to PO level.
Supplier risk management
Quarterly review of every supplier in the active database: financial stability (Dun & Bradstreet data + India-specific KYC), audit status (BSCI / Sedex validity), on-time delivery, defect rate, and any escalations logged since last review. Suppliers falling below threshold on any dimension are flagged for corrective action or removal.
Savings — how we drive and track them
Procurement engagements are typically justified by savings. Below is the structure we use to make savings both real and verifiable — not a paper exercise the CFO discounts.
- PPV (Purchase Price Variance) — savings vs the buyer's own baseline price, tracked per SKU per PO.
- TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) — savings that show up beyond unit price: freight consolidation, MOQ pooling, packaging right-sizing, quality-related returns eliminated.
- Payment terms — every 30 days of extended payment terms is worth ~1% at typical WACC. We negotiate 30 → 60 → 90 days for buyers who have credit standing.
- Consolidation — moving from 8 suppliers per category to 3 typically drives 5-10% via volume discounts.
- Compliance savings — pre-shipment lab testing catches defects before the container ships; typical savings 1-3% of FOB via avoided rejects and returns.
Commercial model — retainer or savings share
Procurement engagements are typically structured as retainer + savings share, aligning our economics with the client's savings pipeline.
Frequently asked
ProcurementServicesIndia—commonquestions.
How is procurement different from sourcing in your engagement model?
Sourcing engagements are SKU or range-level — you engage us for a specific product or program. Procurement engagements are category and organisational-level — we manage your entire India spend across categories, deliver strategy memos, run formal RFPs, and report savings to your CFO / CPO. Sourcing is transactional; procurement is strategic.
What size of procurement organisation does this service suit?
Retail chains with formal category management functions, wholesalers with $2M+ India spend annually, mid-market brands where procurement reports to CFO rather than sitting inside merchandising. Below $500k India spend a lighter product-sourcing engagement is more cost-effective.
Do you have supplier data we can access directly?
Yes — Retainer clients get access to our supplier database (1,000+ vetted factories) filterable by category, cluster, certification, capacity and MOQ. Data includes audit reports, defect-rate history, and reference lists. Access is read-only via a shared portal.
How do you handle procurement compliance and audit trails?
Every RFP event is documented end-to-end: invited suppliers, questionnaire responses, sample evaluation scores, negotiation history, award decision and rationale. Deliverables as PDF audit package for the buyer's procurement compliance team. Retention 7 years.
Can you integrate with our procurement software (SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer)?
We work alongside SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, Ivalua and simpler tools like Airtable or Google Sheets. We do not host our own procurement software — the client's system remains the system of record. We deliver into it via CSV or API integration.
What savings should we realistically expect in year 1?
8-14% of managed India FOB spend is the typical first-year savings range for clients moving from unmanaged direct sourcing to a structured procurement engagement. Second-year savings typically 3-6% (diminishing returns as low-hanging fruit is captured). We forecast conservatively at engagement start and report against baseline monthly.
Where this fits
Adjacentservices,categoriesandclusters.
Related services
Product categories we cover
Manufacturing clusters served
Start an enquiry