Proposal (business)A business proposal is a written offer from a seller to a prospective sponsor. Business proposals are often a key step in the complex sales process—i.e., whenever a buyer considers more than price in a purchase. When one person signifies to another their willingness to do or to abstain from doing anything with a view to obtaining the assent of the other to such act or abstinence, they are said to make a proposal. A proposal puts the buyer's requirements in a context that favors the seller's products and services, and educates the buyer about the seller's capability to satisfy their needs.
Reverse auctionA reverse auction (also known as buyer-determined auction or procurement auction) is a type of auction in which the traditional roles of buyer and seller are reversed. Thus, there is one buyer and many potential sellers. In an ordinary auction also known as a forward auction, buyers compete to obtain goods or services by offering increasingly higher prices. In contrast, in a reverse auction, the sellers compete to obtain business from the buyer and prices will typically decrease as the sellers underbid each other.
Strategic sourcingStrategic sourcing is the process of developing channels of supply at the lowest total cost, not just the lowest purchase price. It expands upon traditional organisational purchasing activities to embrace all activities within the procurement cycle, from specification to receipt, payment for goods and services to sourcing production lines where the labor market would increase firms' ROI. Strategic sourcing processes aim for continuous improvement and re-evaluation of the purchasing activities of an organisation.
E-procurementL'e-procurement, ou approvisionnement en ligne, ou approvisionnement électronique, est un module de la gestion électronique des approvisionnements dans les entreprises ou les organisations. Il fait partie de la gestion électronique des achats qui comprend, en amont, les actions de sélection de fournisseurs (e-sourcing), en aval, le passage et suivi des commandes, le e-procurement. Le mot e-procurement est un anglicisme, formé à partir du préfixe e- qui signifie électronique, et procurement qui signifie approvisionnement.
Appel d'offresUn appel d'offres (en anglais, invitation to tender ou ITT) est une procédure qui permet à un commanditaire (le pouvoir adjudicateur) de faire le choix de l'entreprise (le soumissionnaire qui sera le fournisseur) la plus à même de réaliser une prestation de travaux, fournitures ou services. Le but est de mettre plusieurs entreprises en concurrence pour fournir un produit ou un service. Les appels d’offres sont devenus une pratique courante de tous les processus d’achat pour des ventes B to B dès lors que leur montant est devenu significatif.
