Marketing Management, 16th Edition

Supplier Search

The buyer next tries to identify the most appropriate suppliers through trade directories, contacts with other companies, trade advertisements, trade shows, and the internet. The move to online purchasing has far-reaching implications for suppliers and will change the shape of purchasing for years to come.

To facilitate supplier search and gain power in negotiations with suppliers, companies often form buying alliances. Such alliances involve several companies that are buying the same goods joining together to form purchasing consortia in order to streamline the search for suppliers and gain deeper discounts on volume purchases. Topco is the largest American retail food GPO (group purchasing organization); this GPO represents ...