What is a procurement catalog?

A procurement catalog is a document that provides information on services and/or product offered by a vendor or service provider. The primary elements in a catalog include product or service name, descriptions, hierarchy, prices and internal codes. Online forms of catalogs are called e-catalogs and these usually support online order placements and payments.

Types of Catalogs

Depending on the type of setup an organization has, catalogs are either updated manually or automatically.

Static Catalogs:

These catalogs have to be updated manually and if often a cumbersome, time-consuming process involving a lot resources.

Dynamic Catalogs:

These are ones an enterprise needs to keep up with the challenges of complex procurement organizations and supply chains.

However, organizations can choose to have a mix of both, depending on the product spread and needs.

Practical Use of the Procurement Catalog

Irrespective of the type, procurement catalogs are critical to the purchasing process so that the best or ultimate value can be realized in terms of realized savings — which implies that a catalog is more than just a running list of items available for purchase.

Practically speaking, when buyers want an item, the first and foremost concern is to locate the item in the list — and this is not a strategic cost-saving concern, but a critical one implying if an item cannot be found easily, it might not even be there.

Often an interface that is similar to consumer eCommerce portals are the ones most intuitive for all practical purposes.

Check out GEP’s procurement catalog management software.