What is Procurement Category?

Procurement categories are groups of related commodities or services that share demand and supply factors and suppliers. The categories differ depending on the size and kind of organization and the supply market.

Broadly speaking, a category is a group of related goods or services based on broadly similar characteristics, such as packaging category and energy category. 

Why do Procurement Categories Exist?   

Procurement categories have the potential to enhance procurement procedures and boost business efficiency. Procurement categories can help achieve the following:

• Create a focused procurement strategy for related goods/services
• Improve your understanding of your organization's procurement spending
• Produce substantial savings
• Make arrangements for aggregated supplies to cover a category of several transactions
• Instead of pursuing numerous vendors for different things, figure out how much your company spends on all stationery items and the type of items

An enterprise can reach an arrangement with one or a small number of vendors to fulfill its needs. This strategy can result in considerable savings and increased procurement efficiency.

Categories and Subcategories of Procurement  

The procurement categories need to be broad enough to allow for competition in the market. Around ten broad categories should be enough to cover a large portion of your organization's spending. Where there is a requirement for additional differentiation, a variety of products or services may include subcategories, as follows:

Category

A set of commodities or services that share demand and supply factors and sources

Subcategory

A reasonable subgrouping of market/services/goods features within a category

Procurement categories with similar descriptions can further be divided into sub-categories based on unique characteristics of the materials.