Launching Integrated Search in DPDHL via SourceSage

DPDHL Group and SourceSage kickstarts in Japan with Amazon Business.

DPDHL Group and SourceSage's collaboration started with a simple email introduction from DPDHL Group after a partnership with Amazon Business in the United States.

Originally, the intention was to enable the use of marketplaces for DPDHL Group in Japan. However this required significant integration and compliance work to be done. It just happens that SourceSage Group was already working with DPDHL (since 2019) in other countries as the marketplace integration tool. So when the need arose to integrate with the local marketplaces in Japan, SourceSage team immediately suggests DPDHL to introduce Amazon Business, recalls Jian, CEO of SourceSage Group.

For many marketplaces in Asia Pacific (APAC), there are very few that truly understand B2B requirements. “Our choice to working with Amazon Business stems was driven by its familiarity with B2B requirements, B2B integration, and the ability to work well with procurement software like ours.” Jian, mentions. “There is also a dedicated team and structured processes within Amazon Business to move things quickly.” adds Tatsuya Imou, CEO SourceSage Japan.

Today, DPDHL Group is utilizing SourceSage marketplace integration to connect with local marketplaces to manage long tail spend. This aligns with the belief of Amazon Business of allowing enterprise users to enjoy B2C-like experience while they purchase for their corporations. “Our company, DPDHL, has been driving the digitization focus for a few years now. In Asia Pacific we identified SourceSage as a supplier who could provide a digitalized approach to resolve our low-value, non-compliant spend challenges. The SourceSage platform allows us to continue to use our current purchasing system to access online shopping marketplaces.” Shirley Mower, Regional Category Manager of DPDHL mentions.

Unique Integrated Search and End-to-End Capability in APAC

Like many multinational companies (MNCs) , DPDHL faced challenges in addressing the long tail aspect of procurement. However, the solution to this problem proved particularly difficult especially in the context of Asia, where many marketplaces are fragmented and often not offer support for B2B transactions.

Making matters more complex, many companies were also looking for integrated catalogs from multiple marketplaces into their own ERP procurement systems. This would then allow DPDHL Group’s buyers to compare prices within their contract vendors and marketplace offerings. “Unlike in the West, there are very few solutions in APAC offering this capability. We were pleasantly surprised when Amazon Business just launched its Integrated Search feature in Japan and we just hopped on that bandwagon.” Jian highlights.

"We have effectively used this digitization approach to funnel all spend into a compliant process, while still offering flexibility! A win-win for all."

— Shirley Mower, Regional Category Manager, DPDHL Group

“The SourceSage platform allows us to continue using our current purchasing system to access online shopping marketplaces like Amazon. Here, our buyers can search for items, and if these items are contracted, the marketplace items can be compared to our contracted vendors, giving our users a choice.” Shirley says.

“Once the items are selected, they move into our purchasing system and undergo the approval process. If approved, a purchase order (PO) is generated, and the goods are then ordered. Most importantly, the process is transparent to the finance team prior to spend. We have effectively used this digitization to funnel all spend into a compliant process, while still offering flexibility! A win-win for all.” Shirley adds.

Besides the integrated search experience, many companies were also looking to extend their payment terms. While corporate purchasing cards offered one way to facilitate payments, there were limitations on the usage of such cards in many large organizations. To address this, SourceSage became the master merchant on record as one creditor to make payments on behalf of DPDHL, managing suppliers, and ensuring end-to-end fulfillment eliminating the hassle of DPDHL’s buyers.

With the integrated search capability within Amazon Business, SourceSage payment facilitation and procurement interface, DPDHL’s buyers are now able to complete the entire procure-to-pay-to-fulfillment process within a compliant environment, while enjoying the benefits of accessing the catalogs from Amazon Business. As Jian notes, “This type of end-to-end integrated process will be really useful for MNCs with stricter procurement policies. “

Learn more about smart business buying solutions for MNCs by contacting procurement@sourcesage.co