A Tale of Two Companies

The Power of Business Networks

REDUCE

MANAGE

1%8%

60%

costs

spend savings

compliance
and risk

60%

reduction in
operating costs

INCREASE

IMPROVE

5%30%

50%75%

revenues

improvement in
order accuracy

Find new customers

Reduced
stockout risk

Increase sales
with existing
customers

Impressed, Patrick selects Naledi to

manage his rst store. They sign
a contract.

Patrick communicates with his nance

team in New York. The company has record
levels of cash, but earns near 0% on shortterm deposits, so they agree and manage
the terms through the business network.
Patrick creates a purchase order (PO) in his
purchasing system, which is routed to
Naledi over the business network.

50%

improvement in
discount capture

touchless
transaction processing

faster payment
cycles

20%

Naledi
South Africa
Owner of a facilities management
small business
Objective: Grow her business

Both Patrick
and Naledi use a
business network
that lets companies
across the globe
discover, connect,
and collaborate.

Patrick sees Naledis response and views her

prole, which includes a positive review from
another major retailer and third-party risk
information to help him qualify her. Patrick
reveals his rms information and invites
Naledi to bid in his RFP.

cash ow

Name:
Location:
Job:

Patrick
England
Purchasing manager
of a global retailer
Objective: Open new stores in
developing markets

After visiting Cape Town to assess locations,

Patrick posts a request for information
(RFI) for retail store management on the
business network.

OPTIMIZE

faster transaction
cycles

>90%

Name:
Location:
Job:

Patrick works from his oce on his laptop.

operational
eciency

Constantly on the move, Naledi depends

on her mobile device.

The business network matches Naledis

company as a potential supplier and noties
her. She eagerly responds to the hot lead.

Naledi quotes competitive pricing and service

levels. She also suggests alternate locations and
provides insights into the relative merits of each.

Naledi is excited to win a new, big customer.

However, to meet her service-level agreements and grow, she needs cash. The standard payment terms mean Naledi will need to
borrow money, which is hard for her to do.
Instead, she proposes a dynamic discounting
program where she is paid early in return for a
variable discount. This gives her exibility and
predictable access to short-term credit.

With one click, Naledi converts the PO into a

tax-compliant, touchless e-invoice which
is routed back to Patricks rm. She can see
exactly when she will be paid and uses the
cash to hire extra sta and expand her oce.
With Naledis help, Patricks new store
opens on schedule and exceeds sales and
protability targets. Plus, he uses her
insights to secure future store locations,
and provides her with a positive review.

To hear from real buyers like Patrick, click here >

The strong reviews from well-known

customers on Naledis prole help her
win additional contracts with two more
multinational corporations tripling
next years sales.
To hear from real sellers like Naledi, click here >

Are you leveraging the power of business networks?

Explore the possibilities with Ariba, an SAP company. To learn more visit www.ariba.com
Source:
*All data from customer benchmarking from Ariba.

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