Vendor Portal for unified collaboration and end-to-end visibility

A vendor portal, or supplier portal, is an online or digital platform wherein businesses interact with their vendors. It is a one-stop shop where businesses can maintain vendor relations and take care of invoicing and payments. Companies can place orders with vendors of their choice in the vendor portal and track the orders until delivery. Hence, a vendor portal helps businesses automate their vendor management and procurement process. The vendor portal also helps in better collaboration and improves communication between procurement teams of businesses and vendors.

A vendor management portal is a digital platform or software that enables companies to consolidate all details and information related to their vendors in one place. A vendor management portal maintains records of all onboarded vendors, their quotations, contracts finalized during their onboarding, their TATs, and so on. A vendor management portal helps maintain transparency in the vendor management process and gives complete visibility to all stakeholders. Vendor portal software also helps in automating and streamlining the procurement process, thereby reducing the chances of errors.

A supplier is someone who supplies or provides raw materials, spare parts, or other components that are required to make final goods and products. A vendor, however, is a business owner who sells finished goods to consumers directly or to other businesses. Thus, a supplier appears earlier in the supply chain process whereas a vendor appears later when the goods are completed and remain to be sold.

The cost of a vendor portal, also known as a supplier platform, is usually within the price range of most companies. Most vendor portals usually cost a basic amount. However, when you compare the advantages of implementing a supplier collaboration portal to the cost you pay, you realize that the cost is a bare minimum that you are paying to have a seamless and error-free vendor portal to handle all your procurement needs.

The best vendor management software is one that enables businesses to automate their procurement process and helps them store all vendor-related information in one place. It works seamlessly and automates manual and clerical tasks. An ideal vendor or supplier portal also enhances collaboration and ensures better coordination and faster work. An ideal vendor portal is Procol which offers all the benefits to a company. It is affordable and keeps your vendor relations simple, yet effective.

Procurement is an end-to-end process that begins with sourcing followed by negotiations, eventually leading to procurement. However, vendor management is the process of building and maintaining relations with vendors. While procurement is a transactional process, vendor management is a process of nurturing. Many digital platforms help companies manage and streamline their procurement activities. Similarly, multiple vendor portals help with maintaining all vendor details in one place.

The vendor life cycle refers to the entire process of vendor management. The different steps in the process are vendor identification, evaluation of vendor, contract development, and onboarding. There can be an ultimate stage of offboarding also when the relationship of the business with the vendor culminates. The entire vendor life cycle is managed through the vendor portal, also known as the supplier portal.

There are different ways in which companies do vendor verification. Firstly, there is document verification and then there is evaluation of the vendor’s finances. Some businesses also do reference checks wherein they talk to other clients of the vendor to gauge the quality of the vendor. Also, in some cases, businesses ask for samples of required products for prior evaluation before placing a final order.