BOSTON — TopSource, the country's leading sourcing company for retailers and wholesalers, recently surpassed $3 billion in sourced spend using its proprietary on-line auction tool. TopSource customers, representing primarily grocery and food service companies, have realized savings of more than $600 million from TopSource's e-auction events since 2001.
Auctions have proven to be a powerful sourcing mechanism for TopSource customers as they drive an average of nearly 20 percent savings and speed up price negotiations for both food and non-food related products. TopSource customers have experienced significant savings in a variety of goods and services that include circular distribution, material handling equipment, inventory services, canned vegetables and ice cream.
"We were early adopters of online auctions, and we continue to develop innovative ways to maximize savings and deliver value to our members," said Dave Picarillo, Senior Vice President at TopSource. "The two key components that set TopSource apart are experience and technology. The combination of our team's auction and category expertise coupled with best-in-class technology allows us to effectively streamline the sourcing process based on our customers' requirements."
Recognizing the importance of customers' needs, TopSource differentiates itself from other e-auction service providers by:
— employing an experienced, dedicated auction team
— using state-of-the-art e-Sourcing software from Ariba
— accessing a network of more than 600,000 vendors
— offering full transparency of information and pricing
— completing events in fewer than two weeks
TopSource's strategic e-sourcing tools allow for the efficient management of a wide range of sourcing activities often completed under tight deadlines by experienced personnel. Auctions are used to negotiate price, provide speed to savings and optimize competition.
TopSource has conducted auctions for more than a decade in virtually every department in the food retail space. Initially formed to streamline Not-For-Resale price negotiations for a large international supermarket operator, TopSource has evolved its sourcing efforts to the full scope of spend including For-Resale grocery areas. Today, being part of Topco Associates LLC, the largest cooperative buying organization in retail food, TopSource continues to experience tremendous success using e-auctions for a variety of products from private label center store items to frozen foods, pharmacy, dairy, meat and produce.
TopSource recently conducted a stand-alone reverse auction for Texas-based Brookshire Grocery Company's employee store uniforms. Brookshire, a 151-store supermarket chain, saved 19 percent in this e-sourcing event where more than 50 bids were submitted.
Jerry Nick, Vice President Category Management/Merchandising at Brookshire, said: "The TopSource auction team did a great job of helping us clearly define all specifications, terms, and conditions; develop auction strategy; and manage the suppliers throughout the process. There are many auction houses out there, but I don't believe any others can offer both auction expertise and more than 50 food retail category experts like TopSource."
About TopSource
TopSource LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Topco Associates LLC, the largest cooperative buying organization in retail food. By applying a structured sourcing process and through spend aggregation, TopSource assists over fifty-five premier grocery, retail and wholesale companies realize significant savings in areas of Not-For-Resale (NFR), often called indirect spend. In addition to providing innovative solutions, TopSource has saved its members and customers an average of 15-20% on an annual basis in business areas such as store equipment, office products/services, packaging, hired services, IT/Telecom, construction, logistics & distribution, marketing, health care, fuel, energy management and sustainability. To learn more about TopSource, visit www.topsourcellc.com .
Source: TopSource LLC