By aligning procurement goals with the organizational objectives, including cost savings, sustainability, and innovation, a procurement strategy can be created from scratch. Procurement managers need to start by understanding their spending patterns and inefficiencies, as this will help define clear objectives, such as eliminating dark purchasing or improving vendor relationships.

Once an overarching goal is set, it is time to engage stakeholders by establishing clear roles, defining responsibilities, and prioritizing strategic vendor relationships over minimizing spend. Once everyone is aware of their role, it is critical to either invest in the digital transformation or implement existing tools to automate the procurement process.

This will help establish workflows, enforce policies, and track key performance indicators (KPIs) effectively. With an automated procurement process, stakeholders can ensure that their procurement strategy aligns with market trends and business needs unequivocally.