Objectives Solution Benefits Quick Facts

SAP Solution Brief | PUBLIC

SAP Ariba Solutions | Guided Buying Capability

Redefining the Buying Experience to Enable

Simpler, Smarter Purchases
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives Solution Benefits Quick Facts

Give Employees a Simpler Way to

Buy Smarter
Digital disruption is revolutionizing the way we engage with people and systems. Give Employees a Simpler Way to
Buy Smarter
Customer experience is also becoming decisive. People expect experiences that
are simple and straightforward while at the same time enjoyable and engaging.
That is why now more than ever, great experiences – inside and outside of the
workplace – are driving loyalty, differentiation, and growth.

In today’s technology-savvy workforce, cumbersome The guided buying capability for SAP® Ariba®
software can create a negative user experience. If Procurement solutions does just that by giving
a system or software solution is too complicated, employees a simpler way to buy smarter.
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

it may not get used – no matter how much training
is offered.
A positive user experience is about more than
software simply looking good. Core elements of
its design must meet user needs, enable them to
be more efficient, and empower them to perform
at a higher level.
It provides an intuitive shopping experience and
guides employees to preferred buying channels,
processes, and policies. As a result, employees
have one place to search for goods and services,
collaborate with suppliers, and quickly make
compliant purchases with little to no involvement
from procurement departments.

2 / 9
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives Solution Benefits Quick Facts

Deliver a Compelling User Experience

Guided buying generates value in many ways.
It delivers a compelling interface and consumer-
like searching and buying functionality as well as
tools for policy compliance, supplier management,
and collaboration (see the table).
Persona-based dashboards with customized
tiles and categories help people find what they’re
looking for more easily, catering to specific needs
(see the figure). Plus, users can collaborate in
context with procurement experts based on
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
Guided buying captures your organization’s Deliver a Compelling User Experience
purchasing policies and uses them to guide casual
users and functional buyers to the outcomes Cross-Portfolio Differentiators
they need. Users know right away when a policy is
violated, rather than finding out after submitting a
request. Depending on rules, users might proceed
with an exception or make an alternate decision
that doesn’t violate any policies.

what they’re buying and where they’re located.

Make purchasing easier and more compliant.

Guide users with a capability that’s built into
SAP Ariba Procurement solutions.
3 / 9
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives Solution Benefits Quick Facts

Deliver a Compelling User Experience

Cross-Portfolio Differentiators
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

Figure: Example of Customized Tiles and Categories

4 / 9
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives Solution Benefits Quick Facts

Key Guided Buying Functionality Deliver a Compelling User Experience

Functionality How It Empowers and Engages Employees Cross-Portfolio Differentiators

User experience An intuitive user interface allows casual users to search for and request goods and services, create
receipts, and manage approvals.
• Create landing pages with clickable tiles that simplify catalog navigation
• Publish help resources using a guided buying help community framework
• Design easy-to-use forms to guide users through complex purchases

Search and buy Automated direction leads users to the right items and preferred suppliers.
• Integrate catalogs from peer-to-peer networks including Ariba Network, internal catalogs, and
PunchOut catalogs and support content interchange format (CIF), commerce extensible markup
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

language (cXML), and BMEcat catalogs

• Use commodity codes, which show products and services in a catalog hierarchy to guide users to the
right landing page or form

Compliance Compliance functionality allows for distributed policy, category, and supplier management
• Include notifications for noncompliance with established policies
• Configure warnings so users can provide a custom justification or choose from a predefined list
• Prevent users from submitting a request until they fix errors

Collaboration In-context collaboration among functional users, procurement experts, and suppliers provides
targeted help content to users and enables more-efficient collaboration in the purchasing process.
5 / 9
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives
Cross-Portfolio Differentiators
Integration Across Procurement Processes
Guided buying integrates with the SAP Ariba
Procurement and SAP Ariba Sourcing solutions and
helps you automate and control the purchasing
process through comprehensive and expanded
capabilities:
• Spot Buy capability: Integrating guided buying
and Spot Buy in SAP Ariba Procurement solutions
lets users search for and buy nonsourced goods.
• Catalogs: Loading supplier catalogs into SAP Ariba
Procurement solutions makes it easier for users
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
to search and make purchases.
• Tactical sourcing: Integrating with the
SAP Ariba Sourcing solution allows users to
request quotes from suppliers through
Ariba Network, as well as select preferred
suppliers when creating ad hoc requests.
Solution Benefits Quick Facts
• Integration with supplier management tools: Deliver a Compelling User Experience
Bringing relevant supplier and risk information
into the buying process enables more confident Cross-Portfolio Differentiators
buying decisions.
Integration with SAP S/4HANA® Cloud
Your employees are able to request catalog items,
existing materials, or free-text items by adding them
to a shopping cart. When they check out, guided
buying uses data from SAP S/4HANA® Cloud to
validate the request. It receives real-time master
data from SAP S/4HANA Cloud so it can check all
information, such as budget, business unit, ship-to
address, commodity code, and suppliers.
6 / 9
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives Solution Benefits Quick Facts

Centralized Requisitions and Purchases
Companies looking to centralize procurement
processes can do so with the SAP S/4HANA
solution for central procurement. The solution
gives procurement teams the ability to work
across multiple ERP systems, global organizations,
divisions, and channels, and as a shared service.
Central procurement connects guided buying in
SAP Ariba Buying to your ERP or SAP S/4HANA
Cloud software, providing a unified buying
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
can create self-service requisitions through the Deliver a Compelling User Experience
guided buying capability in SAP Ariba Procurement
solutions. Central purchasers can manage and Cross-Portfolio Differentiators
process these purchase requisitions centrally,
without replicating them in the connected systems.
Self-Service IT Tools
IT departments are regularly required to switch
out certifications for single sign-on and other
licenses. Since guided buying is a capability for
SAP Ariba solutions, IT departments can manage

experience and a single point of access to display these tasks using self-service tools to instantly
and manage purchasing documents. Employees change certifications and licenses.

Streamline procurement. Bring together

suppliers and buyers and help employees buy
goods and services quickly and more easily.
7 / 9
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives Solution Benefits Quick Facts

Realize the Benefits of Guided Buying

With guided buying, intuitive screens and a single
gateway make purchasing easy and straightforward.
A simple, smart, and elegant buying experience
helps minimize maverick spending, increase
compliance with purchasing policies, and drive
user adoption. It simplifies procurement operations
by making low-dollar, high-volume requests
completely self-service – freeing procurement
professionals to focus on complex sourcing needs.
Guided buying steers your employees to complete
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
corporate policies. A persona-based interface Realize the Benefits of Guided Buying
displays only the appropriate forms, permissions,
and system behavior at the field level and for
workflows to minimize clerical errors and
streamline purchasing for each line of business.
As a built-in capability available with SAP Ariba
Buying and SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing, it
delivers instant value. Use existing catalogs and
approval flows to direct your employees to the right
items, the right policies, and preferred suppliers

procurement requests within contractual and within your supply chain and Ariba Network.

Increase compliant spend. Provide

automated buying-channel guidance.
8 / 9
 SAP Solution Brief Objectives
Summary
The guided buying capability for SAP® Ariba®
Procurement solutions provides a smart, intuitive
shopping experience and guides employees to
preferred buying channels, processes, and policies.
As a result, employees have one place to search
for goods and services, collaborate with suppliers,
and quickly make compliant purchases with little to
no involvement from procurement departments.
Objectives
• Improved visibility and savings across diverse
ERP landscapes
• Better compliance with procurement policies
• Enhanced user experiences
• Scalable trading partner collaboration through
many different channels
© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.
• Improved end-user adoption
Solution Benefits Quick Facts
Solution
• Integration with the SAP Ariba Buying or
SAP Ariba Buying and Invoicing solutions,
SAPS/4HANA®, ERP, and other procurement tools
• Persona-based user experience
• Intuitive interface to search and buy goods
and services
• Built-in compliance with procurement policies
• Quick access to preferred suppliers
• Forms builder to guide users through complex
purchases
Benefits
• Increased user adoption
• Simplified procurement operations
• Enhanced user experience and change
management
• Enforced compliance and improved cost savings
• Better collaboration and supplier management
Learn more
To find out more, call your SAP representative
today or visit us online.
9 / 9
Follow us

www.sap.com/contactsap

Studio SAP | 71373enUS (20/10)

© 2020 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the
express permission of SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company.

The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice. Some software products marketed
by SAP SE and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. National
product specifications may vary.

These materials are provided by SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company for informational purposes only, without
representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP or its affiliated companies shall not be liable for errors or
omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP or SAP affiliate company products and
services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and
services, if any. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.

In particular, SAP SE or its affiliated companies have no obligation to pursue any course of business outlined in
this document or any related presentation, or to develop or release any functionality mentioned therein. This
document, or any related presentation, and SAP SE’s or its affiliated companies’ strategy and possible future
developments, products, and/or platforms, directions, and functionality are all subject to change and may be
changed by SAP SE or its affiliated companies at any time for any reason without notice. The information in this
document is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality.
All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, and they should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions.

SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks
or registered trademarks of SAP SE (or an SAP affiliate company) in Germany and other countries. All other
product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

See www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.