Sunnyvale, CA — May 5, 2003 — Best Buy is expanding its relationship with solution provider Ariba as the big box electronics retailer broadens its spend management initiative to tackle its services spend.
The initiative, dubbed "Book It, Buy It, Expense It," is intended to let Best Buy manage purchases for its headquarters, retail stores and distribution and service centers with Ariba Buyer and to track and reimburse expenses with Ariba Travel & Expense.
Ariba said that Best Buy, an Ariba customer since December 2000, has worked with the solution provider to build a centralized process for managing operational spend, tracking and reconciling expenses and managing supplier relationships across the company.
To date, Best Buy has deployed the Buyer and Travel & Expense solutions to more than 80,500 employees, transacting upwards of 12,000 expense reports per quarter. The retailer has deployed Buyer to more than 400 Best Buy outlets, with stores and corporate users transacting approximately 15,000 purchase orders per month. This rate is expected to increase as Best Buy seeks to capture its all its contract-driven spend, including services.
Additionally, Best Buy has upgraded to the latest version of Buyer and added Ariba's Contracts and Invoice solutions. Ariba will provide consulting and implementation expertise for the solutions.
Ariba said that its solutions would allow Best Buy to broaden the "Buy It" phase of its initiative to include all services and other non-merchandise spend, including items such as information technology, capital, loss prevention, print and facilities maintenance.
"Our ... program, based on Ariba technology, is an important step in increasing the efficiency of our organization, by lowering our overall operating expenses and managing our spending as we maintain our growth," said Mike Norona, vice president of finance for Best Buy. "The Ariba implementation has positioned us to maintain and build on our record of success in this area."
"Best Buy is an excellent example of a company that is embracing spend management as a critical competency," said Michael Schmitt, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Ariba. "The [retailer's] program isn't just a sourcing or procurement tool for the purchasing department; it is a strategic means to help the company gain visibility and control over its spend."
