Case Study: Large Retail Operating Company achieves rapid supplier discovery and up to 40% cost savings with SAP Ariba (Ariba Discovery)

Speedy Identification of Suppliers and Up to 40 Percent Cost Savings

A large retail operator with more than 500 properties across 40 US states struggled to find suppliers quickly. Its sourcing team relied on a small internal supplier database and slow, time‑intensive internet searches, while a manual invitation process (calls, voicemails, emails) often took days or weeks and made it hard to get timely responses for tight sourcing windows.

Using Ariba Discovery the company began posting RFQs in about five minutes and instantly matched with high‑quality suppliers from a 730,000‑strong network. The platform generated competitive bids—often from up to 30 suppliers including previously unknown vendors—cut supplier identification from weeks to days or hours, improved market knowledge and collaboration, eliminated manual follow‑ups, and delivered product and service offers at up to 40% lower cost.