In the clamour to make more profit, most businesses quite rightly concentrate on making more sales. But one area that shouldn't be overlooked is the use of buying and cost cutting. For many businesses, a 1% cut in costs can have the same impact on profits as a 10% increase in sales. .
This report which was commissioned by Neil Jenkins, the founder of, Blossoms Garden Centres, is designed to help you appreciate how effective buying can lower your costs, giving you a greater understanding of the buyer's role and how you can make better buying decisions.
2.0 Current supplier relationships.
"A relationship is inter alia defined as a connection or association'.
(Lysons and Gillingham, pg372).
Relationships can form from individuals; organisations and groups within an organisation interact. Supplier relations are a major key in achieving mutual benefits, added value or competitive advantages for both the supplier and the buyer. Without an established cost effective supplier relationship the optimum maximum profit will not be achieved, as is the case of Blossoms Garden Centre.
Blossoms Garden Centres are a company, which have been trading since 1991. They have four similar sized Garden Centres, in the South and Mid Wales region. The profits achieved by the company are determined and driven from a cost effective purchasing procedure. From the research that has been gathered in the case study, it can be acknowledged that Blossoms Garden Centres Supplier-Buyer relationships aren't the most cost effective for a company of their size. They are currently seen as transactional buyers. Currently, there are a number of glitches' in the present purchasing procedures. Blossoms have no Purchasing Department nor buyers which indicates, straight away that their purchasing techniques are not cost efficient, neither are they establishing good communications with their suppliers, as this can be proven in the quality of the goods supplied compared to the sample submitted by the suppliers.