Esourcing helps confectioner buy everything from hazelnuts to diesel

High street confectioner Thorntons has engaged Wax Digital to deliver a series of managed reverse auctions to help drive best value in the sourcing of a wide range of goods and services.

A recent event for the supply, installation, maintenance and servicing of air conditioning equipment in 200 Thorntons stores across the UK resulted in a six-figure saving for the business.

Thorntons had already identified a number of suitable suppliers and carried out a traditional paper and telephone based series of individual negotiations with them, resulting in a best and final price that became the benchmark for the sourcing event.

By subsequently taking the contract to auction Thorntons was able to deliver a further 15% saving over and above this benchmark figure, negotiated through traditional procurement methods.

"Working with Wax Digital has been very successful in helping us realise better value from our sourcing activities, ultimately delivering significant cost savings for Thorntons," said Caroline Simpson, Senior Buyer at Thorntons.

"We are a small team here, so a managed service that delivers both sourcing expertise and technology really works for us."

Wax Digital has since advised on and managed sourcing events for Thorntons that cover spend categories as diverse as diesel and hazelnuts - in every case delivering significant return on investment.