Collaborative buying opportunities are high on the agenda of U.K.-based retailer Carphone Warehouse, says Graham Stapleton, group managing director of procurement and purchasing. Initially the group will look at teaming up with the U.S. retailer Best Buy, with whom it already has a joint venture. And the idea could be expanded to other non-competitive companies.
"You have to be very careful who you pick to collaborate with, so for us it would be businesses we already have a joint venture with, such as Best Buy, or have had relationships with for a very long time, such as Nokia, Motorola or Sony," says Stapleton.
He added that the group was already beginning to collaborate with Best Buy on the goods-for-resale side, and there were opportunities on the indirect spend.
"I can't see why they wouldn't want to do it."
And although he said it was too early to talk about scale and volume, Stapleton is convinced of the benefits. "Even if we just did Best Buy this year and collaborated on their spend, it's going to unlock enormous potential."
Source: Supply Management, http://www.supplymanagement.com