The Purchasing Search: An overview for suppliers

AD team Updated by AD team

The Homepage

When end users access their Purchasing marketplace, they will land on a page similar to the below example.

Please note that this will be branded to the relevant buyer, and may contain different modules to the ones shown below depending on their chosen set-up

Search Methods

This is the most commonly used search method and allows the end user to manually input the search term, catalogue number, or manufacturer part number that they wish, with specific dropdown options available for all three depending on their preferred requirement:

The search shows results in order of relevance. In the first instance, the search will return product matches with the option to see related matches if less than 10,000 product matches are returned. If no product matches are found, then the search will return related matches.

Products are matched principally on:

  • Description
  • Categories and Category Attributes*
  • Alias Fields (e.g. Alias 1)**
  • Supplier Name
  • Manufacturer Name Field

* Categorisation is a chargeable service provided by OneAdvanced

** Populating the Alias 1 field will help users with search results (for example if a product description (i.e. title) is Paper Napkin, you can populate the Alias 1 field with serviettes. This will ensure that if a user searches for 'serviettes' the Paper Napkin product will be included in the results. This field can also be used to include different variations of spellings or alternative names.

There are also additional ‘boosts’ available for Preferred and Categorised products.

Alternative Search options

The following options are available on the Homepage underneath the search bar:

  • Browse by Supplier
  • Browse by Category

Sorting search results

Once search results are returned, end users can choose to sort the results to help them find the product(s) they are looking to purchase.

Results will default to the most relevant, based on the search term used. End users can then choose to sort, ascending or descending, by:

  • Price
  • Product name
  • Supplier
  • Catalogue number
  • Manufacturer part number
Please note that when the end user sorts by a new option, the entire results set will be re-ordered allowing them to refine their results better.

Refining Results

End users have the option to further filter the results by choosing from the below list of refinements. Using one of these options would apply the filter to the entire results set, even if there are more than 10,000 results to the search:

  • Preferred status (i.e. removing any items which do not have status of preferred set to them)
  • With image*
  • Contracted (i.e. removing any items which are not assigned to a local contract or framework, set by the Contract Module on the portal)
  • POA prices can be filtered out (if these are present)
  • Refine or exclude products by keyword
  • Price (By typing a max / min price, or using the slider bar)
  • Category
  • Supplier
  • Pack Size

*OneAdvanced may remove any images from the image 1 field if the image is not a correct representation of the product

Example screenshot showing where a filter has been applied in the search results. The Applied Filters box shows the type of filter(s) that have been used. In this case, a price range of £20 - £26 was used:

How is my pricing displayed?

If an end user wants to see a total price where multiple products are potentially being purchased, the price displayed on the search results page is automatically updated as the quantities are amended.

The unit price and quantity are shown below so that the user can take advantage of any volume-based discounts and price breaks (if applicable).

Minimum order quantities, as well pack sizes, are also displayed in this area of the screen:

Comparing Items

End users are able to directly compare up to four items at any one time in order to make an informed purchase. They can be added from the search results by ticking compare, or from within the product information itself:

When items are added for comparison, they are added to a “holding area” at the top of the page. You can then remove items or add any others before comparing your final list:

The comparison table presents the available data for each product in tabular view, making like-for-like comparison easy.

  • Items can be added to the basket from here
  • Any applicable delivery charges can be viewed from here
  • End users can navigate into the individual products themselves for additional information if required

When the comparison is complete, Purchasing retains the end user’s comparison until they choose to clear them in case the end user wishes to purchase multiple items from the list, or if they navigate away from the screen by accident.

How can I try the search myself?

Our Demo Buyer is available to all Community Members and Leaders, and provides you with the ability to log into a buyer environment and see Purchasing from an end-user’s perspective. This not only allows you to gain a better insight into what the buyers see, but also allows you to search as a buyer and see how the results and some of your own products are displayed.

If you are interested in getting access to the Demo Buyer, please get in touch with the Supplier Accounts Team at sw.supplier.queries@oneadvanced.com.

How did we do?

Supplier: How do my products appear on Purchasing?

Supplier: How do I find out if a product is currently visible to my buyers?

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