The term buy side or buy side software is used to denominate software suits for Electronic Commerce on the buyer's side. They usually include electronic product catalogues and purchasing functionality.
Using such a purchasing software has two major advantages:
- The product catalogues can be specified to include data from various suppliers and in this way better supports employees in the product selection and purchasing process.
- Furthermore, business rules (e.g. skeleton contracts, authorisation requirements) and processes for procurement and purchasing can be represented by the system independent from individual suppliers.