If you run or manage a distribution business, you’ve probably felt this: your purchasing and procurement work keeps getting heavier, but your team isn’t growing fast enough to keep up.
Suppliers want faster POs. Customers want more reliability. Your margins are thin. And your buyers are spending more time chasing emails and updating spreadsheets than actually managing suppliers or finding savings.
That’s usually when people start asking: Should we outsource this?
The Moment It Becomes a Real Option
Most distributors hit a wall at some point. It’s not always dramatic, it just starts showing up in the numbers and the late nights. You might notice:
- PO processing takes days instead of hours.
- Buyers are stuck doing clerical work instead of value work.
- Supplier follow-ups slip through the cracks.
- Order accuracy drops when things get busy.
At that point, adding one more person internally doesn’t fix it — it just adds cost. What actually helps is tightening the process itself. That’s where purchasing outsourcing or procurement outsourcing starts to make sense.
How It Actually Works
When distributors outsource purchasing, they usually start with the repetitive stuff, entering POs, confirming delivery dates, resolving invoice mismatches, checking reorder points.
A purchasing BPO team handles that daily load so your internal people can focus on buying smarter, not just faster.
Once that’s running smoothly, the next layer is procurement BPO, the strategic side. That includes sourcing new suppliers, managing bids and RFQs, negotiating pricing, and tracking supplier performance.
In other words, purchasing BPO keeps the machine running, and procurement BPO helps you make the machine better.
Why Distributors Choose to Outsource
The main reasons are almost always the same:
- Capacity. You’ve outgrown your current team but don’t want to add headcount.
- Scalability. Seasonal swings make it hard to plan staffing.
- Cost. You’re losing margin to inefficiency and labor overhead.
- Expertise. Your team is great at buying, but not at building process or supplier analytics.
When done right, supply chain outsourcing gives you both bandwidth and capability, without the extra payroll.
What to Look For in a Partner
The right outsourcing partner should feel like an extension of your operations, not a call center. They should understand your systems (ERP, WMS, accounting), know how distributors work, and be flexible enough to adapt to your processes.
That’s how we’ve built our model at GlobalityNet. Our teams work behind the scenes to keep your supply chain moving, from purchase order management to supplier onboarding and contract tracking. We focus on the small things that make a big difference: shorter lead times, fewer errors, and cleaner reporting.
When It’s Too Early and When It’s Too Late
If you’re still building your basic processes or don’t have clear order or supplier data, it might be too soon to outsource. You’ll end up training the BPO partner on problems you haven’t solved internally.
But if you already have structure — and your biggest challenge is keeping up, then you’re probably right on time. Waiting too long usually means you’re stuck in “catch-up mode” while your competitors are scaling smarter.
The Bottom Line
Outsourcing isn’t about giving up control, it’s about freeing up time for your team to focus on what actually grows the business.
When distributors partner with the right purchasing BPO or procurement BPO provider, they get consistency, visibility, and breathing room — all while keeping costs predictable.
At GlobalityNet, we help distributors and wholesalers get there. If you’re starting to feel the cracks in your purchasing and procurement process, it might be time to see what outsourcing could look like for you.
Let’s talk about it → Schedule a Call with us!
