Answering questions about transformation in purchasing and supply chain management in the April issue of Harvard Business Review Turkey, our Director of Digital Transformation and Information Technologies, Ozan Ünay, stressed that the transition to digital tools that had already started in supply chain and purchasing management had increased due to the pandemic, and this increase could be seen from the positive change in demand for digital platforms offered by Zer.
Stating that our strategic purchasing solution Promena and online order management system ZerOnline experienced a huge increase in new customer demands in this period, Ünay said that users had been created for more than 400 companies in a short time on ZerOnline, which we had launched in the first half of 2020, and our online catalog had been brought into use in categories demanded by customers after signing supplier agreements.
Sharing the user experience behind ZerOnline in the interview, Ünay explained ZerOnline as follows: “ZerOnline is essentially a digital version of Zer in indirect material purchases. A giant digital catalog that brings together 400 thousand different kinds of products in 80 subcategories from food to cleaning materials, office supplies to work clothes. At ZerOnline, the product catalog that we created for every company's needs met with advantageous prices specifically set for bulk purchases and with the opportunity to do business with different suppliers, and we designed it with the end-to-end order management experience in mind. ZerOnline determines in which categories users can order with special permissions for each user. Thanks to the integration into supply chain management systems such as SAP and ERP, users can track their orders with internal approval and external approval features, and with the option of cost center on internal department basis, they can also track the order in any breakdown in their systems.”
In addition to all these features, Ünay also stated that ZerOnline had user-friendly features to facilitate product selection and companies were also offered facilities such as comparing products, creating different product lists, ordering, tracking invoices and shipments, managing open accounts, or paying by credit card.
Emphasizing that ZerOnline has about 70 percent share in our turnover of all our digital solutions in 2020, Ünay highlighted that both our technological capabilities and our strong expertise are effective in ZerOnline's rapid rise to prominence and said, “Zer is the first company in Turkey in purchasing and supply chain management. We offer services in indirect materials, logistics, services, and media purchases with a unique business model of 17 years, and we have significant knowledge and expertise in these areas. Our experience in all sectors in which we operate and our extensive supplier network enable our customers to safely transfer indirect purchasing and logistics processes to Zer. In line with Zer's goals of ensuring efficiency, effective cost management, and effective resource utilization, which provide the basis of its foundation, we also allow companies to win when buying through our digital platforms.”
