Purchasing co-op partners with SaaS procurement provider

Coupa Software, a provider of on-demand e-procurement services, announced today a partnership with US Communities Government Purchasing Alliance. The marketing partnership will make US Community contracts available through Coupa’s e-procurement platform to take advantage of competitive pricing and integrated processes.

US Communities is a nonprofit, nationwide purchasing cooperative designed to be a procurement resource for state and local government agencies, school districts, high education and other nonprofits. More than 37,000 public agencies utilize U.S. Communities contracts and suppliers to procure more that 1.4 billion dollars in products and services annually. Companies who partner with US Communities include a range of companies who specialize in categories ranging from office and school supplies, homeland security and public safety, and technology products. Highlighted brands include Office Depot, Hertz Rental, GTSI, among others.

“[W]ith Coupa e-Procurement, agencies have the ability to easily take advantage of U.S. Communities contracts and automate the end-to-end procurement process through Coupa’s intuitive, SaaS solution,” Chris Mellis, Director at US Communities said in a statement.

The Coupa partnership is designed to benefit both buyers and suppliers by enabling them to save through contract pricing, reduce overhead costs through more efficient invoice processing and build long-term satisfaction through improved relationships, according to Coupa Software CEO Rob Bernshteyn.

“In these tough economic times, where public agencies are seeing their funding diminish, it is becoming increasingly important to effectively control spend,” Mr. Bernshteyn said in a statement. “By partnering with U.S. Communities, public agencies will have the opportunity to easily connect and work with suppliers through a fully integrated, single solution.”

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