E-procurement (electronic procurement, sometimes also known as supplier exchange) is the business-to-business or business-to-consumer or Business-to-government purchase and sale of supplies, Work and services through the Internet as well as other information and networking systems, i.e. E-Procurement is the purchasing of goods & services using the Internet. It Covers full life cycle of purchasing (indent to receipt of goods) Connects buyers and suppliers through electronic exchange of Tenders, catalogs, contracts, POs, invoices etc

Typically, e-procurement Web sites allow qualified and registered users to look for buyers or sellers of goods and services. Depending on the approach, buyers or sellers may specify costs or invite bids.

There are many types of e-Procurement softwares, and once such type is E-Tendering. E-tendering is, sending requests for information and prices to suppliers and receiving the responses of suppliers using Internet technology, i.e. E-Tendering is carrying out the traditional tendering process in an electronic form, using the internet. The Tender Management Software helps both the buyers and the suppliers to reduce the cycle time, unnecessary paper work, waiting in long queues and simultaneously maintain the transparency in the entire process.

Purchases need to adhere to company policies and country laws. Purchases need to actually add value. That’s where strategies become critical in procurement. A company needs to have control over spending and get best deals.

E-Procurement allows such controls to be in place. It’s basically some relatively high-end software program that helps processes of buying be more organized and uniform.

In goods procurement, indent generation activity is done online. The end result of the stage is taken as inputs for issuing the NIT. In works procurement, administrative approval and technical sanction are obtained in electronic format.