Australian businesses are spending around $257,000 a year on managing procurement processes, consumed by manual approvals, fragmented supplier networks and administrative overheads, according to new research.
The study, conducted by Lonergan Research and commissioned by Amazon Business, surveyed 1,000 Australian business leaders and paints a picture of procurement functions that are still heavily burdened.
Almost three-quarters of respondents (70 percent) said they believe manual approval workflows delay important purchases, while nearly two-thirds (65 percent) said their organisations overpay because spending is spread across fragmented supplier networks.
Despite widespread digital transformation across the Australian business landscape, almost one in five organisations (19 percent) said they still rely on manual systems like paper forms and spreadsheets to manage procurement activities.
A separate global study by DocuSign and Deloitte, drawing on feedback from more than 1,400 business leaders across 14 countries including Australia, reinforces this broader pattern.
It found that manual and fragmented processes cost the global economy more than AU$3.13 trillion in lost productivity each year, and that while three-quarters (75 percent) of organisations claim advanced capability in routing, editing and approval workflows, fewer than 40 percent report any meaningful performance benefit.
The Lonergan research was released as Amazon Business marks its first anniversary in Australia.
According to Amazon Business, tens of thousands of Australian organisations have adopted the platform over the past year, generating average quarter-on-quarter order growth of more than 50 percent.
Product selection has expanded ninefold since launch, with orders increasing by 155 percent during the second half of its inaugural year compared with the first six months.
The most popular purchasing categories include technology and electronics, office products, and cleaning and industrial supplies.
Amazon attributes much of this momentum to organisations looking to consolidate purchasing through a single platform, reduce administrative effort and access business pricing, quantity discounts and faster delivery options.
Looking ahead, the company says it plans to introduce AI-powered tools to further automate procurement tasks.
