Profiles in Purchasing: Retailer chooses phones, cameras, and more

Eric Murfitt is the Office Manager at Mercantile, a locally-owned women's apparel retailer in Portland, Oregon. Recently, he was tasked with making a few major purchasing decisions as part of an upcoming move: a new phone system to replace their 20-year-old equipment, security cameras, and a commercial stereo system. Simple, right?

Only one catch: "I've never bought a phone system, or a video camera, or a commercial stereo," says Murfitt. "I wouldn't even know where to start looking for those vendors."

He started in a logical place – the local phone book — and was able to get a couple of bids in. But even though he wasn't an expert in these purchases, he felt like the bids he was getting were too expensive.

"So, at the 11th hour, I thought I'd try something else, see if I could find something better." After coming across a BuyerZone ad online, he submitted requests for quotes for a phone system and video surveillance equipment, and if we had offered commercial stereos as a purchasing category, he would have tried that, too.

Within a day, he had heard from 4 or 5 different suppliers with competitive bids. "The great thing, for me, is that it does all the searching," he reports. "It was a no-brainer: super easy to submit the quote request."

Big savings from BuyerZone vendors
After comparing all the price quotes, Murfitt chose Techscaler, a BuyerZone supplier, for his security cameras. The original bid he had received for the system was over $9,000, but Techscaler took the job for about $4,800. Techscaler was also able to provide the commercial stereo system Mercantile was looking for.

Price wasn't the only selling point, however. "The BuyerZone vendor listened to my needs better than the previous bids," says Murfitt. When comparing all of his responses, he found that the BuyerZone suppliers "weren't just less expensive, they were quality vendors."

For his new phone system, Murfitt decided to turn to his existing phone service provider, instead of a BuyerZone vendor. However, getting bids from the BuyerZone suppliers did help him confirm what type of phone system was right for his business and what prices to expect. Our Phone Systems Buyer's Guide even helped him understand what to look for in a dealer.

Now, when Mercantile moves to its new location, they'll have a high-quality video security system, commercial-grade stereo, and a modern phone system. Thanks to BuyerZone, they got it all at a good price and with a minimum of searching for vendors.

Have a compelling story about how BuyerZone helped your business? Send us an email at content@buyerzone.com with a brief description, and we may feature you in an upcoming issue of The Real Deal.

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