Spend is getting out of control. Invoices are piling up. Basic questions like “What did we spend on boxes last month?” can’t be answered. You know you’ve got to do something about it. But you don’t have time. This is manual grunt work. It’s not the job of a finance or ops leader. Most companies in this situation default to the obvious solution: hire a buyer. But adding headcount just delays the inevitable and builds even more complexity into your process. You’ll add payroll cost, layer in approvals, and still be left with patchwork systems that can’t scale. Before you post that job description, here are five faster, lower-cost steps that can give you control of spend without hiring a buyer. 1. Put an Approval System in Place Most spend chaos comes from decentralized decisions. Facility managers, supervisors, and ops leads order what they need, when they need it – without finance visibility. Even a lightweight approval step (email, Teams, Slack) creates a checkpoint that stops rogue purchases before they hit the books. 2. Give Teams a Simple Menu of Preferred Options Ops doesn’t wake up excited to shop vendors. They just want what they need, fast. Instead of letting every site reinvent the wheel, build a short “menu” of approved vendors, SKUs, or categories. This makes it easier for ops to order consistently – and for finance to manage spend. 3. Centralize the Intake Scattered emails, texts, and phone calls are the enemy of visibility. Create a single intake path – whether that’s a shared inbox, form, or (better yet) chat-based system. When requests come through one channel, it’s much easier to track, code, and approve spend. 4. Automate the Paperwork GL coding, invoice matching, and reconciling POs to payments is tedious work – and it’s exactly what eats up the time of a buyer or AP clerk. If you can automate even part of this process, you free up hours per week while improving accuracy. 5. Leverage a "Digital Procurement Officer" This is where many companies stop – they add a buyer, set up a procurement tool, and hope ops will use it. But the truth is: most procurement tools fail because they require habit change. Your ops team doesn’t want to learn a new portal. That’s why we built Response – a Digital Procurement Officer that meets your team where they already work (email, Teams, Slack, and even text). Instead of hiring, Response becomes your buyer: Building orders Routing approvals Coding spend to GL accounts Placing the order Reconciling invoices and syncing to your ERP Finance gets control, visibility, and compliance. Ops doesn’t have to change a thing. The Bottom Line Hiring a buyer adds cost and complexity. But before you make that hire, you can put systems in place that give you control today – and scale with you tomorrow. With Response, you get the outcomes of a procurement team, without adding headcount. 👉 Thinking about hiring? Talk to us first.

We’re thrilled to announce that Response has raised $4M in seed funding, with support from Y Combinator, Twenty Two Ventures, and strategic angel investors from Flexport, Anduril, Ramp, Scale AI, and more. With $4.3M in total funding to date, we’re doubling down on building proactive “spend insights” to monitor spending, uncover savings opportunities, and power workflows that automate the entire ordering process—from start to finish. Why indirect spend is a hidden profit killer Indirect spend—everyday business expenses like packaging, maintenance supplies, and office essentials—quietly eats away at company margins when left unmanaged. While it typically consumes 10-15% of revenue, many businesses rely on manual processes like spreadsheets and corporate cards to manage it. This lack of structure leads to: Lack of visibility: Teams don’t know who’s buying what, where, and at what price. Wasted money: Fragmented purchases weaken negotiating power, driving up costs. Wasted time: Disjointed workflows and approval processes keep employees stuck in low-value tasks. For too long, indirect spend has flown under the radar. We built Response to change that. The platform Unlike traditional procurement platforms, Response integrates with nearly 100 top industrial vendors for real-time pricing and direct ordering—without clunky “punchouts.” For vendors outside our network, purchase order management lets teams order globally while maintaining full control of spend. Admins gain simple yet powerful tools to set product and spending limits by department, location, or seniority. For their teams, it’s as easy as online shopping—with built-in guardrails to prevent overspending. What we’ve built so far: Real-time SKU-level visibility: Know exactly what’s being purchased, by whom, and at what cost. Purchase controls: Set spend limits, enforce pre-approved product lists, and streamline approval processes. Multi-vendor checkout: Purchase from nearly 100 top industrial vendors with 1-click integrations—no clunky "punchouts." Consolidate orders and manage POs seamlessly. Personalized storefronts: Control product access by department and location, ensuring teams buy what they need, when they need it, within budget. Results Our customers have achieved: Up to 91.6% faster ordering. No delays, no wasted time. Up to 13.2% cost savings. No waste, no overspending. As low as <1% rogue spend. No off-the-books purchases, no budget surprises. What our customers are saying: "Response has transformed our procurement process. The time savings alone make it worthwhile, but the real value lies in the visibility and control we now have over our spend. Our managers are more efficient, our accounting team is happier, and we're running a leaner operation overall." — Sterling Westfall, Head of Operations, Nimbl Fulfillment Companies like publicly traded eCommerce aggregator Aterian (NASDAQ: ATER) and logistics leader Warehouse Specialists Inc. (WSI) trust Response to take the guesswork out of indirect spend—and the results speak for themselves. If you want to see Response in action, watch our platform overview or book a demo. What's next? Our vision is to create the world’s first digital procurement officer—starting with indirect spend. Customers don’t need more software—they need real solutions. They want the busywork of ordering and the guesswork of negotiation off their plates, and that’s exactly where we come in. We’re doubling down on "spend insights" to continuously monitor spending and uncover savings, while developing workflows to automate the entire ordering process—from start to finish. Thank you A huge thank you to our customers, investors, and team for making this possible. The time to take control of unmanaged spend is now. Don’t miss out. Keivan, Kais, and the Response team Ready to stop the waste, stay on budget, and start saving? Book a demo.

Introduction Name: Nimbl Fulfillment Industry: Fulfillment & Logistics Headquarters: Salt Lake City, Utah Key Stakeholder: Sterling Westfall, Head of Operations "Response has transformed our procurement process. The time savings alone make it worthwhile, but the real value lies in the visibility and control we now have over our spend. Our managers are more efficient, our accounting team is happier, and we're running a leaner operation overall." — Sterling Westfall, Head of Operations, Nimbl Fulfillment Nimbl Fulfillment, a fast-growing fulfillment and logistics provider, faced challenges typical of many mid-sized logistics companies. With a wide array of vendors, decentralized procurement, and manual processes, inefficiencies were holding them back. Enter Response, a centralized procurement platform that streamlined indirect spend management and brought visibility, control, and automation to Nimbl's operations. Results "Before implementing Response, it took about two full days (16 hours) per month for accounting to reconcile and categorize everything manually. Now, with Response, it takes only 30 minutes to an hour." — Sterling Westfall, Head of Operations, Nimbl Fulfillment Nimbl Fulfillment experienced measurable improvements in efficiency, cost management, and team morale after implementing Response: Significant Time Savings Procurement became dramatically more efficient, with managers reducing time spent on orders from 1 hour to just 10 minutes per session, saving 50 minutes every other week per manager. On the accounting side, reconciliation time dropped from 16 hours a month to under 1 hour, freeing up valuable labor hours for higher-priority tasks. Enhanced Budget Control Real-time visibility into departmental budgets allowed managers to proactively manage their spend. As a result, rogue spending decreased from 50% to less than 1%, with nearly all procurement now centralized and tracked through Response. Improved Operational Efficiency The streamlined procurement process eliminated the need for managers to over-order supplies, leading to a 30-50% reduction in inventory overstocking. This shift not only reduced waste but also freed up cash flow by aligning orders with immediate business needs. Boosted Team Morale By giving teams autonomy to make procurement decisions within set guardrails, Response fostered trust and improved efficiency. Accounting staff also benefited from simplified workflows, eliminating time-consuming and tedious manual processes. These results showcase how Response empowered Nimbl Fulfillment to save time, cut costs, and improve operations at every level. The Challenges Fragmented Vendor Management With dozens of vendors to manage, each requiring separate logins and unique processes, procurement was both disjointed and time-consuming. The team relied on manual orders and reconciliations, adding hours of unnecessary labor to their workloads. Limited Visibility into Spend Budgets were tracked manually using spreadsheets, a method prone to errors and inconsistencies. Managers often operated in the dark, lacking real-time insights into departmental budgets, which led to frequent overspending and financial mismanagement. Inefficiencies in Approval Processes Procurement workflows were cumbersome, involving multiple manual approvals that lacked enforcement to prevent rogue purchases. Accounting teams spent the equivalent of 2 business days each month manually reconciling invoices and categorizing expenses. Additionally, bi-weekly orders took each manager over an hour to complete, significantly impacting productivity. These inefficiencies highlighted the urgent need for a streamlined and automated solution—a gap that Response was perfectly positioned to fill. The Solution To tackle their procurement challenges, Nimbl Fulfillment implemented Response, a platform designed to centralize and streamline operations. Here’s how it addressed their pain points: Centralized Procurement Response provided a single platform to manage all vendor relationships and purchases, eliminating the need for multiple logins and processes. Enhanced Budget Visibility With real-time insights into departmental spend, managers could proactively monitor budgets, reducing the risk of overspending. Automation Response simplified workflows by automating approvals, order placements, and invoicing, saving significant time for both operations and accounting teams. SKU-Level Insights The platform introduced detailed tracking of purchased items, enabling better inventory management and improved spend visibility. By consolidating these capabilities into one user-friendly platform, Response empowered Nimbl to save time, reduce inefficiencies, and take full control of their indirect spend. Implementation and Adoption "The implementation process was fairly quick. We basically just provided all of our different vendors and within a day or so they were all set up. And then we were testing it fairly quick after that and you could immediately see the time saved from each of the different users." — Sterling Westfall, Head of Operations, Nimbl Fulfillment Implementing Response was a smooth and efficient process for Nimbl Fulfillment: Seamless Onboarding With Nimbl’s vendor list in hand, Response set up all accounts in less than a day, ensuring a quick transition. Immediate Impact Managers experienced an 83% reduction in procurement time, cutting the process from 1 hour to under 10 minutes. Minimal Disruption Thanks to Response’s intuitive platform, teams were operational almost immediately after a brief training session. This seamless adoption allowed Nimbl to see the benefits of Response right away without interrupting day-to-day operations. Unexpected Benefits "Ordering was such a hassle before Response, managers were ordering anywhere from 30 to 50% extra just because they didn't want to order as frequently." — Sterling Westfall, Head of Operations, Nimbl Fulfillment Although Nimbl Fulfillment adopted Response primarily for its procurement capabilities, the platform delivered unexpected advantages that extended beyond its core functionalities: Lean Inventory Management By reducing overstocking, Response improved cash flow and enhanced budget accuracy, helping Nimbl run a leaner, more efficient operation. Scalability The centralized procurement system provided a solid foundation for growth, enabling Nimbl to scale operations without a corresponding increase in overhead or complexity. Future Insights Nimbl plans to tap into Response’s robust data analytics for vendor consolidation and pricing negotiations, unlocking new opportunities for cost savings and procurement optimization. These additional benefits demonstrate how Response continues to deliver value beyond expectations, empowering Nimbl to optimize operations while preparing for future growth. Why Nimbl Recommends Response Nimbl Fulfillment found Response to be an indispensable tool for streamlining procurement and driving operational efficiency. Here’s why: Efficiency Gains The platform delivered immediate time savings across both operations and finance teams, dramatically reducing manual workloads and freeing up resources. Scalability Response’s centralized system was designed to grow alongside Nimbl, ensuring the business could scale seamlessly without additional complexity. Control & Visibility With real-time budget insights, Response empowered managers to make informed decisions, eliminating guesswork and enabling proactive spend management. For Nimbl, Response was more than just a procurement solution—it became a vital tool for improving efficiency, control, and scalability across the organization. Conclusion For Nimbl Fulfillment, Response has been a game-changer, streamlining procurement, improving budget management, and saving countless hours of labor. By centralizing their procurement operations, Nimbl is poised to scale efficiently while maintaining control over their indirect spend. Interested in transforming your procurement process? Book a demo today to learn more.