(1888PressRelease)
January 19, 2008 - UK businesses unwittingly bought more than double the usual quantity of batteries as staff helped themselves in the run-up to Christmas.
Research from procurement software supplier, OCG, has revealed that sales of batteries peaked during December, a 126 per cent increase on the quantity bought during the previous month. Meanwhile, toys such as the remote control Piczo Z Helicopter and Flytech Dragonfly topped the bestseller lists alongside the Nintendo DS and Wii games consoles.
“I think it’s reasonable to assume that UK businesses, rather than Santa Claus, are footing the bill to power up toys and gadgets bought as Christmas presents,” commented Doug McLean, CEO at OCG. “Swiping the odd biro from the office stationery cupboard isn’t a new phenomenon, but sophisticated online ordering systems used by employees to pilfer more costly items are proving more difficult for the average finance director to keep track of.”
OCG’s research across its client base also revealed a large number of printer cartridge orders for printer models that are not owned by the company placing the order.
“We’ve established that many businesses are buying cartridges for phantom printers, and we’ve even had cameras and iPod orders that employees have asked to be delivered to their home addresses. It does seem likely that these were not destined for business use”, added McLean.
OCG helps businesses to avoid wasting time and money buying commodity products that they don’t need or at inflated prices, by giving the finance and procurement function online visibility of all commodity spend transactions.
