PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
For small business owners, procurement rarely feels like a growth lever. More often it’ s a daily grind of chasing suppliers, comparing prices and scrambling to replace whatever’ s just run out. Yet as buyer expectations shift towards the speed and transparency people have come to expect from consumer shopping, that grind is quietly costing businesses far more than they realise.
Ashley Hubka, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Walmart Business, has spent her career helping companies close that gap. Overseeing the retailer’ s eCommerce platform for SMBs and nonprofits, she has watched routine buying evolve from a background task into a genuine drag on productivity, with many owners losing entire days each week to purchasing admin alone.
Speaking to Procurement Magazine, Ashley unpacks what“ grocery friction” really means for business owners, why juggling multiple vendors erodes far more than time and how a single platform can serve businesses as different as restaurants, construction firms and childcare centres.
Q. WHAT DO SMALL BUSINESS BUYERS EXPECT TODAY THAT THEY DIDN’ T A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, AND WHY ARE TRADITIONAL SUPPLIERS STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP?
» Small business buyers now expect the same speed, convenience and transparency they experience
“ It’ s not just about making purchasing more efficient. It’ s about giving business owners back time, which is the one resource they can never make more of”
Ashley Hubka Senior Vice President and General Manager Walmart Business
in their everyday shopping. They want to find what they need quickly, compare options, understand costs upfront and place orders with confidence.
At the same time, their business needs have become more complex. They may need flexible order quantities, faster delivery and tools that help them manage spending across multiple employees or locations. As a result, they’ re looking for suppliers that can simplify purchasing by offering a broad assortment, seamless omnichannel experiences and solutions that help reduce the time spent on routine buying. The easier it is to manage procurement, the more time business owners have to focus on serving customers, developing employees and growing their business.
56 October 2026