Dollar Tree delivers $125 million in supported savings through smarter renewals

The challenge

Limited visibility and low influence

Before its transformation, Dollar Tree’s procurement team was stuck in reactive mode. With no standard intake process, manual requests, and limited visibility into the company’s $5B+ in non-product (NFR) spend, procurement struggled to engage early or demonstrate value.

Only 13% of spend was under influence, and the team often had to chase down stakeholders just to identify sourcing opportunities. The procurement function was viewed more as a policy enforcer than a strategic partner. 

When Brad Pittman joined as VP of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement in 2023, he knew that transformation was the only way forward.

“Our top priorities were: unlocking optimal value for the business, enabling the team to deliver that value over the long term, and aligning tightly with executive leadership,” he said.

The solution

The transformative power of orchestration

To achieve his vision, Dollar Tree needed a single, user-friendly front door for procurement. One that guided employees through compliant, policy-aligned requests while giving sourcing the visibility and control to focus on high-impact work.

“We knew intake and orchestration were key to solving our engagement problem. Zip was the market leader and best technology partner to help us achieve our goals,” shared Brad Pittman, VP of Strategic Sourcing and Procurement at Dollar Tree.

The team partnered with Zip to build a better intake experience from the ground up. That meant collaborating across functions to map out workflows, identify gaps, and co-design a process that worked for everyone.

“The best part was engaging internal stakeholders and understanding the gaps in their processes. That helped us align with our own gaps and build a better workflow with the Zip team,” said Kris Aksteter, Director of Procurement & Strategic Sourcing at Dollar Tree

The result

Procurement gets a seat at the table

With Zip in place, intake became a foundation for influence. Procurement is looped in early, with clear visibility and stronger cross-functional alignment.

“So many people have come to me and said, ‘This is so much easier. I finally understand where we’re at in the process and how long it’ll take to finish,” said Kris.

Cycle times have dropped by 70 percent. Procurement now influences over 40 percent of non-product spend, up from just 13 percent. The team has launched more than 100 strategic initiatives and delivered $125 million in supported savings through smarter renewals.

As Kris put it, “Zip has allowed for almost a complete transformation of our processes and policies in strategic sourcing and procurement. It has opened doors for other innovative options and we're so excited about where we're headed. With Zip, the sky's the limit.”