We also expect further erosion of the ranking of price (the number one vendor selection criterion in the research prior to ours) in future research on the supplier selection problem. Purchasing via the Internet has transformed the processes of buying, selling, and supplier selection. For commodity markets, including high-tech parts and products, electronic auctioning is not only challenging price, but also inducing a profound change in the way purchasing managers work with suppliers. Transparent and rigorously-defined criteria in an electronic auction open up established sourcing relationships to determined, underdog suppliers, and lead to pricing bandwidths heretofore unthinkable in conventional negotiation processes. Because such price reductions in supplies is ultimately passed to customers, eProcurement will drive competitiveness throughout the global supply chain allowing factors other than price to assume greater importance in the supplier selection problem.