How Intergamma streamlined procurement and reclaimed 300+ hours with Deel

Intergamma, the organization behind the DIY retail brands GAMMA and Karwei, supports a network of 370 stores in the Netherlands and Belgium. Its centralized Technology & eCommerce department of 70 people manages technology for 450 headquarters employees across retail operations, e-commerce, data analytics, and business applications. As the number and complexity of SaaS solutions increased, the team saw an opportunity to strengthen its procurement approach with specialist market data and negotiation expertise.

Intergamma didn’t have a dedicated technology procurement function. Technology & eCommerce colleagues managed contract negotiations alongside their core responsibilities. Each negotiation required market research, vendor outreach, and detailed discussions, while reliable benchmarking data wasn’t always readily available. With the SaaS landscape and licensing models becoming more complex, Intergamma chose to complement its internal technology expertise with specialist procurement support and independent market benchmarks.

For Gijs Zijderveld, Director of Technology at Intergamma, the objective was clear: create a more disciplined and scalable procurement process while keeping supplier selection, risk assessment, and final decision-making firmly within Intergamma. The team could then invest the time released in optimizing software, improving applications and data, and strengthening digital services for employees, stores, entrepreneurs, and customers.

“As our SaaS landscape grew, we wanted to add specialist procurement knowledge and reliable benchmarks to our own technology expertise. That gives us a stronger basis for contract decisions and allows our team to spend more time on running and optimizing software for the business.”

—Gijs Zijderveld, Director of Technology, Intergamma

Intergamma started working with Sastrify, now Deel IT Software Management, about three years ago. The combination of benchmarking data and specialist negotiation support complemented Intergamma’s internal capabilities. Deel IT provides market insight and procurement expertise, while Intergamma retains control over supplier selection, governance, risk assessment, and final contract decisions.

Zijderveld and his team use Deel IT Software Management as specialist support for a broad range of negotiations, from smaller tools to complex RFPs with multiple vendors and total-cost-of-ownership comparisons. For smaller deals, this can save two to four hours per negotiation. For complex, multi-vendor situations, the time released can reach 40 hours or more. The marketplace also supports license consolidation and cost control across the software portfolio, within Intergamma’s own procurement and governance framework.

The new way of working gave the team access to specialist support and current market benchmarks throughout the negotiation process. This helps Intergamma assess proposals on a more consistent basis and strengthens control over contract terms and spending. A single point of contact also helps the team manage time-sensitive negotiations without losing ownership of the decision-making process.

“The responsiveness is really good. You respond quickly, dive into the details, and make sure you understand what we’re talking about. And when there’s pressure on a contract deadline, you always make it work for us. Having that single point of contact and knowing the product and marketplace teams are open to feedback—that matters.”

—Gijs Zijderveld, Director of Technology, Intergamma

Intergamma measures the financial impact as seven-figure negotiated value between initial supplier offers and signed contracts, including cost avoidance and improved contract terms. Its internally validated figures confirm this value over the full partnership. The approach also releases roughly 300 hours annually, giving the Technology & eCommerce team more capacity for work that supports the business and its customers.

With specialist support for negotiations and benchmarking, Zijderveld and his team can focus more attention on software adoption, homegrown applications, data, technology strategy, and governance. That work contributes to better digital services for employees, stores, and entrepreneurs, and ultimately to better support for customers of GAMMA and Karwei. As the SaaS landscape continues to evolve, Intergamma remains responsible for supplier choices and contracts, supported by greater visibility into spending, pricing, and license use.

For Intergamma’s leadership, the value is broader than savings alone: a more consistent procurement process, stronger market insight, and more capacity for higher-value technology work. After three years, the model has proven to be a useful complement to Intergamma’s own expertise and governance.

“The value is not only in achieving better contract terms. It is also in preserving substantial working time and giving our team better information for its decisions. That allows us to focus on running and optimizing technology that supports our colleagues, stores, entrepreneurs and customers.”

—Gijs Zijderveld, Director of Technology, Intergamma