The act of getting goods or services is called procurement process. This can mean buying raw materials or hiring contractors, among other things. Most of the time, procurement is used for business-to-business transactions. Still, it can also be used in business-to-consumer transactions because companies need to buy materials and services to make products or provide services. Buying usually takes place over a number of steps, from figuring out what needs to be bought to negotiating contracts and finally making the purchase. Buying things can take a lot of time and be hard to understand, so many businesses use software to automate and simplify the process. There are different kinds of buying, such as direct buying, indirect buying, buying goods, and buying services.