The Swedish market and all its elements are tough. The Swedish prefer comfort and trust in supplier relationships and need physical evidence of new products and new suppliers to start a relationship. The emergency medical supply market is dominated by different public and private authorities, much of whom the county council purchases for. Private businesses have a simple yet straight forward method of purchasing in comparison to the public sector where purchasing is complex and the process long.

The objective of this research was to study this purchasing process more closely, how the process works, where the products are purchased from and with what criteria. All these questions aid the commissioning company to determine if there is an opportunity underlying in the seemingly tough market of Sweden.

The research was conducted by interviewing representatives from different sectors of the emergency medical supply business. These representatives were head of purchasing or company owners, people who could give exactly the information required. The data for the research was collected via telephone interview.

The results show an opportunity for the commissioning company, but a long road to success lies ahead. Swedish companies working in the business in question, tend to rely on long-term business relationships and determine that their customers initiate purchasing emergency medical supplies. For the public sector, a tendering process determines where the products are purchased. Due to the companies in the business being small to medium size, purchasing authority lies mostly on a singular person or in the case of a public entity, on multiple persons.

In conclusion, this research presents in depth information about the emergency medical supply market in Sweden and the public vs. private procedure to purchasing. The information is exact to the business, but can also be used to understand purchasing procedures in general. For the commissioning company, this study provides valuable information about companies of interest and help determine a strategy to penetrate the market.