The purpose of this paper is to understand the process through which external diffusion of business-to-business (B2B) e-procurement impacts firm performance. The research model has been developed to empirically examine the role of information transparency and supply chain coordination in improving the firm financial performance by external diffusion of e-procurement. Design/methodology/approach The survey is conducted in India with a target population of purchasing professionals working on the B2B e-procurement platform. The measurement model was first tested by using confirmatory factor analysis for reliability and validity, then structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses of the research model using AMOS 22. The phantom model approach has been used for testing multiple mediators. Findings The result of the study highlights the importance of information transparency and supply chain coordination in enhancing the firm financial performance by external diffusion of e-procurement. The results establish the role of information transparency in enhancing firm performance by improving supply chain coordination. The results also indicate that supply chain coordination mediates the relationship between external diffusion of e-procurement and firm financial performance. Originality/value This is the first study that has focused on the external diffusion of e-procurement and its impact on firm performance. Also, this study attempted to understand the process through which external diffusion of e-procurement impacts the firm financial performance.