Una GPO

09/01/2026

Why do some salespeople dislike the concept of group purchasing? Because they believe a lower direct price should always win the deal.

If a sales rep can beat a GPO’s line-item price on a single invoice, they assume relying on a GPO is just a crutch for lazy buyers. But that mindset completely misreads how modern procurement operates.

💸 Unit discounts don't offset administrative waste. Saving 5% on a one-off purchase isn't a win if it takes 20 hours of internal setup to pull off.

👥 New vendors bring heavy operational friction. Direct deals force your team to restart legal reviews, financial vetting, insurance checks, and system onboarding from scratch.

🚀 Routine sourcing drains finite resources. GPOs handle the administrative heavy lifting on indirect spend so your team can focus on high-value, strategic initiatives.

💰 Total category value beats single-invoice savings. Procurement manages risk, supplier consolidation, and long-term strategy, not just isolated transactions.

Here is a look at why reps struggle to sell against GPOs, and why their pitch often misses the mark 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04w3Mh60

Do you dislike GPOs? Here is a look at why reps struggle to sell against GPOs, and why their pitch often misses the mark.

08/31/2026

Oh, Canada! The latest edition of Una’s The Sidekick just dropped, and it's all about the trouble at our northern border.

U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed last week, triggering 50% tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian goods with no USMCA exemptions and Canadian retaliation landing September 8.

We break down which U.S. sectors are most exposed and what the breakdown reveals about the limits of walking away in any negotiation.

This issue also discusses why the China-plus-one supply chain you built legally in 2018 may now be flagged by an AI system scanning your shipments at the border before they clear customs.

Check it out here 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04vn-7k0

08/27/2026

Lone-wolf procurement teams have a good instinct. Handle it yourself, stay in control, don't outsource what matters 🐺

Potentially, however, lone wolves are missing out on 18-22% cost savings with top suppliers across key indirect categories.

Joining a GPO doesn't mean giving up control. It means a team of sourcing advisors, pre-negotiated contracts already stress-tested by a much bigger membership base, and someone watching pricing and renewals on categories you don't have bandwidth for.

Check out Una’s latest piece debunking the top reasons procurement teams give for going it alone, and what changes once you’re part of a group of peers with $100 billion in buying power 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04v4bXR0

Debunking the top reasons lone-wolf procurement teams give for going it alone, and what changes once you’re part of a $100B GPO.

08/25/2026

Can any procurement strategy beat a GPO for speed and size of savings?

Strategic sourcing, e-auctions, supplier consolidation, and category management maturity all have impressive track records for driving savings.

But none of them start from a contract that's already negotiated.

Our latest article puts the full procurement toolkit head-to-head with a GPO on the two things that matter most when a business needs results: speed and savings.

The verdict isn't as simple as “GPO wins everywhere.” Read the full breakdown of where each strategy earns its place 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04v4cZf0

There are a lot of way successful sourcing happens but can any procurement strategy beat a GPO when it comes to speed and savings?

08/20/2026

The best procurement strategy isn’t built around one tool.

Strategic sourcing, direct negotiations, supplier relationships, technology, and group purchasing all have a role to play.

The question is knowing where each one creates the most value.

For indirect and non-strategic spend, a GPO can take a lot of effort off procurement’s plate from supplier discovery and assessment to negotiation and contract management, while providing access to pre-negotiated, enterprise-level pricing.

That means your team can spend less time sourcing categories that don’t require your deepest expertise and more time on:

🎯 Strategic category management
🤝 High-value supplier relationships
💡 Stakeholder engagement
📈 Team development
🌱 Sustainability and supplier diversity initiatives

A GPO shouldn’t replace your procurement strategy. It should give you more capacity to execute it 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04tcVSQ0

How do GPOs work to save money, time, and effort? Learn how group purchasing organizations can fit into your overall procurement strategy.

08/18/2026

The back-to-school season is here and it might be time for a back-to-basics refresher course on the power of group purchasing 👀

Group purchasing has been around for more than a century, but the model has evolved well beyond simply securing volume discounts. Today, the right GPO can help procurement teams:

💰 Access enterprise-level pricing without enterprise-level spend
⚡ Move faster with pre-negotiated contracts
📊 Improve spend visibility and analytics
🤝 Tap into category and supplier expertise
🔍 Bring more control to overlooked indirect spend
🎯 Free up internal resources for higher-value strategic work

GPOs take some of the heavy lifting out of indirect and non-strategic categories, giving procurement more time to focus on the sourcing decisions and supplier relationships that truly differentiate the business.

Think force multiplier, not substitute.

Here's everything businesses need to know about how GPOs work, where they deliver value, and what to look for in the right partner 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04tcVTy0

08/13/2026

Free GPO membership? What’s the catch?

The suspicion is fair. Many GPOs advertised as “free” do have a catch somewhere: a minimum purchase requirement, a long-term commitment, a category exclusivity clause, or pricing that quietly improves once you hit a certain volume.

Una's model skips all of that. We're paid by suppliers, not members, so membership costs nothing to join, nothing to maintain, and nothing per transaction.

Our new piece walks through how GPO fee models actually work, how they really make money, and exactly where hidden costs tend to hide 👉 https://hubs.ly/Q04sr5zp0

Some GPO member models are advertised as free — but are they really? Here's how different models work and what to ask before joining.

08/12/2026

The single biggest factor affecting your net GPO savings isn't the headline percentage. It's the fee structure.

Most GPOs make money one of three ways:

🤝 Supplier admin fees: the supplier pays the GPO a cut of the transaction. You pay nothing extra, and incentives are aligned: the more you save, the more they earn.

👥 Member fees: onboarding costs, annual dues, or participation fees. These come straight out of your net savings, dollar for dollar.

📊 Minimums and commitments: this is the one that catches people out. "Free" membership that quietly requires minimum purchase volumes or long-term commitments, with penalties buried in the fine print.

Before you compare anything else, ask any GPO on your shortlist:

1. How exactly do you make money?
2. Any onboarding costs, annual dues, or participation fees?
3. Is there a minimum purchase requirement?
4. What happens if we don't hit it?
5. Can we cancel anytime, and at what cost?
6. Is the cost analysis free?

A transparent answer to all six is a strong signal. A vague or deflected one, especially on minimums and cancellation, is a warning worth taking seriously 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04ss1Kn0

08/11/2026

"We'll get to it next quarter" feels harmless.

It isn't.

Every month a GPO decision sits in the backlog is a month you're paying full retail on categories that could already be discounted, and it shows up on the P&L whether anyone's tracking it or not.

We ran the math using real Una member results:

✅ One member saved 23% on shipping, worth $650,000 a year, meaning every month of delay cost them roughly $54,000

✅ A behavioral health network saved 27% across categories within weeks of joining

✅ A national YMCA network saved 10 to 15% on food costs alone.

Opportunity cost is a number you can put in front of your CPO or CFO. Our latest piece breaks down exactly how to calculate it, with a simple formula you can run on your own spend today 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04srgNX0

Here's how to calculate the opportunity cost of joining a GPO so you can build the case for membership to your CPO or CFO with a real number.

08/10/2026

AI is changing procurement software. Have you checked what it’s changing in your contracts? 👀

As teams race to adopt AI-enabled tools, there’s a quieter shift happening in the background. Contracts originally negotiated for traditional software may no longer address some pretty important questions:

⚠️ Does AI change the limitation of liability?
📊 Who’s responsible for inaccurate AI outputs?
🔐 What happens to proprietary data used by AI models?
🗑️ Can your data actually be deleted when the contract ends?
📝 Can providers change online terms without a new negotiation?

It's time to recognize that AI changes more than the software - it can also change the risk procurement is agreeing to 👉 https://hubs.li/Q04sr0g50

Procurement expert Wendy Storino explains the liability, data, and risks teams are missing when it comes to AI clauses and contracts.