TL;DR
- Small and mid-sized businesses have become the fastest-growing segment of GPO membership, a pattern Una has seen among its own members.
- They have the most to gain from a leveled playing field because group purchasing gives them pricing power they could never generate through their own volume alone.
- Lean teams and limited capacity push many small businesses toward a GPO, which acts as an extension of procurement without adding headcount.
- Free memberships with zero purchasing minimums have removed the financial risk that used to keep smaller companies out of group purchasing altogether.
Nobody expects to walk into a gym on day one and lift what the person next to them is lifting. Procurement used to work the same way, with small businesses assumed to be years away from the pricing power that larger companies had built up over decades.
Group purchasing broke that assumption. Small and mid-sized businesses are now the fastest-growing members of GPOs like Una.
Anthony Clervi, President and CEO of Una, said that the right GPO understands it is a supplement and wants to come alongside a company's own strategy rather than replace it, which is exactly the role smaller businesses need most as they try to compete against companies many times their size.
The Fastest-Growing GPO Members
Our membership data backs this up. Smaller companies and lean teams typically see the most immediate impact from GPO membership, which is driving a wave of new members who would once have assumed a GPO was built for bigger buyers only.
Here are the reasons behind the shifts:
Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Have the Most to Gain From a Level Playing Field
Pricing tiers exist because volume earns leverage, and a small business will never generate the volume to compete with a Fortune 500 company on its own.
A GPO changes that equation by pooling the purchasing volume of thousands of members, so a mid-sized business buying $50,000 worth of office supplies accesses pricing close to what a company spending $50 million would receive.
For a small business, that difference shows up directly on the bottom line, which makes group purchasing one of the few tools that genuinely levels the field.
SMEs Lack Capacity
Most small and mid-sized businesses do not have a dedicated procurement function, so the person handling vendor contracts is usually wearing several other hats at the same time.
Una has had plenty of conversations with companies that are small but growing fast, and they typically have limited staff and no time to set up a procurement function, even though they recognize they need one. These businesses have little time to vet suppliers or negotiate terms, which adds risk on one side and cost on the other.
A group purchasing organziation closes that gap by acting as an extension of the team, handling supplier negotiations and contract management so founders and lean staff can focus on running the business.
Attempts to Negotiate Discounts Get Ignored by Big Suppliers
A small business calling a major supplier to ask for better pricing rarely gets very far, because the volume on offer does not interest a supplier used to dealing in millions.
Group purchasing changes who is on the other end of that phone call. When a GPO represents tens of thousands of members and billions in combined buying power, suppliers negotiate seriously, and the discounts that were once out of reach become standard pricing. Businesses that spent years hearing “no” from suppliers are often surprised by how quickly that changes once they are buying as part of a larger group.
Awareness of What a GPO Actually Does is Growing
Group purchasing used to carry a reputation as a tool for healthcare and large institutions only. That awareness gap is closing. More founders and operations leads now understand that a horizontal GPO like Una is free to join, carries no purchasing obligations, and works across everyday categories like shipping, office supplies and food service rather than one narrow vertical.
As that understanding spreads through founder networks and business communities, more small and mid-sized businesses are willing to make the call that past assumptions kept them from making.
Removal of Entry Barriers
Modern GPOs have also removed the financial risk that used to keep smaller companies out of group purchasing altogether. Diversified GPOs across the market, including Una, now compete for the SMB segment by offering free memberships with zero purchasing minimums, so a business no longer has to weigh a membership fee or a volume commitment against uncertain savings before it can try group purchasing.
Una's own membership works this way, with no purchasing requirements, contract obligations or exclusivities attached. A founder can sign up, test a single category like shipping or office supplies, and see the savings before deciding whether to expand into others.
Maturing Functions Are Running Out of Easy Levers
Even a small business reaches a point where the easy wins in cost management have already been found. A maturing operations or finance function has already cut the obvious waste and renegotiated the contracts it has time to review, and the next round of savings takes resources it does not have.
Group purchasing offers a lever that does not depend on internal headcount, giving a maturing business access to a dedicated team and pre-negotiated contracts instead of asking an already stretched employee to run another round of RFPs.
Case Study: Saving 26% as a SME
Linden Square is a specialty gifting company founded by Amanda Klingenberger, built around curated gift boxes for corporate clients and personal occasions. As the business grew, shipping became its largest area of spend, and rising freight rates and surcharges started eating into margins.
Linden Square was, in Amanda's own words, still considered a small company in the eyes of a supplier, and she knew her team would be unable to negotiate discounted pricing on its own while also managing product curation through ongoing supply chain disruptions.
After signing up with Una for free, Linden Square was contacted within 24 hours, and an initial cost analysis based on its real shipping data showed potential savings of more than 26%. The company was connected to a discounted shipping program and saving money within eight weeks of joining. Amanda has said her Una reps are hands-on in a way her past experience with procurement never was, always working to get the best pricing and look after her company's interests. Linden Square has since expanded into additional categories with Una's support.
Ready to Join Other Small and Mid-Sized Una members?
We have helped thousands of small and mid-sized businesses access enterprise level pricing and free up time they used to spend chasing supplier discounts on their own. Give us a call for a no obligation discovery call, and find out what a leveled playing field could do for your business.
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