Guide to Una Membership: How it Works & What to Expect
Everything you need to know about Una GPO membership — how onboarding works, what you get, and why thousands of procurement leaders choose Una to manage their indirect spend.
18-22%
average annual savings for members
3,500+
pre-negotiated contracts
Free
always - no fees, no minimums
- Una membership is always free — funded by supplier admin fees, never by members
- Onboarding follows three steps: discovery call, free spend analysis, supplier connection
- Most members are saving within two to four weeks of first contact
- Members save an average of 18–22% annually on indirect spend categories
- You keep direct supplier relationships — Una connects you, not between you
- A dedicated Member Experience team stays actively involved after onboarding
Is Una Right for Your Organization?
Una membership is broadly applicable. Any business purchasing indirect goods and services can benefit. But it tends to deliver the most immediate impact in specific situations. If any of these describe your organization, Una is worth a conversation.
Lean Procurement Teams
One or two procurement professionals managing dozens of categories. Una provides category expertise and pre-negotiated contracts that effectively multiply your team's reach without adding headcount.
Unmanaged Indirect Spend
Significant spend in categories like office supplies, food, shipping, JanSan, or MRO that nobody is actively managing. GPO contracts bring immediate structure and savings to categories currently going unoptimized.
Organizations of Any Size
From growing mid-market businesses to enterprise organizations, indirect categories represent 10–18% of revenue in many industries. Even large procurement teams with significant buying power benefit from Una's collective volume.
Finance Leaders Under Margin Pressure
CFOs and finance leaders who need measurable cost reduction quickly. Una's spend analysis identifies specific savings against current pricing before any commitment is made so ROI is visible upfront.
Una is not a replacement for your procurement strategy — it's a force multiplier. Your team stays focused on strategic priorities while Una handles the sourcing, vetting, and negotiation in indirect categories.
How Una Membership Works
Getting connected to savings doesn't require jumping through hoops. The process moves at your pace, involves no financial commitment, and is designed to show you real numbers before you activate a single contract.
1.
The Discovery Call
Usually within a few days of first contact
After reaching out via una.com, a Sourcing Advisor will schedule a discovery call as your first real step toward savings. Think of it as a two-way interview: Una learns about your procurement goals and challenges, and you learn exactly how membership works and whether there's a good fit.
WHAT TO BRING
- Your procurement goals and savings targets
- The categories you need help with
- Specific challenges (tail spend, maverick purchasing, etc.)
- Any questions about how GPO membership works
WHAT TO EXPECT
2.
Free Spend Analysis
Typically about one week
Una's Sourcing Advisors analyze your indirect spend data and benchmark it directly against Una's supplier contracts category by category. This is where the numbers become real. You'll see exactly where you're overpaying relative to what Una's collective buying power unlocks, before activating anything.
WHAT TO PROVIDE
BEST CATEGORIES FOR GPO SAVINGS
3.
Connect to Suppliers
Within days or weeks
After the spend analysis, Una provides contract recommendations. You choose which ones to activate, there's no obligation to use all categories or even most of them. Una requests that relevant suppliers connect you to pre-negotiated pricing. Once connected, your Member Experience team is on hand to support you as you start buying.
IMPORTANT TO KNOW
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
What Membership Includes
The three-step process gets you to savings. What keeps members engaged long-term is the breadth of what membership actually provides beyond the initial contracts.
Always Free
No membership fees, no annual dues, no setup costs. Una is funded by supplier administrative fees meaning the cost of membership is carried by suppliers, not by you.
3,500+ Pre-Negotiated Contracts
Immediate access to contracts with the nation's leading suppliers across dozens of indirect spend categories, no RFP process required.
Ongoing Free Cost Analyses
Member Experience regularly identifies additional savings opportunities across your spend as categories are added or business needs change, not just during onboarding.
Multi-Year Price Protection
Una's contracts lock in pricing for several years at a time insulating members from spot market volatility and unexpected price increases.
Member Experience Team
A named point of contact acting as an extension of your procurement team, not a support ticket queue. Available for supplier issues, contract navigation, and ongoing optimization.
Year-End Spending Reports
Annual visibility into what you're purchasing, which contracts are being utilized, and where additional savings opportunities exist with full category-level transparency.
Real Member Results
These outcomes come from actual Una members, not modeled projections. The range reflects how savings vary by category and spend volume, but the pattern is consistent: meaningful savings, fast.
27% Average Savings
Multi-state behavioral health network
Lacked a centralized procurement function (individual locations buying independently with extensive maverick spend). Una conducted a rapid cost analysis, connected the network to pre-negotiated contracts, and achieved 27% average savings across all categories within weeks.
$650k+ Saved Per Year
Medical equipment & digital healthcare company
Ships millions of dollars in packages annually. Rising shipping costs and limited procurement resources made favorable rate negotiation difficult. Una conducted a spend analysis across providers and connected the company to pre-negotiated contracts resulting in 23% total savings on shipping spend, activated in under one month.
10-15% Food Savings
YPurchasing — YMCA group purchasing
Una's food cost reduction program delivering 10–15% savings on food procurement across YMCA members through Una's relationships with major food distributors including US Foods and Sysco.
After Onboarding: Member Experience
Joining Una is the beginning of an ongoing relationship, not a transaction. The Member Experience team's priority is ensuring every member is continuously getting the most value from their membership, not just in the first few weeks.
1.
Introduction Call
Your Member Experience representative introduces themselves as your named point of contact and walks you through membership benefits, available resources, and how to get the most from the relationship going forward.
2.
Identify Additional Savings Opportunities
Member Experience works through additional spend categories with you to find suppliers and contracts for areas not covered in the initial onboarding. Regular check-ins ensure you're not leaving money on the table as your business needs evolve.
3.
Continue Saving
Year-end spending reports, supplier issue escalation, contract navigation, and proactive savings identification continue indefinitely as long as you're a member. The ME team monitors your spend and contracts actively on your behalf.
How the Member Experience Team Saves You Time
Beyond the financial savings, Member Experience acts as your buffer with suppliers. If a billing discrepancy arises, if a contract question needs answering, or if a supplier relationship needs escalating, the ME team handles it directly, cutting down the time it takes to resolve issues and freeing your team for higher-value work.
Ready to Start Saving?
Una is free to join with no required minimums and no contracts. Join today and start saving right away.