Indirect Spend is (Finally) Getting Strategic Attention
December 18, 2025
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Indirect Spend + Strategic Attention
Giving indirect spend the attention it deserves.
Welcome to this month's issues of The Sidekick!
Today we're celebrating the fact that indirect spend is (finally!) getting the strategic attention it deserves. We'll dive into how procurement professionals can effectively manage these fragmented categories in a way that aligns with your organization's goals for the new year.
This issue also catches us up on what's been happening with other industry news and the latest takes on AI in procurement.
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Let's get into Issue #024...
Getting the Most Value Out of Your Indirect Spend Categories
A playbook for understanding the significance of indirect spend, the challenges it presents, and how to successfully unlock its value.
Tackling Indirect Spend in 2026
With the help of a GPO...
So many procurement professionals have the word "strategic" in their job titles, that it makes us wonder: what part of procurement don't they regard as strategic?
Let's hope it isn't indirect spend.
Indirect spend, encompassing everything from office supplies and IT services to travel and MRO, is no longer an afterthought. Representing up to 15-30% of total procurement costs, it's too big to ignore, yet its sprawling, fragmented nature has historically made it messy to manage.
But why the sudden strategic spotlight?
It's about cost optimization and risk mitigation in an uncertain economy, directly aligning with enterprise goals like profitability, resilience, and sustainability. McKinsey found that tackling indirect spend can reduce overall costs by 10% to 25% and reduce the manual effort involved in supplier governance by 30% to 50%.
Failing to manage this area heightens risks such as supply chain disruptions, compliance failures, and maverick buying, which can expose organizations to financial and reputational harm. Strategically managing indirect spend helps companies reduce these vulnerabilities, enhance visibility, and support broader objectives.
Companies are tackling indirect categories, often without dedicated category managers, through smart, simplified strategies such as adopting procurement software, getting to grips with maverick spend, bundling purchases across categories and consolidating supplier numbers to reduce administrative overhead. But even with these strategies in place, organizations are hamstrung by resource shortages, time constraints, and weak buying power.
Solutions live or die by adoption. Intake and guided buying approaches succeed when they're intuitive and user-friendly, not policy-heavy. Companies are adopting cloud-based tools that automate approvals and provide real-time visibility, making compliance effortless for non-procurement staff.
Strategies include educating stakeholders on procurement's value, setting clear KPIs, and fostering collaboration. For example, guided buying portals with AI-driven recommendations simplify indirect purchases, boosting adoption by empowering end-users without constraining decisions.
Drawing from proven tactics, organizations develop strategic sourcing plans, clean data for insights, invest in tech for automation, and improve visibility to consolidate suppliers. Changing mindsets involves senior buy-in and stakeholder rapport, while taking control means mirroring direct spend rigor for indirect.
Traditional approaches to indirect spend often falter under the weight of disparate suppliers and limited resources, but group purchasing organizations (GPOs) have emerged as the game-changer that streamline processes and drive adoption.
Enter Una, empowering procurement leaders to find significant savings across indirect categories smarter and faster. As a GPO, Una elevates existing strategies with free membership: no purchasing requirements, contracts, or exclusivities.
Members tap into pre-negotiated contracts averaging 18-22% savings across categories, bypassing lengthy RFPs. Our dedicated team leverages over $100 billion in buying power to negotiate preferred pricing, giving our members access to deep discounts they would never have been able to negotiate on their own.
Ultimately, indirect spend's strategic rise hinges on simplicity and speed. By leveraging GPOs, companies cut costs across indirect categories, saving money, time, and effort.
CASE STUDY
Saving 27% Across Multiple Indirect Spend
Categories With Una
A network of behavioral health centers is working with Una to save an average of 27% across multiple categories.
As a network of facilities consisting of both detox and inpatient rehabilitation centers, this valued member was growing while inflation soared and supply chain disruptions loomed overhead.
Without any mature procurement policies in place, however, spend was going unmanaged in several categories. They needed help managing this indirect spend and delivering cost savings quickly.
Una’s robust supplier portfolio proved to be a valuable asset, allowing our team of Sourcing Advisors to connect the member to double-digit savings via multiple contracts right away.
By bringing in a group purchasing organization to help support their procurement strategy, they were able to analyze spend quickly, secure discounted pricing, and streamline their purchasing within a matter of weeks.
Case Study Results
- 49% Savings on Office Products
- 22% Savings on Food Costs
- 20% Savings on Staff Uniforms
- 20% Savings on JanSan/MRO
By recognizing the importance of indirect procurement and implementing effective strategies - particularly through a partnership with a GPO like Una - you, too, can unlock significant value, reduce costs, and mitigate risks.
The Money You're Leaving on the Table
Using a GPO to cut costs - without sacrificing quality care.
Purchasing is an essential part of managing any patient-facing practice. Many practice managers and providers handle their purchases as ‘one off’ buys, simply creating accounts and placing orders as needed.
They’re not benefitting from a more formal agreement or any kind of volume-based discount.
Leveraging group purchasing for savings in categories like medical and surgical supplies, office products and furniture, shipping, and medical waste disposal vastly lowers costs while improving service levels.
Jeff Cohen, Vice President of Emerging Markets at Una, recently joined Art of Procurement to discuss:
- The common characteristics of businesses that don’t yet have formal, centralized purchasing in place
- The benefits of working with an experienced group purchasing organization (GPO) to increase savings, better manage spend, and improve provider service levels
- Why being more purposeful about spending can result in multiple forms of savings, value and business impact - all while improving the patient experience
If you work for an independent medical practice, home health agency, or medical spa and are responsible for purchasing goods and services, this webinar is for you!
📰 In Other News...
Keeping a pulse on the industry.
Trade Tensions: The Canadian government’s “Buy Canadian” policy for procurement for large infrastructure and defense kicked in on Tuesday, December 16th as trade tensions with the U.S. continue.
Manufacturing Woes: High manufacturing costs are keeping U.S. robot manufacturers from being competitive in the global market. Standard Bots CEO Evan Beard told a congressional joint hearing that U.S. quotes are ten times higher than Chinese suppliers, raising the concern that inexpensive Chinese robots will soon flood the U.S. market.
Tariff Trouble: Manufacturers are planning to pass along cost increases and raise sales prices as input costs rise due to tariffs. According to ISM’s December 2025 Supply Chain Planning Forecast, 32% of manufacturing leaders said they plan to pass on all of their tariff-related cost increases into sales prices. Another 42% intend to employ a combination of price hikes and absorbing costs into their margins. Just 36% are actively looking to reshore production.
🤖 AI Procurement News
Artificial intelligence shaping the industry.
Infotech research group has published its research into five AI trends in 2026, all of which will impact procurement.
1. Foundational AI principles will rewrite organizational DNA
Companies will create tailored AI principles to mitigate escalating AI risks and ensure their AI strategies reflect their fundamental organizational values.
2. From copilots to vibe coding: AI will continue to reinvent IT
Emerging types of enterprise AI tools will push organizations toward a pivotal choice: to invest in an integrated AI platform or to opt for specialized, best-in-class AI solutions.
3. Agentic AI will come of age and power the exponential enterprise
While the current uptake of agentic AI remains modest, its growth is set to eclipse that of generative AI, driving remarkable progress and transformation within organizations, alongside new chances and challenges.
4. Risk management will be the price of admission for AI
The inherent risks of innovative AI applications will compel organizations to implement AI risk management frameworks, even in regions lacking regulatory mandates.
5. AI will hang in the balance between freedom and control
The concept of AI sovereignty will increasingly capture the attention of regulators, yet the development of legislative frameworks is likely to be fragmented globally.
💫 Resources from Una
- Six Ways to Wow Your CFO Next Year
- Procurement Fragmentation Solved With a GPO
- LLMs in Procurement: They Aren't Helping Your Relationships!
- Lowering Supply Chain Risk: The GPO Advantage
- Episode 230 of The Sourcing Hero Podcast featuring Matthieu Garnier
- [Video] Purchasing for Your Business: The Money You're Leaving on the Table
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