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Can Real Estate Owners & Operators Benefit from Group Purchasing?

The short answer is YES. But let’s take a closer look at why commercial real estate and multifamily housing can benefit from using a group purchasing organization.  

First Off, What is a GPO? 

Group purchasing organizations aka GPOs foster robust connections between members and suppliers, proving to be a strategic choice for purchasers seeking simplicity and efficiency. Serving as an invaluable extension of your procurement team, a GPO helps organizations save time and money in various spend categories while providing immediate access to robust contracts from industry-leading supplier partners. Plus, some GPO memberships are free and require no order minimums or order obligations. 

An Extension of Your Team 

Let’s say you have a major renovation coming up and you don’t know where to start or have financial limitations—partnering with a group purchasing organization can help you get the project off the ground all while staying within budget. How does OMNIA Partners help with this you might ask? Three words— subject matter experts. Here is a breakdown of the support they offer: 

  • Valuable insights and guidance throughout the procurement process 
  • Assist members of OMNIA Partners in building long term strategies that align with their organizational goals 
  • Help members of OMNIA Partners discover savings opportunities that can streamline operations 

 A Driver of Savings 

Group purchasing organizations leverage the collective buying power of their members to negotiate better deals with suppliers, resulting in significant cost savings for members. Beyond budgetary savings, your organization can also see time savings thanks to the streamlined approach and access to the strong, long-standing relationships that GPOs possess. 

For example, Cardinal Group, a renowned multifamily real estate management, investment, construction, and marketing firm with over 30,000 units in 200+ properties, faced challenges with unregulated spending practices across their properties using Amazon Business. Seeking enhanced visibility and cost savings, they turned to OMNIA Partners. Leveraging OMNIA Partners' collective buying power, they transformed unmanaged spending into a structured National Account program, aligning with their organizational objectives. The program, offering a 10% discount on select Amazon private-label products and a 50% discount on the annual Business Prime subscription for the first two years, facilitated significant savings for Cardinal's managed properties. 

Read the full story here. 

A Risk Mitigator 

Insufficient supplier vetting and onboarding can expose your operations to elevated risks in regulatory compliance, quality, and service levels. This can lead to significant challenges for your organization, potentially impacting various aspects, such as your brand reputation, operational efficiency, service levels, operational costs, revenue streams, and an uptick in resident or stakeholder concerns. Let's take a closer look into how these factors could affect properties:  

  • Brand Reputation: A tarnished brand reputation may deter potential tenants or investors. 
  • Operational Efficiencies: Reduced efficiency in processes may lead to delays in property management tasks, impacting the overall operation of your real estate portfolio. 
  • Resident Service Levels: Compromised service levels may result in tenant dissatisfaction and potentially increase turn rates. 
  • Operational Costs: Increased operational costs could impact your bottom line, affecting the profitability of your real estate portfolio. 
  • Revenue Loss: A decline in operational efficiency and service levels may contribute to revenue loss, affecting the financial health of your properties. 
  • Stakeholder Complaints: An increase in complaints may signal dissatisfaction among stakeholders, requiring additional resources to address and resolve issues, impacting your organization's time and resources. 

GPOs like OMNIA Partners monitor evolving regulations and compliance standards while functioning as an extension of your team. GPOs prioritize compliance and customer needs, ensuring a streamlined risk mitigation strategy that gives multifamily housing and commercial real estate owners and operators the confidence to move forward with their sourcing activities. 

So, Should Real Estate Organizations Use Group Purchasing? 

Now that you have the long answer, what do you think? Can real estate benefit from group purchasing?  

There are so many benefits that commercial real estate and multifamily housing can take advantage of when working with a GPO, from savings to risk mitigation. Plus, at OMNIA Partners membership is free with no cost to join, no fees or order obligation. If you’re ready to talk about your group purchasing options, we’re ready to help.

Contact the OMNIA Partners team today.