Group items tagged

In 2002, questions were raised about the ethical nature of group purchasing organizations (GPOs) after it was found that they were taking part in anticompetitive business practices, including excessively high contract fees. However, a review conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows improved transparency within the system.

Within the current review, GPOs reported that they received contract administrative fees that ranged from 0.09 percent to 10 percent of the product's purchasing price. Two of the GPOs reported that contract administrative fees in 2008 were over 3 percent of the purchasing price. Combined, the six GPOs collected $1.7 billion in contract administrative fees in 2008 and $320 million in other revenue. Additionally, 53 percent of GPOs' total revenue was distributed in 2008, which totaled about $1.1 billion

Ketera, provider of the online Ketera Network business community, today announced that Epiphany Supply Chain Solutions, a provider of procurement and supply chain related services, has selected the Ketera Network as the platform to manage transactions for its no-membership-fee Group Purchasing Organization (GPO). The Ketera Network will enable the Epiphany Buying Portal to manage purchasing transactions of mid-sized businesses and is expected to be operational in January 2010.

The Epiphany Buying Portal on the Ketera Network is an online procurement site that provides pre-negotiated advantageous pricing for a selected group of categories to its GPO customers based on aggregated buying volume with certain suppliers.