A buying group lets otherwise-independent distributors keep their local identity and customer relationships while pooling their purchasing volume, giving them pricing leverage with suppliers they could not achieve alone. Master B2B’s reporting on distribution consolidation covered a recent example directly: Affiliated Distributors’ acquisition of supplyFORCE, its second such deal in a year, aimed at helping independent MRO distributors compete with Grainger’s buying power. Buying groups represent a middle path in the broader get-big-or-get-small dynamic in distribution, since member companies gain some of the purchasing advantages of scale without merging into a single large corporate entity.
Buying group
An organization that aggregates independent distributors or dealers so they can negotiate purchasing terms, share resources, and compete on scale with much larger national players.