Top 5 Trends Reshaping Buying Groups in 2025
Buying Groups and Purchasing Cooperatives have always thrived on collaboration, scale, and trust. But as technology, buyer expectations, and market dynamics evolve, the traditional playbook is being rewritten. In 2025, the most successful groups won’t just be the biggest — they’ll be the smartest, most connected, and most agile.
Based on our two decades of experience and current conversations with leaders across the globe, here are the Top 5 Trends Reshaping Groups in 2025, and how your group can get ahead of them.
1. Digital-First Member Expectations
Millennials and Gen Z are stepping into leadership roles across member businesses. These generations expect intuitive tools and instant access to their data. If your group still relies on spreadsheets or email for core interactions like rebate summaries, invoice delivery, or customer payments, you’re falling behind.
What to do: Invest in member-facing portals that are fast, accessible, and transparent. A strong digital experience enhances trust and engagement.
2. Real-Time Rebate Visibility
Delayed rebate reporting is a pain point that’s becoming unacceptable. Members want to know exactly how they’re tracking against deals — while the deal is active, not weeks or months later. In 2025, rebate accuracy and transparency are brand differentiators for your group.
What to do: Implement real-time rebate tracking with member dashboards, automated programs, and visibility of plateau performance. The more proactive you are, the more confident your members will be.
3. Supplier Collaboration Over Transactional Relationships
Suppliers are no longer satisfied with simply sending files and waiting for payments. They want true partnerships that include shared data, real-time insights, and streamlined processes that help both parties grow. Groups that offer better supplier experiences will become preferred partners and gain leverage on pricing, program design, and innovation.
What to do: Provide supplier portals and use clean, timely data to build stronger programs. A great supplier experience translates to better terms for your members.
4. Central Office as a Value Center
The most forward-thinking groups are moving beyond clerical roles. They’re becoming strategic centers of excellence, providing analytics, training, onboarding, and even marketing support for members and suppliers alike. Technology enables this shift by reducing time spent on reconciliation and paperwork, freeing up the team to focus on higher-value work.
What to do: Track your team’s time and identify areas where automation could free capacity. Then reinvest that time into member development and supplier strategy.
5. Data-Driven Growth and Differentiation
Buying Groups once competed solely on price and rebate size. In 2025, they compete on insight and intelligence. Who knows their members better? Who helps suppliers make better decisions? Who can spot trends early and act quickly? Groups with the ability to harness and share actionable data are pulling ahead.
What to do: Ensure your platform collects accurate data at every point of the transaction. Then use that data to inform strategic decisions and offer insights back to your members and suppliers.
Embrace the Change. Lead the Market.
The future of groups isn’t about doing the same thing better — it’s about doing different things that reflect a new era of digital collaboration, transparency, and strategic growth.
——
LBMX provides technology solutions that help independent businesses, and the groups they belong to, buy better and sell more. The LBMX platform is Buying Group focused and provides advanced technology to their members. With the power of real-time data and our unique one-to-many network, LBMX has transformed billing/ordering, rebate management, e-commerce, payment, and product information management across multiple sectors.
Stay informed about the latest updates, industry knowledge, and exciting product releases by being a part of the LBMX community on LinkedIn and YouTube.