Setting up a bulk buy program

Author: Sarah Morton

There are a few things to consider when setting up a successful bulk-buy program.

1. Start with a few committed people

You'll need people with a range of skills to take on specific areas of responsibility. Amongst other things, you'll want someone to:

• develop product specifications
• handle expressions of interest (EOI’s)1 for suppliers
• answer queries from the press and local community
• liaise with your participants.

2. Think about your main objectives

When you're considering a bulk-buy program, think about your key objectives. What technology do you want to promote? What's the main reason for your bulk-buy?

It may be worth asking your group the following questions:

• Does a bulk-buy meet the strategic aims and objectives of our group?
• Can someone else do it better? Are we replicating a service already available to this community?
• Do we have the ability to achieve our objectives?

You can find common objectives of bulk-buys in Introduction to bulk-buy programs.

3. Assess levels of interest within your community

It's important to understand what your prospective participants want. Ideally, you'll have the opportunity to establish these early on, before you develop your product specification for potential suppliers. For more information, read Choosing a bulk-buy product.

You may be able to survey prospective participants, to help you understand individual incentives for joining the bulk-buy. You could do this using a short survey, possibly online.

Given the choice, people will want everything - that is, products or services which are cheap, local and environmentally sustainable - so ask them to rate their priorities. This will give you an idea of what's most important, so you can develop your product specification accordingly. Some groups also assess the respondents’ ability to pay.

4. Learn from other groups

Many bulk-buys programs are already up and running, and most groups are very willing to share their experiences.

To help you decide how involved your group should get in developing a product specification, speak to other groups to find out the pros and cons of different approaches.

Build on the work other groups have done. For example, some groups have used other groups' EOI specification documents as a base for their own - simply adjusting it to meet their own needs.

5. Consider having project partners

Should you create your own group or join with a partner? Some groups team up with other organisations. If another group in your area is already doing or planning a bulk-buy, it may make sense to join forces or ‘piggy-back’ on the other project rather than creating a new community group.

Alternatively, you might want to find a partner to boost your numbers, and help you get larger discounts through greater economies of scale.

6. Designing your bulk-buy

Start to think about how you'll design your bulk-buy. What type and size technology do you want? How long will it run for? How many participants are you aiming for? How will you share any benefits? Also, think about how involved your group intends to be in the process.