Another buying group has entered the promotional products industry, and it’s offering free membership to companies.

The Universal Purchasing Association (UPA), a major player in the industrial laundry and uniform rental markets, has launched WePromo (asi/525901) – an innovative purchasing group created to assist distributors during this time of uncertainty. Instead of charging a fee for access to discounts as traditional buying groups tend to do, WePromo simply requests that members buy from designated suppliers, who will offer EQP or even better pricing.

“This new model doesn’t require coupon codes, special software or any change in how a distributor does business,” Allan Fowler, founder of WePromo and president of Universal Unilink, said in a press release. “We are offering a service to an industry that will be changing over the next few years. Suppliers want buyers to concentrate their buying and distributors want the best overall value. WePromo gives both sides what they want.”

Suppliers are vetted and included because of their high standards and reputations for quality products, according to WePromo. Rather than dozens of suppliers in the same category, the buying group says it will provide enough choice to take care of distributors’ needs. Although some business service suppliers will be included, there are no concierge or extra services.

“We believe in the promotional products industry,” Fowler said. “We have faith that distributors will come out of this challenging time stronger than ever.”