Premier Inc. Launches Stockd, an E-Commerce Marketplace for Healthcare and Business Supplies
Stockd simplifies and enhances the purchasing experience for physician offices and other alternate-site healthcare providers, strengthening Premier’s drive to create healthier supply chain markets
Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) has launched stockd®, an e-Commerce marketplace for healthcare and business supplies, to meet the procurement demands of providers in the non-acute care space. The stockd marketplace unites national and entrepreneurial sellers, bringing reliable, innovative manufacturers into the alternate-site supply chain on a single online purchasing platform.
While open to purchasers outside of healthcare as well as those within a group purchasing organization (GPO), stockd is designed to meet the needs of small- to medium-sized healthcare businesses. Through stockd, alternate-site healthcare providers easily access better pricing for everyday items, such as office, personal and medical supplies, including gloves, apparel, linens and cleaning products.
“We’ve heard from our members that they want more price transparency, better product selection and convenience,” said Michael J. Alkire, President of Premier. “With three decades of healthcare purchasing expertise through our GPO, Premier is harnessing its supply chain insights, partnerships and technology to disrupt today’s market in ways few others can. Stockd is a completely new way to buy high-quality products. It delivers a simplified marketplace for non-acute care providers and connects them with the suppliers and brands that share our values.”
Small businesses, including physician and medical offices, senior living facilities, and physical therapy and homecare providers, often do not leverage the buying network or purchasing power that GPO members rely on for competitive pricing and product access. Premier’s investment in stockd is a natural extension of its ongoing efforts to make markets healthier and enhance the supply chain by increasing competition. Building on Premier’s supply chain expertise, stockd delivers products from reputable manufacturers and distributors, with transparent pricing listed directly on the site.
In addition to national suppliers, stockd has partnered with small business entrepreneurs and socially responsible sellers, enabling them to easily connect to their target markets. These sellers have created innovative, specialized products and promote equal opportunity, including:
- Slick Chicks, an adaptive, easy-to-wear underwear made for people with disabilities and physical constraints. The creator designed the underwear with side fasteners after her sister’s recovery from an emergency Cesarean section left her unable to slide on her own undergarments for weeks.
- LifeThreads, the first scrubs made from antimicrobial textiles, which helps reduce hospital-acquired infections. Its fabric wicks moisture and repels liquids, working to reduce soft-surface contamination.
- Bosma Enterprises’ Good Works, a professional-strength ice melter. More than half of Bosma’s workforce is blind or visually impaired, and the sale of Good Works products creates jobs and funds rehabilitation and employment programs for individuals with vision loss.
Premier further plans to leverage the stockd marketplace for philanthropic causes. In October, to dovetail with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, stockd has partnered with Medgluv to donate 5 percent of Medgluv’s Pink Glove sales made on its platform to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
“Purchasing patterns in non-acute care are mimicking the business-to-consumer experience more than the traditional healthcare purchasing journey,” said John Sganga, Senior Vice President of Alternate Site Programs at Premier. “That means that buyers are bringing their values – including supporting causes that promote the greater good – into their business transactions. We are in tune with how buyers are purchasing products, both within healthcare and beyond, so our offerings continue to holistically meet their needs.”
According to recent Premier member surveys, 75 percent of alternate-site providers supplement their purchasing through an online retailer or e-Commerce site. Nearly 40 percent of alternate-site purchasers buy their business products from more than six websites each month, and some purchase from more than 20 sites. With its single purchasing platform, stockd offers significant time savings and the ability to leverage Premier’s expertise and the stockd community to help inform purchasing decisions.
