Most procurement teams focus on large, high-profile spend categories. Yet some of the biggest opportunities for savings are often hiding in plain sight.
One multinational retailer discovered this firsthand when an audit of subscriptions, memberships and information resources revealed a category that had grown almost entirely outside traditional procurement controls.
What was believed to be a relatively minor spend category turned out to be worth millions.
Like many large organisations, the retailer had robust governance in place for strategically managed categories. However, subscriptions, memberships, licences and information resources had evolved organically across the business.
Individual purchases were often made using expense claims or company purchasing cards, making spend difficult to track, consolidate or manage.
The organisation's initial estimate suggested annual expenditure of between £150,000 and £180,000.
The reality was very different.
Without a centralised process, the business faced several challenges:
The primary objectives were straightforward:
✅ Gain visibility of spend
✅ Improve governance and control
✅ Create a single point of contact for suppliers
Rather than creating additional work for employees or procurement teams, a simple process was introduced to capture all subscription and membership spend through a single channel.
As renewal requests arrived, they were routed through a central management process. Supplier relationships were consolidated, invoices streamlined and spending data captured in one place.
Over a 12-month period, every active subscription and membership was identified and analysed.
This created complete visibility of the category for the first time.
The review uncovered:
Ongoing management processes were then established to monitor joiners and leavers, reallocate licences efficiently and ensure spend remained aligned with business requirements.
The organisation also implemented an eProcurement PunchOut integration, creating a seamless experience for users while maintaining governance and compliance.
What began as a visibility and control project quickly became a major cost optimisation initiative.
📊 Actual spend identified: £4.5 million - That figure was 2,443% higher than the organisation's original estimate.
💰 Annual savings delivered: £1.67 million - Equivalent to a 37% reduction in spend within one year.
🔄 Supplier consolidation - 174 suppliers reduced to a single managed provider.
📑 Invoice reduction - 686 invoices streamlined into just 23 monthly invoices.
📈 Savings exceeded the original spend estimate by 908% - Perhaps most importantly, the business gained complete visibility and control over a category that had previously operated below the radar.
This project highlights a common challenge facing large organisations today.
Categories such as subscriptions, information resources, memberships and digital services are often viewed as low-value purchases. Individually, they may seem insignificant. Collectively, they can represent millions of pounds in unmanaged spend.
When visibility is lacking, unnecessary costs accumulate quietly over time through duplication, unused licences and fragmented supplier relationships.
The biggest surprise wasn't the £1.67 million saving.
It was discovering that a category expected to cost less than £200,000 was actually worth £4.5 million.
Sometimes the greatest procurement opportunities aren't found in the categories receiving the most attention. They're found in the categories nobody is looking at.
Hidden spend. Untapped savings. Better control. See what's possible when every purchase is visible. Book a discovery call.