“In June 2020, GSA launched an initial e-commerce portal proof-of-concept with the award of three contracts to e-marketplace platform providers for purchases below the micro-purchase threshold of $10,000. As GSA noted in announcing the proof-of-concept, the contract awards were ‘part of implementation efforts for the Commercial Platforms program and Section 846 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.’ GSA should be commended for its proof-of-concept strategy, as it is prudent to obtain real-life metrics on how the e-marketplace platforms work in the context of government procurement. The e-marketplace proof-of-concept provides GSA and OMB the opportunity to collect procurement data that can be used both to assess current market performance and to develop future strategies that enhance access to, and competition across, the commercial market…”
“Unfortunately, in its June 2021 Procurement Through Commercial E-Commerce Portals: Business Model Cost Estimate Analysis, GSA appears to foreclose proof-of-concept testing of the e-commerce and the e-procurement models. The 2021 report essentially concludes, without any proof-of-concept testing, that the e-commerce and e-procurement models are too costly to consider. In the report, GSA states that implementing either of these will not yield ‘the benefits of an efficient, commercial-driven shopping experience,’ and it will ‘result in an overly expensive, resource-intensive implementation.’ This rejection of the e-commerce and e-procurement models raises significant policy and operational issues/questions…”
“Substantively, the 2021 Report raises some key observations and concerns:
- GSA has reached a conclusion that the e-marketplace model is the preferred approach without testing the other two models. A proof-of-concept/pilot of the e-commerce and e-procurements would provide real-life data addressing the costs and benefits to the government customer. It also would provide an opportunity to assess the interplay between, and competition among, all three models, which could result in identifying additional opportunities to deliver value to customer agency through all three models.
- Given the significance of GSA’s decision, in particular the wholesale change in approach, the agency needs to release additional information regarding how it identified, assessed, and allocated costs to the potential implementation of the e-commerce and e-procurement models, as well as more details regarding the assumed processes for implementing these models. Without this information, it is difficult to understand the context of the numbers GSA identified and the conclusion it drew…” Read the full article here.
Source: GSA’s E-Commerce Portal Pilot Strategy and the Opportunity to Enhance Competition – September 24, 2021. The Coalition for Government Procurement.
