Study: GSA Advantage prices lower than in e-commerce pilot

But GSA Advantage usability improvements needed

      A recent study found that prices were “significantly lower” on the General Services Administration’s GSA Advantage online buying platform in comparison to prices via an e-commerce portal pilot program sponsored by the AbilityOne Commission and Amazon.

      The Coalition for Government Procurement conducted the analysis by comparing prices on 744 AbilityOne products available on GSA Advantage and on the AbilityOne/Amazon e-commerce portal.

      The analysis compared unit price of the product, price of the product for minimum orders required and usability of the platform.

      The Coalition found that prices were lower through GSA Advantage on 741 out of the 744 items, which was 99.6% of the time.

      After adjusting the analysis to account for minimum order requirements, 72% of the items had lower prices on the GSA Advantage website.

      The prices on GSA Advantage were 56% less on average.

      The study also found that the GSA Advantage platform was unwieldy to use and needs usability improvements. In a Feb. 19 letter to the GSA, the coalition suggested multiple steps to expand usability of GSA Advantage.

      One of the ideas was to work more closely with GSA Schedule holders, who are required to list their products on GSA Advantage. Since 60% of the GSA Schedule holders have little or no sales on GSA Advantage, they have little incentive to keep their product listings up to date. GSA should work with them to determine if they should no longer be required to list on GSA Advantage, the coalition advised.

      Other ideas included:

• Rationalize manufacturers’ names to avoid duplication and varying references for the same manufacturer;
• Clarify product names;
• Ensure product photos are accurate;
• Work with industry to standardize and clarify units of measures; and
• Automatically approve product additions and deletions, administrative changes and price reductions.

      The coalition urged GSA to continue a “robust dialogue” on the role of e-commerce platforms in government procurement.

More information:
Coalition study: https://bit.ly/2VfviEc
Coalition letter: https://bit.ly/2SjD4uX

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