From an initial six agencies participation grew in 2022 to 27. Image: Mark Gomez/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffGSA’s online marketplace intended to make it easier for federal agencies to buy commercially available products like office supplies has grown in its early years and agencies have reported that buying items through it “is easy and saves time and money,” GAO has said.
The “Commercial Platforms” program, which started in 2020 under a budget law, enables purchase cardholders at federal agencies to buy commercially available products using online marketplaces. From an initial six agencies participation grew in 2022 to 27, and money spent through the program nearly tripled in that year to above $40 million, a report said.
Most recently, GSA updated metrics to measure the program on topics such as customer satisfaction, feedback on price competitiveness, and spending in certain categories such as products with a Made in America label. However, GAO found that the program currently meets only four of 11 of those goals.
The GAO also found that the program helps agencies identify products from certain federally mandated sources, such as AbilityOne—which employs people who have disabilities—and to count purchases made there from small businesses toward their small business contracting goals. However, purchases from AbilityOne make up only a small portion of the total spend, and the process for tracking spending on small businesses “is resource intensive and not practicable,” it said.
GSA agreed with recommendations to promote AbilityOne products over essentially the same counterparts, and to develop a more efficient process for tracking spending on small businesses through the program.
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