Program benefits
What current users are saying
“It’s been a game changer as a purchaser. What used to take me hours now takes me minutes.”
“Great modernization of the purchasing process.”
“The prices are fair and allow us to save taxpayers money … I can purchase one item if that is all that is needed.”
The Commercial Platforms Program, or CPP, provides a whole-of-government approach to online purchases of routine items with standardized terms and conditions, cost savings, and business-to-business features that help to advance agency and administration priorities.
Agencies gain access to a highly competitive supplier pool, including small businesses and mandatory sources such as AbilityOne products, in a familiar, modern, and streamlined purchasing experience.
In addition to dedicated government customer support from each platform, the CPP team works closely with agencies to refine and improve the purchasing experience to ensure the program meets their unique needs and missions.
Benefits across agency roles
Administrators and program leads
- Efficient, streamlined purchasing to support all agency roles, from shoppers (non-purchasers) to authorized purchasers
- B2B pricing benefits, including volume discounts and tiered pricing
- Tools to enable compliance and promote government priorities including Section 889, Supply Chain Risk Management, AbilityOne, small business, and Made in America
- Spend data visibility provides agency purchasing insights
- Weekly purchaser training sessions and access to specialized resources
- Dedicated program team to help your agency navigate and fully leverage each platform
Purchasers
- Access to eight modern commercial platforms with tax-exempt status and no minimum order quantities
- Detailed product descriptions and images with accurate, real-time inventory
- Built-in features to support Section 889, AbilityOne, Made in America, and small business purchasing
- Total order visibility from placement to shipment tracking and receipt
- Detailed reconciliation documentation to support end-of-month closeout
- Cart sharing, empowering shoppers to research products and submit carts for review
Shoppers (non-purchasers)
- Consumer-like shopping experience with detailed product descriptions and images for easy, effective market research
- Dedicated platform customer service to help users find the right solution to meet their requirements
- Request official quotes and inquire about volume discounts
- Add products to shareable carts or lists to send to authorized purchasers
- Ability to monitor order status via tracking numbers
Key differentiators
- Higher FAR priority: As a competitively awarded, multi-agency contract, the Commercial Platforms Program offers participating agencies a higher buying priority across eight awarded commercial platforms, per FAR 8.004.
- Small business credit: GSA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Small Business Administration allowing the program to submit eligible purchases made with SBA-certified small businesses across seven socioeconomic categories, to be reported and credited to each agency. No agency action is required. GSA prepares and sends the report on an annual basis.
- Customer experience insights: Customer insights and spending trends collected from surveys, focus groups, and training demos provide a window into an agency’s use of the program, while also informing future platform features.
Program highlights
Check out the Commercial Platform Program’s FY 2024 highlights, including overall spend, small business spend, participating agency details, and customer experience data. You can download, print, and share the infographics as well. Please reach out to CommercialPlatforms@gsa.gov with any questions.
U.S. General Services Administration
