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.”
“It’s the best tool that any office cardholder can have.”
“[The platform] provided us with the right product at the right price with no shipping requirement hassles.”
The Commercial Platforms program 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.
Agency cardholders have broad 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 Commercial Platforms team works closely with agencies to refine and improve the purchasing experience to ensure the program meets the cardholders’ unique needs and missions.
Agency benefits
- Standardized terms and conditions governmentwide
- Access to mandatory purchasing programs, including AbilityOne
- Tools to facilitate Section 889 compliance
- B2B pricing benefits like volume discounts, tiered pricing, and more
- Ability to collect small business credit for eligible purchases
- Features that mitigate supply chain risks, such as restricted items and excluded vendors
- Dedicated program-wide agency spend dashboards on our Data to Decisions, or D2D, platform
Buyer benefits
- Detailed product descriptions and images
- Ability to streamline requirements through shared carts or lists
- Confidence to meet Section 889 Part B requirements
- Support of mandatory source purchasing, including AbilityOne
- No minimum order requirements
- Real-time and accurate inventory information
- Tax-exempt purchasing
- Accurate and timely shipment notifications
- Necessary documentation to support the cardholder reconciliation process
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 Commercial Platform program highlights by fiscal year, including overall spend, small business spend, participating agency details, and customer experience data. Please reach out to CommercialPlatforms@gsa.gov with any questions.
U.S. General Services Administration
