Comparing Online B2G Marketplaces: Purchasing Agent Preferences and Price Differentials

Abstract

Language within the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) seeks to improve the federal acquisition of commercial products through agency use of commercial e-commerce portals, requiring the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish a program and enter into contracts with commercial portal providers. While the GSA has long supported agencies through its own business-to-government (B2G) portal, Advantage, little is currently known about how commercial portals and their associated business-to-business (B2B) or B2G marketplaces may be able to support the needs of federal agencies and their personnel who acquire commercial products. Accordingly, our research seeks to identify comparative advantages and disadvantages of the federal government's largest online B2G marketplace, GSA Advantage, with a leading private-sector B2B marketplace, Amazon's Amazon Business. We focus on the benefits and limitations of each platform for government purchase cardholders, comparing prices, shipping costs, shipping time, ease of use, and customer satisfaction, while considering future improvement initiatives. Our findings highlight several benefits, limitations, and risks of each platform for repetitive, purchase card based transactions.