Final_Request_for_Information_(RFI)__DeCA_eCommerce Services.pdf

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

Aol DeCA eCommerce Support Services

• Agency: Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)

• Target NAICS Code: 334111 – Electronic Computer Manufacturing

• Vendor Questions Due Date: 20 October 2026 (Tuesday)

• Response Due Date: 27 October 2026 (Tuesday)

• Anticipated Contract Type: Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP)

• Anticipated Period of Performance: One (1) 12-Month Base Period plus four

(4) 12-Month Option Periods (up to 5 years total)

1.0 PURPOSE & DISCLAIMER

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for market research, planning, and information-gathering purposes pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part

10. This is not a Request for Proposal (RFP), Invitation for Bid (IFB), or solicitation for commercial items. This notice does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) will issue a solicitation or subsequently award a contract.

The Government will not pay for any information submitted, nor will it reimburse any administrative or operational costs incurred by interested parties responding to this RFI.

All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party’s expense.

The primary objective of this market research is to:

1. Establish a long-term partnership with a provider whose technology, service model, and commercial terms align with our commitment to deliver reliable, value-driven solutions. Offerors shall propose a Period of Performance (PoP) consistent with standard commercial practices for the proposed solution. The Government reserves the right to adjust the proposed PoP to align with mission requirements, funding availability, and applicable regulatory limitations, including structuring the award as a base period with one or more option periods at the Government’s discretion.

2. Evaluate technical approaches for eCommerce Support Services; Vendors should present their solution demonstrating shopper-centric benefits, order preparation/fulfillment and platform capabilities.

2.0 BACKGROUND & OPERATIONAL CONTEXT

The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) operates a global network of 235 commissaries located in 45 states, 13 countries, and two U.S. territories, operating approximately 3,000 checkout lanes (including self-checkouts). Headquartered at Fort Lee, Virginia, DeCA generates over $4.6 billion in annual sales and employs more than 14,000 personnel. DeCA provides groceries and household goods at significant savings to Active Duty, Reserve, and National Guard service members, military retirees, service-disabled veterans, and their authorized family members.

To deliver superior customer service, DeCA operates a modern grocery business requiring a state-of-the art eCommerce fulfillment capability. DeCA is seeking innovative, commercial approaches for delivering this eCommerce commissary benefit. DeCA’s goal is to assess eCommerce solutions and leverage databased insights to adjust DECA’s offer and operations.

The eCommerce fulfillment capability is built upon three interconnected functional pillars:

1. Shopper Centric: Shoppers desire a simple to use and tailored eCommerce experience. Key functionality can be described as but should not be limited to:

- Easy registration and payment capabilities

- Customization: Frequently purchased items, forgotten items, grocery lists, suggestions

- Previous purchase curated sales

2. Order/Preparation and Fulfillment: Shoppers seek a flexible system to collect their purchase. They make their fulfillment choice based on the time they need. They like options to include picking it up themselves or have it delivered to me. Inherent in this is a need to pick, pack and stage items. Assume fulfillment will be in the commissary the Patron selected but we will review other warehousing options. Delivery can be presented as direct to home via dedicated personnel or via other established services (US Post Office, delivery services, etc.) and should address cold-chain capabilities.

3. Platform Technical and Infrastructure: The Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) is seeking information from vendors on a modern, enterprise-grade ecommerce platform of supporting its global grocery retail operation, which includes more than 235 stores across 13 countries. The platform must be integrated seamlessly with DeCA’s current systems and remain scalable and adaptable to support future enterprise requirements.

The target solution should be a modern, cloud-native, API-first platform that can be deployed within FedRAMP and DoD Impact Level 2 (IL2), or higher, environments. It must support secure, real-time integration with DeCA’s current and future enterprise systems for the exchange of product master data, pricing, promotions, inventory, and related retail data. The platform must be scalable to support a multi-million-SKU catalog and global operations, including multiple stores, languages, currencies, and catalog structures. The solution must include a robust, centralized pricing and promotions engine capable of complex, multi-tier rules, including statutory surcharges, tax logic (CONUS/OCONUS and Status of Forces Agreement considerations), bundles, thresholds, and digital coupons, with consistent calculations across online channels and in-store POS. Omnichannel fulfillment capabilities must natively support BOPIS, curbside pickup, ship-from-store, and integration with third-party delivery providers.

Identity and access management must integrate with enterprise and defense identity providers (e.g., DEERS, SAML/OAuth, enabling secure SSO and entitlement validation.

Native or tightly integrated mobile applications (iOS/Android) should support biometric authentication, in-aisle barcode scanning, geofenced curbside arrival, smart cart/reordering, and offline cart persistence. The platform should support orchestration with customer experience and marketing tools (e.g., CDP, campaign management) to enable personalization, behavioral triggers, and abandoned cart recovery.

Respondents should address architecture, security/compliance posture, integration approach, scalability, mobile capabilities, promotions/pricing, identity management, and recommended deployment methodologies for a phased global rollout.

3.0 SCOPE OF TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Government is examining commercial capabilities in the following manner:

The proposed solution should use a modular, API-first, cloud-based architecture that supports decoupled web and mobile customer experiences. It must be deployable within a FedRAMP-authorized and Department of War (DoW)-approved environment at Impact Level 2 or higher, as applicable, and use secure, documented, industry-standard interfaces to exchange product, pricing, inventory, order, fulfillment, and customer data without requiring intrusive modification of core enterprise applications.

The solution should support a multi-million-SKU catalog and configuration by store, region, language, currency, assortment, patron population, and fulfillment model. It should provide near-real-time visibility of product availability, pricing, promotions, and order status; centralized and configurable pricing and promotional rules; and omnichannel fulfillment capabilities, including buy online, pick up in store, curbside pickup, delivery, substitutions, inventory reservation, customer notifications, and exception management.

The solution should integrate with DeCA-approved identity and access-management services using industry-standard authentication and authorization protocols. It should support single sign-on, multifactor authentication where required, patron eligibility validation, role-based access controls, audit logging, and secure session management.

The solution should also support responsive web and mobile experiences, including device-supported authentication, barcode scanning, location-aware pickup workflows, shopping lists, reorder functionality, notifications, and cart persistence during intermittent connectivity.

Respondents should address technical architecture; security, privacy, accessibility, logging, monitoring, scalability, availability, and continuity capabilities; integration approach; mobile and omnichannel capabilities; and a recommended phased implementation and global deployment approach. Respondents should also describe data ownership, data portability, documented export mechanisms, use of nonproprietary interface standards where practicable, and transition or exit support to enable DeCA to migrate data, configurations, and operations at the end of performance or upon transition to a successor solution.

4.0 REQUESTED INFORMATION & VENDOR CAPABILITY STATEMENT

Interested parties are requested to submit a capability statement addressing the questions outlined below.

4.1 Corporate Profile

1. Company Details: Organization name, physical address, point of contact (name, email, telephone), CAGE Code, and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).

2. Business Size & Socioeconomic Status: Specify your business size under NAICS 334111 (size standard: 1250 employees. Identify any socioeconomic designations (e.g., Small Business, 8(a), HUBZone, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business [SDVOSB], Woman-Owned Small Business [WOSB]).

3. Contract Vehicles: Identify all existing Government-Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) or Federal Supply Schedules held by your firm where these software licenses or services are available (e.g., GSA Multiple Award Schedule [MAS], NASA SEWP V, DoD ESI, NIH CIO-SP3/4, or NITAAC). Provide vehicle contract numbers.

5.0 RESPONSE INSTRUCTIONS & SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

• Response Deadline: Capability statements must be submitted electronically via email no later than 27 October 2026 (Tuesday) at 1700 Eastern Standard Time (EST).

• Vendor Questions / Clarifications Cutoff: Questions regarding this RFI must be submitted via email no later than 20 October 2026 (Tuesday) at 1700 Eastern Standard Time (EST) to ensure timely Government responses.

• Format Requirements:

• Submissions must be delivered as a single searchable Adobe PDF document.

• Page limit: Not to exceed fifteen (15) pages total (standard 8.5" x 11" page layout, 1-inch margins, minimum 11-point font).

• Exclusions from page count: Title page, Table of Contents, Executive Cover

Letter, Acronym Index, Authorized Reseller Verification Letters, and Section 508 Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs).

• Section 508 Compliance: All proposed software capabilities must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). Vendors are encouraged to attach standard VPAT/ACR documentation as non-counting appendices.

• Points of Contact:

• Contracting Officer: TBD

• Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR): TBD

• Program Manager: TBD

• Acquisition Research Team:

• Joshua Wells, Joshua.wells.ctr@deca.mil

6.0 SPECIAL ACQUISITION PARAMETERS & CRITERIA

Parameter / Question Government Requirement / Parameter

Vendor Selection Pool Fair Opportunity under NAICS Code 334111 (targeted vendor pool of 35 contract holders specialized in Electronic Computer Manufacturing services).

Partial Quotes / Bids Not Allowed. Responses covering software subscriptions must encompass all specified platforms; responses covering SI services must encompass all technical support tasks.

Partial Delivery Not Allowed. Systems, licenses, and core interfaces must achieve integrated operational baseline IAW transition schedules.

Alternative Solutions Allowed? Yes. DeCA accepts data on equivalent, highly integrated commercial solutions mailto:Joshua.wells.ctr@deca.mil that satisfy all mandatory operational requirements and functional pillars.

Used / Refurbished Products Not Acceptable. All software, licensing, and environments must be genuine, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) new subscriptions directly backed by platform OEMs.

Authorized Resellers Required? Yes (Mandatory). Resellers responding must provide valid proof of authorized reseller partner status from the platform OEMs (Salesforce, Sprout Social, Adobe).

Section 508 ACR / VPAT Required? Yes. Federal statutory requirement that IT systems remain fully accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Vendor Questions & Answers (Q&A) Yes. Formal Q&A period permitted within 5 business days of issuance to resolve ambiguities prior to submission close.