RFI-Online Bookstore.doc

GPO’s Retail Bookstore Opportunity RFI

Contracting Office Address:

U.S. Government Printing Office, Acquisitions Services Division, 732 North Capitol Street, NW

Room A332, Washington, DC, 20401

Description:

This Request for Information (RFI) is issued for informational and planning purposes only!

The United States Government Printing Office (GPO) is currently establishing an online retail bookstore for its Publication and Information Sales (P&IS) program using Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)/Government off-the-shelf (GOTS) e-commerce solutions. GPO is requesting an industry assessment of our documentation and that the vendor community provides GPO with capability statements detailing experience and expertise with the implementation of COTS/GOTS E-commerce Inventory and Order Management applications.

This information will be used to revise, if necessary, our documentation so as to implement a system beginning in the second quarter of the 2013 fiscal year.

Background:

Today, P&IS manages inventory, performs order fulfillment, processes payments, submits invoices, and supports financial management with existing systems and processes. P&IS system applications support two operations – Main GPO and Pueblo, Colorado. Main GPO primarily focuses on the GPO Sales Program, but also fulfills consigned subscriptions for Federal agencies. Main GPO includes Headquarters, the Bookstore, the Contact Center located in Washington, DC, and the Laurel Warehouse located in Laurel, Maryland. The Pueblo, Colorado operation primarily focuses on consignment/reimbursable sales from Federal agencies and also stores inventory and fulfills orders for the GPO Sales Program.

2 Objectives

The objective of the current systems is to support all GPO Sales and Reimbursable programs with order processing and fulfillment.

1.3 Scope

The scope of the proposed P&IS systems includes all applications and major system components that support both Pueblo and Main GPO operations. These operations focus on the following:

· Acquisition. The process by which the GPO makes Federal publications available for purchase through the Superintendent of Documents.

· Marketing. Assessing customer purchasing patterns for the purpose of suggestive selling, promotional packaging, and discounting.

· Inventory. The storage and monitoring of publications (sales, consigned-agent, reimbursable, and by-law), including warehouse functions such as inventory movement, auditing, and re-supply.

· Sales. The placement of orders by customers and/or third-party vendors.

· Customer History. The preservation of customer profiles, including purchases, payment history, and order status.

· Publications. Books, maps, serials, videos, CD-ROMs, and subscriptions provided through the Superintendent of Documents or other Federal agencies.

· Item History. The preservation of publication purchase transactions, including purchaser, sales price, and cost.

· Subscriptions. A series of publications or periodicals distributed either regularly (monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, etc.) or irregularly (P&IS is advised when new items are available).

· Standing Orders. Publication orders by which the customer automatically receives updated or new versions when they are published.

· Shipping. The fulfillment of orders, which includes publication packaging (commonly referred to as picking and packing) and shipment.

Opportunity:

GPO is interested in hiring a vendor to implement the COTS/GOTS E-commerce solution to be scalable and interfaced with an Oracle enterprise resource planning (ERP) back-end system. The timeframe for implementation anticipates that a large portion of the applications will be operational and live by the end of the second quarter of the 2014 fiscal year.

Background Material Additional background material is available by contacting the Office of Programs, Strategy and Technology (int@gpo.gov). It is strongly encouraged that anyone interested in this opportunity be familiar with the following documents:

· P&IS Concept of Operations - The document which provides a high-level conceptual vision.

· P&IS Requirements Document - The document which identifies user requirements.

Requested Information:

Keeping P&IS goals in mind, please outline how your organization would implement a COTS/GOTS E-commerce solution in addition; how will your organization’s experience ensure a successful implementation within the given timeframes.

Vendors are hereby requested to submit a capability statement (10 pages or less) that addresses their ability to perform the implementation of an online E-commerce solution that includes application modules/software suites that address: Acquisitions, Marketing, Inventory, Sales, Customer History, Publications, and Shipping e.g. Order Management.

Please also list company points of contact and GSA Schedule number (if applicable). In addition, vendors are hereby encouraged to submit white papers or other documentation (no more than 15 pages) that address any gaps or concerns with the provided documentation. Feedback should include specific comments and suggestions for refining the documents to reflect clear guidance to industry and industry best practices.

Questions regarding capability statements, white papers, and other documentation must be submitted in writing to the Contracting Officer, Ingrid Gibson-Smith at igibson-smith@gpo.gov no later than August 28, 2012.

Capability statements and/or other white papers and documentation related to this RFI must be submitted by email to the Contracting Officer, Ingrid Gibson-Smith at igibson-smith@gpo.gov by 4:30 PM on September 6, 2012. Faxed copies are not acceptable.

NOTICE: This announcement is a request for information only and does not obligate the GPO in any way. This is not a request for proposal and the GPO will not pay for any information submitted or for any expenses associated with providing information. Any information submitted by respondents to this RFI is strictly voluntary. Material submitted will be deemed proprietary to the extent permitted by applicable laws and regulations if so marked by the respondent.

Place of Performance:

Location: Government Facility, US Government Printing Office

Address: 732 North Capitol Street, NW, Harding Hall, Washington, DC, 20401