SC certified sales website

The State Fiscal Accountability Authority (SFAA), Office of State Procurement, on behalf of the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA), is seeking a contractor to design, develop, and manage an eCommerce website for selling Certified SC branded apparel and promotional items. The project requires establishing two separate website portals: one accessible to the general public and another restricted to Certified SC program members. The contractor will be responsible for comprehensive operations including warehousing, inventory management, order fulfillment, embroidery services, and product distribution. Specific deliverables include offering branded apparel items such as polos, t-shirts, long-sleeve tees, pullovers, vests, and hats, along with associated point-of-sale materials. Key evaluation criteria will include technical proposal quality, business proposal cost-effectiveness, demonstration performance, and overall risk assessment. Critical dates include a non-mandatory preproposal conference on January 9, 2025, a question submission deadline of January 13, 2025, proposal due date of March 4, 2025 at 11:00 a.m., and award notification scheduled for May 6, 2025, with an anticipated contract start date of May 16, 2025.

The contract has specific location requirements mandating that the contractor's operations and warehouse must be located within South Carolina, with an explicit prohibition on offshore contracting or data processing outside the continental United States. The initial contract term is one year with four optional one-year renewals, creating a maximum potential contract period of five years through May 15, 2030. Insurance requirements include $1,000,000 per occurrence for commercial general liability and auto liability, plus specialized information security and privacy insurance with $5,000,000 per claim and $10,000,000 aggregate limits. The contractor must establish payment terms including a minimum 10 percent commission paid to the SCDA, process credit card payments, and provide monthly comprehensive reporting covering fulfillment, products, orders, shipping, web traffic, and return/damage metrics. While no specific incumbent vendor is mentioned, this appears to be a brand-new program with no existing sales or inventory history. The solicitation indicates that the top three responsive offerors will be required to provide live demonstrations in Columbia, South Carolina during the week of March 24, 2025, with the final award made to the single highest-ranked responsive and responsible offeror.