The General Services Administration plans to implement e-marketplace platforms to help agencies speed up the procurement of products online and Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) are expressing interest in gaining a share of that market that could reach $50B annually, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
GSA is expected to contract with industry-run e-commerce portals in 2020 to provide federal agencies alternatives to government-operated websites that allow them to buy office supplies and other commercial goods online.
GSA’s e-marketplace program will initially impose a $10K limit for online purchases. The agency estimates transactions under that threshold account for approximately $6B annually and could grow to approximately $50B a year.
“We are helping to level the playing field and to make it easier for sellers to reach government buyers,†said Anne Rung, director of public sector at Amazon Business and a previous Wash100 winner.
GSA said the e-marketplace initiative will comply with federal policies governing supply chains.
