Like shopping and ordering items online in just a few clicks on Amazon, GSA Advantage! is an online shopping and ordering system operated by the General Services Administration (GSA). The system provides government agencies access to a wide range of products and services available on GSA Schedule contracts, which are pre-negotiated agreements between GSA and commercial companies.
The GSA Advantage! website is designed to help federal agencies streamline their procurement processes, save time and money, and ensure compliance with procurement regulations. Because of this, GSA Advantage! is an incredibly useful marketing tool for contractors. In this blog, we’ll cover 5 reasons you should become familiar with GSA Advantage! so you can grow your contracting opportunities.
What is GSA Advantage?
GSA Advantage! is like the Amazon for the government. It houses a wide range of products and services, including office supplies, furniture, electronics, IT products and services, hardware tools, and more.
The GSA Advantage! website offers a user-friendly interface that allows federal government agencies and authorized users to search for products and services, compare prices and features, and place orders online. While this site is mainly used for product orders, government agencies can still use it to browse services to find what they need and then can request a quote or make an offer to the contractor directly if they are able to. The system also offers features such as order tracking, purchase history, and customizable catalogs.
GSA Advantage! is a powerful tool used by Contracting Officers for market research and is used by the individuals responsible for government purchasing. When your company maintains a presence on this program, increased visibility is a guarantee.
How to Get On GSA Advantage
Once your company has been awarded a GSA Schedule, you will need to upload your GSA catalog through a Schedule Input Program (SIP) upload to have your GSA-approved products posted on GSA Advantage!. Once your items are visible on the site, government agencies can start finding your offerings.
After this initial upload, you will need to make sure your information is up to date, including prices, contract modifications, and descriptions of all items posted. Just like you don’t want to order a product on Amazon that doesn’t have the correct specifications or price, no government agency wants to see outdated information, so it’s important to stay on top of this.
Why You Should Use GSA Advantage to Grow Your Contracting Opportunities
As mentioned before, GSA Advantage! is a huge asset for GSA contractors. Here are 5 reasons you should become familiar with this site and use it to your advantage.
1. Increased Visibility
Even if you’ve already established consistent relationships with existing buyers, your public sector footprint could grow even larger with the aid of GSA Advantage!. Updating your GSA Advantage! account ensures that your products and services are visible to all potential government customers. By regularly updating your account, you'll be able to attract more customers and generate more sales.
2. Low Business Cost
As a GSA contractor, you have unique access to this site. No other government contractors can use it to list their products and services. GSA maintains the GSA Advantage! system free of charge to vendors and agencies, offering your company a free and open marketplace for potential customers to view your solutions.
3. Free Market Research Tool
Government agencies are always looking for faster delivery at the lowest cost, so here’s your chance to see what the competition is offering. You can view other vendors’ pricing for the same or similar products and services to determine if you are staying competitive in the market. Government customers are looking not only at how much something costs, but to see if it’s best value and how fast they can get it (if you’re offering products).
4. Competitive Advantage
Keeping your GSA Advantage! catalog updated with current and relevant information can give you a competitive advantage over other vendors who may not update their accounts as frequently. Something to note is buyers often won’t see your results if your GSA Advantage! price list isn’t up to date, GSA is cracking down and removing outdated price lists. Even with this caveat, a lot of contractors aren’t frequently maintaining their catalog, so if you are taking care of this you could already be one step ahead of your competitors.
5. Great Customer Service
If you’re having trouble or have questions about GSA Advantage!, GSA has created a website dedicated solely to vendors. The Vendor Support Center website contains a wealth of information concerning placing your catalogs on GSA Advantage, as well as other information relevant to contractors. You can also use this site to research past GSA Advantage! sales dating back from Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 as it stands now to FY 2008.
Maintaining Your GSA Advantage! Catalog and Pricelist
It's essential to keep your GSA Advantage! account up-to-date to remain in compliance with GSA regulations. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in penalties, suspension, or even termination of your contract. Making sure that all your awarded line items are posted with the correct pricing and that all information accompanying each line item is current, accurate, and complete.
Although it can be time-consuming to keep up with the site, GSA Advantage! is a valuable purchasing tool for government buyers, so it’s an important marketing platform for contractors to get their name out there.
If you want to read up more on GSA Advantage!, check out these blogs:
If you have any questions about GSA Advantage! or if you want more information on how to sell to government buyers, reach out to a member of our Winvale team!
