Amazon business and GSA Advantage: a comparative analysis

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Theses and Dissertations

1. Thesis and Dissertation Collection, all items

2017-12

Amazon business and GSA Advantage: a comparative analysis

Canter, Holland D.

Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School Downloaded from NPS Archive: Calhoun

NAVAL POSTGRADUATE

SCHOOL

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA

MBA PROFESSIONAL REPORT

AMAZON BUSINESS AND GSA ADVANTAGE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

December 2017 By:

Holland D. Canter Tabitha J. Gomez

Advisors: Karen Landale William Muir

Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

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2. REPORT DATE December 2017

3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED MBA professional report

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE AMAZON BUSINESS AND GSA ADVANTAGE: A COMPARATIVE

ANALYSIS

5. FUNDING NUMBERS

6. AUTHOR(S) Holland D. Canter, Tabitha J. Gomez

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA 93943-5000

9. SPONSORING /MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND

ADDRESS(ES) N/A

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10. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER

11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. IRB number NPS.2017.0036-IREP7-A.

12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE

13. ABSTRACT (maximum 200 words)

This project analyzes two e-commerce platforms--commercially-available Amazon Business, and federally-managed GSA Advantage--to assess the benefits and limitations of using the government purchase card (GPC) to buy from each platform. Spurred by the fact that senior acquisition leaders in the U.S. government are seeking ways to strategically manage their GPC spend, this research provides an unbiased look at these two popular e-commerce platforms. With comparisons based on prices, shipping costs, and shipping time, of commonly-purchased items, ease of use and customer satisfaction, and future improvement initiatives, we provide senior acquisition leaders the potential benefits, limitations, and risks of using Amazon Business and GSA Advantage for repetitive, GPC-based micro-purchases. We also provide ways each e-commerce platform can improve to meet the needs of its government users.

14. SUBJECT TERMS GPC, e-commerce, micro-purchase, Amazon, GSA Advantage

17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT

Unclassified

NSN 7540?01-280-5500

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CLASSIFICATION OF THIS

PAGE Unclassified

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109

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OF ABSTRACT Unclassified

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UU

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Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. AMAZON BUSINESS AND GSA ADVANTAGE: A COMPARATIVE

ANALYSIS Holland D. Canter, Captain, United States Air Force Tabitha J. Gomez, Captain, United States Air Force Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL

December 2017

Approved by: Karen Landale, Ph.D.

William Muir, Ph.D.

Rene Rendon, Ph.D. Academic Associate Graduate School of Business and Public Policy

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AMAZON BUSINESS AND GSA ADVANTAGE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS ABSTRACT

This project analyzes two e-commerce platforms--commercially-available Amazon Business, and federally-managed GSA Advantage--to assess the benefits and limitations of using the government purchase card (GPC) to buy from each platform. Spurred by the fact that senior acquisition leaders in the U.S. government are seeking ways to strategically manage their GPC spend, this research provides an unbiased look at these two popular e-commerce platforms. With comparisons based on prices, shipping costs, and shipping time, of commonly-purchased items, ease of use and customer satisfaction, and future improvement initiatives, we provide senior acquisition leaders the potential benefits, limitations, and risks of using Amazon Business and GSA Advantage for repetitive, GPC-based micro-purchases. We also provide ways each ecommerce platform can improve to meet the needs of its government users.

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