The new Statewide eProcurement system, ARBuy, will make it easier for vendors to do business with the State of Arkansas. Self-registration in ARBuy will be REQUIRED for all vendors to continue doing business with the State.
Once you have completed your form, your dedicated Account Manager will reach out to you to set up a meeting to discuss your ARBuy Statewide contract goals.
FAQ
Convenience fees to fund procurement operations, cooperative programs, and systems are very common across the U.S. These fees are, essentially, a way to modernize the procurement operations and sourcing experience for buyers, as well as improve services to the supplier community. Suppliers paying the 1% fee will be able to load their catalogs of products or services for searching and ordering in the Supplier Marketplace. Many of those suppliers can also benefit from promotional campaigns to public sector buyers and assistance with existing and expanded reporting and remittance requirements.
Periscope is collecting the Supplier Convenience Fee on behalf of the State to fund State procurement and purchasing operations, support Arkansas Cooperative Purchasing Program buyers, and enable eProcurement through ARBuy.
The Procurement efficiency program was updated to assess a percentage fee to suppliers from the value of all transactions on each contract, including Cooperative Purchasing Participants.
Reporting and fees are paid separately by contract.
Yes, other than the amendment, other terms in the supplier’s contract will remain the same. Those existing terms include reporting and auditing, which is an existing condition of most State contracts.
Yes. Fees will not be assessed on invoices related to PO’s encumbered before the start of a Supplier’s participation in the ARBuy Marketplace.
The current payment options are:
Payment Option 1: ACH – Direct to Periscope
Bank: Texas Capital Bank, N.A.
Address: 2000 McKinney Ave., Dallas, TX 75201
Phone: 877-839-2265
Account Type: Checking Routing: 111017979
Account Number: 4011036870
Account Name: Periscope Intermediate Corp, New Jersey Operating Account
Payment Option 2: Remittance Addresses for Checks
First Class Mail:
Periscope Intermediate Corp
PO BOX 674844
DALLAS TX 75267-4844
Overnight:
Periscope Intermediate Corp
LOCKBOX NUMBER 674844
1200 E CAMPBELL RD STE 108
RICHARDSON TX 75081
Exemptions are provided on a limited basis at the discretion of the Division of Purchase and Property.
No, all expenses for doing business must be worked into your contract pricing.
Yes, the State’s contract officer is not changing because of the eProcurement implementation project.
No, the convenience fee will only apply to sales made using the State of Arkansas contract vehicle.
Many other states have taken similar approaches to funding cooperative purchasing programs such as the ARBuy Marketplace Program. Participating suppliers are funding the technology and the team that will sign up new users, market and advertise your statewide contract items, and help drive increased purchases through statewide contracts.
Only State Agency and Arkansas Cooperative Purchasing Participant end users can view catalogs in ARBuy. Suppliers cannot view other suppliers’ catalogs or related item pricing.
The terms of the Marketplace Program require supplier participation to build their online Marketplace presence. If the supplier does not participate, Periscope and the State reserve the right to create that online presence on behalf of the supplier. However, our dedicated ARBuy Catalog Implementation specialist will work with you to load the items from your state contract into the marketplace.
No. Suppliers will not be required to build punchout sites associated with the Periscope Marketplace. Some suppliers will want to do so and will be supported in that process. Others may simply upload their catalogs into Marketplace for searching and shopping.
Quarterly Sales reports are due no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the end of each calendar quarter. The calendar quarters end March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31.
- Complete and accurate details of all sales, credits, returns, refunds, and the like for the reporting quarter;
- Purchasing entity;
- Total of Supplier Convenience Fee amount due for the reporting quarter;
- Such other information as the State may reasonably request; and
- If no sales were made during the reporting quarter, then a report shall be submitted showing zero sales and zero Supplier Convenience Fee due.
All reporting requirements of your contract with the State are in effect.
This answer will depend on how your contract was included in the Marketplace Program:
For suppliers with contracts awarded from a solicitation that included the Supplier Convenience Fee, the Supplier Convenience Fee only applies to “Net Purchases” on your State contract. Net Purchases are your total sales on the contract less credits, taxes, regulatory fees, , and separately stated shipping charges not included in the unit prices.
For suppliers with contracts awarded from a solicitation that did NOT include the Supplier Convenience Fee, the Supplier Convenience Fee only applies to “Net Purchases” on your State contract. Net Purchases are your total sales on the contract less credits, taxes, regulatory fees, clearly agreed to “pass throughs,” and separately stated shipping charges not included in the unit prices.
Yes, the reporting and fee requirements are related to your contract with the State of Arkansas regardless of how sales are transacted.
Step 1: Sign the contract amendment and return it to supplier-support@periscopeholdings.com.
Step 2: Look out for an email from Periscope with links to a quick training video on how to setup your catalog in Marketplace.
Step 3: Work with Periscope to load your catalog.
Step 4: Start receiving orders.
Step 5: Report quarterly on all purchases made through your contract and pay your convenience fee.
A typical question is “What’s in it for me?” Based on independent research and similar State eProcurement initiatives, it’s been proven that eProcurement system brings many benefits to suppliers, including:
- The enablement of catalogs for direct searching and ordering, which makes it easier for purchasers to find what's on contract, understand the products and services, and quickly order. When purchasers can search the web for products, services, information, and solutions it greatly increases visibility and ordering (meaning increased sales).
- The system and catalogs will be rolled out to State agencies and to all Cooperative Purchasing Program Participants (e.g. Arkansas local governments, school districts, counties, and cities), which will increase the reach of state contracts.
- Support as a marketing arm for the statewide contracts to encourage knowledge and use by buyers, providing additional marketing resources directly for statewide contract suppliers.
Statewide contracts will be marketed to Arkansas public purchasing entities by the eProcurement system supplier. For example, we will advertise online and in print publications about what goods and services are available to buyers. We will manage ongoing outreach throughout the year to buyers, feature participating supplier logos at tradeshows, conduct webinars with suppliers, etc. This program will increase the visibility of statewide contracts and result in larger sales volumes for those suppliers.
Email supplier-support@periscopeholdings.com. Provide as much information as possible regarding the supplier's issue in the email.
Periscope is the developer and implementer of the ePro eProcurement system (branded as ARBuy in Arkansas). Periscope also provides other products and services for government procurement and purchasing including its suite of Periscope S2G products including the operation of a national public sector procurement supplier network. Periscope is managing the ARBuy Cooperative Program on behalf of the State.
OSP is the Office of State Procurement. This is a division of TSS (Transformation and Shared Services) that is primarly responsible for state procurement and contract management.
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