City looking for partner to launch, manage City of Boston online store

The goal of the store is to provide merchandise that aligns with the City's new digital brand on boston.gov, and that offers constituents, visitors, and employees the opportunity to buy a part of Boston's history and its future.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP) calling for a partner to work with the City's Department of Innovation to launch and manage a full service retail merchandise program that would serve as the City of Boston's Online Store. The goal of the store is to provide merchandise that aligns with the City's new digital brand on boston.gov, and that offers constituents, visitors, and employees the opportunity to buy a part of Boston's history and its future.

"We are excited about the opportunity to share our redesigned digital brand in a new way," said Mayor Walsh. "In the City of Boston we have so much to be proud of, and by sharing official City of Boston branded merchandise, we are inviting residents, visitors, and everyone to proudly represent and be a part of our City. I look forward to finding new and innovative ways to continue building our assets around the desire of our people."

The objective of the online store is to maximize engagement with Boston residents. Achieving this objective requires the selected partner to develop merchandise using our designs, acquire stock, fulfill orders, and manage sales.

The ideal candidate will have a well-established and managed vendor sales network; produce high-quality merchandise that meets City style guidelines; seamlessly fulfill orders; and provide excellent customer service.

The selected vendor will retain a portion of proceeds from the sale of its merchandise, and will provide services described in the RFP at no cost to the City.

The term of the contract will be one year, with two one-year options to review at the City's sole discretion. More information about the RFP is available here. Responses will be due no later than 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11 by 12pm.

In June 2016, Mayor Walsh launched Boston.gov , the redesigned digital front door at the City of Boston. The website features significant changes to the visual design, organization, and underlying technology of the City's website.