Planning

Office for Product Safety and Standards- Online Marketplaces Product Search Software

  • Department for Business & Trade

UK2: Preliminary market engagement notice - Procurement Act 2023 - view information about notice types

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-039328

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-055dc2

Published 11 July 2025, 2:36pm



Scope

Description

This is a request for information (RfI)

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) are looking to understand if there are existing Commercial of The Shelf (COTS) software packages that will allow them to gather data on harmful products on the online market. At a minimum, OPSS will need the ability to gather data on products on the following online marketplaces:

- Amazon

- eBay

- Etsy

- Temu

- Ali Express

OPSS would also like the ability to capture product information from smaller, individual webshops and social media markets, selling products within the UK.

The need for OPSS to get complete, accurate and quality data is the foundation to this discovery and will enable the fulfilment of other additional requirements that OPSS can benefit from pertaining to product searching.

The desired results that the requirements aim to achieve as part of this work is:

• Efficiencies in product searching

• Better monitoring of previously delisted products

• Ability to monitor seller activity

• Better insights into problematic products

• Increase in number of non-compliant product found/taken down

• Increase number of prosecutions

These outcomes will help enable OPSS to proficiently identify harmful products in the UK market and ensure consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence.

We are issuing this request for information to understand if the above software is currently available at COTS software. Please contact commercialddat@businessandtrade.gov.uk to request access to the full list of current expected functional requirements.

Please respond by 9am (BST) Monday 28th July 2025 via email to commercialddat@businessandtrade.gov.uk with confirmation on whether this is a piece of software that your company would be able to provide.

Please note, there is not commitment from DBT to proceed with procuring a solution. Currently, we are solely gathering information on the curent market and to understand if there are is an existing solution in the market that meets our needs. There is no guarantee that any potential procurement that occurs will be like-for-like with the requirements in this notice, and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT)/OPSS reserves the right to change and amend the requirements as they see fit.

Please note that the estimated contract value and contract start dates within this notice are unknown and not confirmed. At this stage, DBT/OPSS is only gathering information from the market. Any eventual procurement that may arise from this RfI may not be of the same value or contract length as stated in this notice.

Total value (estimated)

  • £500,000 excluding VAT
  • £600,000 including VAT

Above the relevant threshold

Contract dates (estimated)

  • 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026
  • 1 year

Main procurement category

Goods

CPV classifications

  • 48000000 - Software package and information systems

Engagement

Engagement deadline

28 July 2025

Engagement process description

This is a request for information only.

Please contact commercialddat@businessandtrade.gov.uk to request access to the full list of current expected functional requirements.

Please respond by 9am (BST) Monday 28th July 2025 via email to commercialddat@businessandtrade.gov.uk with confirmation on whether this is a piece of software that your company would be able to provide.


Participation

Particular suitability

  • Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
  • Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Contracting authority

Department for Business & Trade

  • Public Procurement Organisation Number: PZZJ-6312-QTTD

Old Admiralty Building

London

SW1A 2DY

United Kingdom

Region: UKI32 - Westminster

Organisation type: Public authority - central government