E-commerce

Svenska

The City of Stockholm uses e-commerce to make sure the right goods or services are delivered from the contracted supplier at the agreed price and terms.

In procurements, the city requires e-commerce. The city has the possibility to connect suppliers to the city's purchasing system. For you as a supplier, e-commerce means that the agreement you have with the City of Stockholm becomes orderable for the city's purchasers.

The City of Stockholm's deptartments and several municipal companies are connected to the purchasing system. The purchaser can search for goods or services in the purchasing system and place an order that is sent to the supplier. An order sent from the purchasing system means that it has been approved by an authorized purchaser in the city.

The city follows the standard recommended by SFTI for electronic purchases and digitized purchasing flows for e-commerce – 'Peppol BIS e-commerce'.

Peppol BIS e-commerce, the website of SFTI (in Swedish)

Three different connection methods

The connection methods that the city uses for e-commerce are as follows: 

  • simple e-commerce
  • shopping in the supplier's web store
  • integrated e-commerce. 

Sometimes the connection methods can be combined, based on what is most practical for the city and the supplier. Technical requirements related to e-commerce are specified in connection with procurement.

With simple e-commerce, all suppliers can connect to the purchasing system, including those suppliers with limited technical capability.

In short, simple e-commerce means that the contract item is made orderable in the purchasing system through a price list created in an Excel template. The city places an order in the purchasing system, and the supplier receives the order by email. The supplier then emails a confirmation of the order and sends an electronic invoice to the city in the PEPPOL Bis Billing format.

Simple e-commerce is suitable for:

  • agreements for goods with a limited range that do not change often
  • service agreements
  • agreements covering both goods and services.

Simple e-commerce is cost-effective, and the connection to the purchasing system itself is relatively quick.

Shopping in a supplier's web store essentially means that the supplier's web store is connected to the purchasing system. When an city employee needs to purchase a product or service from the supplier, the purchasing system redirects the employee to the supplier's web store. After the employee has assembled their shopping cart in the web store, the cart is electronically sent back to the purchasing system where the employee can complete their order. This is called “punch out” and means that the order is not completed in the web store, but the order is sent from the purchasing system.

Other messages, from confirmation to invoices, can be sent between the supplier and the purchasing system as with integrated e-commerce.

Shopping via the supplier's web store is mainly suitable for supply agreements with large assortments. It is particularly appropriate if there are frequent updates to the assortment/prices or where the purchaser needs to make many choices for the same item. It can also be suitable if it is very important for the purchasers to be able to see stock levels when ordering.

Integrated e-commerce briefly means that the supplier sends an electronic product catalog which is imported into the purchasing system. Orders, confirmations, delivery notifications, and invoices are then sent between the supplier and the city's purchasing system via electronic messages in PEPPOL format. 

Integrated e-commerce is mainly suitable for supply agreements with a large assortment and that generate a high number of orders.

The connection method is also suitable for agreements where there is a need for the user to receive feedback regarding their order. An electronic order flow allows for faster feedback to the purchaser and is therefore suitable for agreements that require quick communication regarding availability and delivery.

Updated