Goals and Objectives of this Request for Proposal

Open Source Matters, Inc., on behalf of the Joomla Project, aims to find a company or individual willing to create, manage and run a merchandise shop on the domain shop.joomla.org

The overall goal for the Joomla Project is to have a professional service with a good selection of quality products shipped to our customers without delay or undue cost. This is more important than earning commission although this is of course also considered during the proposal evaluation.

 The Joomla Project expects to find a supplier who can design, manufacture (print) and ship merchandise products such as T-shirts, caps, stickers and similar merchandise bearing the Joomla logo and/or Joomla related promotional messages.

The shop will be promoted on the various web properties of Joomla as well as on social media and official Joomla events with the intent of allowing the huge user base of Joomla to purchase products directly to support the project. Additionally it is intention of the Joomla Project to purchase any merchandise needed by the project itself directly in the shop (with hopefully a quantity discount).

Responders

  • Individuals, organizations and corporations are eligible to respond to this request.
  • Responders should have previous experience developing and running an online store.
  • Responders should be willing to share detailed accounting and financial data about the shop with Open Source Matters Inc.
  • Responders must have the capability of shipping orders worldwide at a reasonable rate and without undue delays.

Scope of Work & Services Required

The awarded applicant will be required to develop, set-up, maintain, run, promote and update an online shop on the domain shop.joomla.org, using a Joomla e-commerce extension, at no costs to Open Source Matters or the Joomla Project.

The awarded applicant will be required to share a commission of each sold product following an agreed structure as well as provide detailed accounting and financial transparency.

The awarded applicant must agree to pay Open Source Matters the due commission according to a monthly schedule.

The awarded applicant must agree to handle all sales, enquiries, returns, refunds, complaints and issues in a transparent and timely manner following the general industry standards.

The awarded applicant will be licensed to use the Trademarks and Logos owned by the Joomla Project and should be able to create appealing designs themselves. Additionally the Joomla Project may submit designs for the awarded applicant to use. Both the Joomla Project and the Awarded applicant has veto rights and can reject designs or products proposed by the other party.

The shop shall accept payments in US Dollars and Euros and shall be available in English. Any proposal intending to offer a shopping experience in additional languages and currencies will be favoured.

Compensation

Open Source Matters, is not legally able to run an online shop itself because of its fiscal status. For this reason Open Source Matters is obliged to award a 3rd party applicant the job of setting up and running a merchandising shop in return for commission paid to Open Source Matters.

Commission payment should be monthly by VEEM.

Proposal Requirements

Responders are requested to write a proposal of how they intend to set up and run the online store in as much details as possible. We are especially interested in hearing about the following:

  • Examples of which products would be made available at what prices (5-10 examples) and what packaging will the applicant offer
  • If the applicant intends to provide a promotion calendar
  • What profit sharing solutions will the applicant offer - What level of commission would be shared with OSM for each product
  • What Joomla extension would power the store
  • What relevant experience does the applicant have in setting up and running a merchandise shop
  • What delivery method (cost and time) the applicant expects for each product (examples of countries)
  • Which location(s) the applicant will be shipping from
  • Which locations the applicant will NOT be shipping to
  • What unique or special ideas the applicant may have for the project
  • How long will the applicant need to set up the shop from being approved
  • Anything else the applicant may find relevant for our decision
  • Which discount structure would be reserved to Open Source Matters for quantity orders (e.g. to be sent to JoomlaDay, Joomla User Groups, etc.)
  • Any proposed contract should be of a 3 years length with a mutually agreeable renewal clause

Submission Timeline

July 02nd 2020 Publication of request for proposal
July 18th 2020 Deadline for questions to be submitted by email to
July 25th 2020 Answers to questions submitted by email will be provided to all parties.
August 25th  2020 Deadline for proposals to be submitted by email to
September 05th 2020 The Board of Joomla aims to notify vendors by this date.
September 12, 2020 EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

Terms

  • The RFP can be withdrawn at any point without reason.
  • No compensation will be given to any entity submitting a proposal or working on a proposal.
  • The vendor selected for this proposal will be solely at the discretion of Open Source Matters, Inc.
  • Open Source Matters, Inc. reserves the right to not award any applicant in the case no proposal meets the expectation or the requirements set by this RFP.

Questions from the potential vendors