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Louisiana's Electronic Catalog (LA eCat)
Louisiana's next installment toward total e-commerce
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Louisiana's eCat provides an Internet-based shopping tool for placement of contract orders. State agencies and political subdivisions can shop via the Internet, create shopping baskets, and place orders online. Existing state contracts established by the Office of State Purchasing are updated nightly. A variety of search methods is available to the user. Based upon your login, only items that your agency is eligible to purchase will be displayed. Simply enter a quantity by the items and LA eCat will handle the rest. There is also a search tool available without logging in. You may shop across multiple contracts for value comparison. When shopping is completed, "checkout" results in orders being created to appropriate vendors. Orders created by AGPS agencies will be placed in AGPS for any required approvals and encumbrance. Orders are then sent electronically to the vendor and an email is sent to notify them of the awaiting order. Vendors have the ability to receive their purchase orders via the Internet by logging into LA eCat, thereby avoiding delays associated with normal mail. If a vendor accepts Louisiana's Procurement Card (LaCarte) for payment, that information can be provided at time of checkout. Most of the current itemized contracts have been converted for LA eCat shopping. Some of the "catalog" type contracts have become "Punchout Contracts." The Punchout contracts will allow you to enter the vendor's shopping area and create your shopping basket and will transfer that data back into eCat. Examples of this type contract are PC contracts where a configurator is used, office supplies, and tools. LA eCat has been in the pilot phase with a limited number of agencies. Feedback from these users has been used to fine tune and formulate future enhancements. A Summary of Benefits include:
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