RFI - Webscraped Apparel Products

The Department of Labor, through its Cas Division 5 Procurement office under the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, has issued a Request for Information (RFI) with solicitation number OAA-26-00444 to gather market intelligence on vendors capable of collecting structured web-scraped data on apparel products from major U.S. retailers such as Macy’s, Kohl’s, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, JCPenney, and Amazon. This RFI is strictly for market research and does not constitute a solicitation, guarantee of a future contract, or obligation to award any agreement. The Government will not compensate respondents for their time, effort, or costs associated with submitting information. The scope requires vendors to deliver comprehensive datasets three times per month beginning in October 2026 for a one-year period, capturing detailed product variables including SKU, pricing (regular and promotional), brand, category, material, closure type, sleeve length, heel type, and product URLs, all delivered in machine-readable formats such as CSV, SAS, or TXT via secure SFTP. All data must be accompanied by a complete data dictionary and must not bear BLS branding or claim exclusivity. Response submissions are limited to 30 pages in Times New Roman 11- or 12-point font with one-inch margins and must include a cover letter, responses to all questions, a capabilities package, and optional marketing materials. Responses are due by 12:00 PM EST on July 31, 2026, and must be emailed to Daniel Garza. The Government will evaluate responses based on vendor capability, data collection methodology, delivery frequency and turnaround, technical support, and risk assessment, with no formal scoring weights assigned. Only responses deemed “Relevant” may be invited to demonstrate their approach to a panel of subject matter experts to inform future acquisition decisions, which may proceed as full and open competition or be set aside for small businesses, including those classified as small disadvantaged, woman-owned, HUBZone, or service-disabled veteran-owned. There are no contract line items, pricing structures, or funding allocations at this stage, and no contract clauses or special requirements—such as security clearances, key personnel designations, or delivery terms—are applicable. The place of performance is Washington, D.C., and while no Unique Entity ID or CAGE code is explicitly mandated, business size status must be disclosed, and submissions are evaluated for alignment with federal data handling standards. All correspondence and questions must be directed