When is the submission deadline?

Submissions are due September 10, 2026. Questions must be submitted by August 28, 2026.

What is the budget for this RFP?

Settle estimates the budget at $11,000,000. The issuer has not published an official figure.

It was issued by The City University Of New York. The work is located in New York, New York, United States.

Who is a good fit for this opportunity?

Cloud-based bookstore or educational commerce platform provider. Experience integrating API-enabled solutions with higher-education enterprise systems. Proven capabilities in digital course-material fulfillment and voucher processing. Strong identity management, single sign-on, mobile, and web security expertise. 24/7 customer support and peak-period service capacity. Demonstrated reporting and analytics capabilities for academic retail operations.

Cloud-Based Virtual Bookstore Operations Solution (Due September 10, 2026)

Overview

Retail, E-Commerce & Consumer Goods

New York, New York, United StatesPosted: August 19, 2026Deadline: September 10, 2026

Settle Signals

Market intelligence for public sector sales teams

RFP Hunter shows what is open. Settle shows what is forming.

Settle pieces together buyer signals, budgets, contract activity, and the sources your team already monitors. See why an opportunity fits and what to do before the RFP posts.

Learn more about Settle

SUMMARY

The procuring organization seeks a secure, cloud-based virtual bookstore platform integrated with college enterprise systems. The five-year solution must support digital fulfillment, mobile access, customer service, course-material purchasing workflows, and comprehensive operational analytics.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Must have at least 3 years of experience providing virtual bookstore operations to large, multi-site educational institutions
Must have a verifiable operating history of at least 5 years with at least 3 higher education clients
Must demonstrate financial viability
Must support enterprise-scale usage for at least 270,000 total users and 15,000 concurrent users
Must comply with PCI DSS and FACTA standards
Must comply with ADA, Section 504, Section 508, and WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards
Must have experience processing agency-based book vouchers and financial assistance programs
Must be authorized to work in New York State

BUDGET

Estimate

$11,000,000

CONTRACT DURATION

60 months

TIMELINE

August 19th, 2026: CUNY Issues RFP

August 24th, 2026: Written Questions Due (Round 1)

August 28th, 2026: Written Questions Due (Round 2)

September 10th, 2026: Proposal Submission Due Date and Time

QUESTION DEADLINE

August 28, 2026

CONTACTS

Primary procurement contact — name, title, email, and phone

Additional decision-makers and their departments

See Decision-Maker Contacts

Issuing Agency

The City University Of New York

Organization overview and procurement intelligence available on paid plans.

See Issuer Research

DESCRIPTION

The vendor will provide a cloud-based virtual bookstore operations solution through a secure, web-based platform compatible with the enterprise technology environment and other systems used by the colleges. The solution must use a modern, cloud-based, API-enabled architecture and support secure, standards-based integration with related systems.

The platform must provide digital fulfillment, single sign-on integration with identity systems, secure direct login capability, compatibility with modern web browsers and mobile devices, and mobile-optimized web interfaces or dedicated applications. It must enable students to identify required course materials during course registration and support the discovery, comparison, adoption, procurement, and fulfillment of required and recommended course materials.

The vendor must provide customer support 24 hours per day, seven days per week, including live assistance from human representatives and extended service hours during peak academic periods such as registration. The solution must also offer real-time and on-demand analytics, including sales reports, fulfillment performance metrics, voucher transaction tracking, course material adoption analytics, and operational performance indicators. Proposals should include sample reports. The contract period will be five years.

Similar RFPs

Frequently asked questions

When is the submission deadline?: Submissions are due September 10, 2026. Questions must be submitted by August 28, 2026.
What is the budget for this RFP?: Settle estimates the budget at $11,000,000. The issuer has not published an official figure.
Who issued this RFP?: It was issued by The City University Of New York. The work is located in New York, New York, United States.
Who is a good fit for this opportunity?: Cloud-based bookstore or educational commerce platform provider
Experience integrating API-enabled solutions with higher-education enterprise systems
Proven capabilities in digital course-material fulfillment and voucher processing
Strong identity management, single sign-on, mobile, and web security expertise
24/7 customer support and peak-period service capacity
Demonstrated reporting and analytics capabilities for academic retail operations

Analysis generated by Settle AI from the source RFP.

RFP Hunter shows what is open. Settle shows what is forming.

Settle pieces together buyer signals, budgets, contract activity, and the sources your team already monitors. See why an opportunity fits and what to do before the RFP posts.

See how Settle works