By Lookout Staff

June 16, 2025 -- More than ten Santa Monica City departments can now make an estimated $3 million in annual transactions through government credit cards under a newly launched E-Commerce platform that could help boost local businesses.

On Monday, the Silicon Valley startup Glass announced the launch of the company's "first of its kind" platform built exclusively for the public sector, marking "a major milestone in Santa Monica’s digital transformation."

Using the platform, City departments -- including Public Works, Fire, Finance, Community Services and Police -- can access an estimated 5 million products and services offered by the City’s vendors, according to company officials.

Finance officials in charge of procurement said the City "successfully transitioned" to the G-Commerce platform in May of last year to achieve "greater customization and control."

"The new platform introduced substantial upgrades in user interface, approval workflows, and vendor integration—enhancing both our control mechanisms and our ability to meet operational needs with greater efficiency and effectiveness,” officials in charge of procurement said.

The platform -- which can be used on an office desktop or remotely on a mobile device -- has "consolidated thousands of transactions" and "reduced administrative overhead," company officials said.

"This new platform replaces legacy workflows that previously required department buyers to navigate multiple vendor websites, email threads, and spreadsheets to complete a single purchase," the company said.

"Now, all procurement activities are centralized, offering speed, visibility, and compliance in one unified digital environment."

Gerardo Mateo, Glass’ director of government platforms, said the G-Commerce will help boost the City's Buy Local initiative by ensuring the government is using local vendors, according to the website Govteach.com.

Local businesses who want to do business with the City can have access to platform support by phone and email, Mateo told the website.

“So, we are essentially removing the barrier of entry for those [local businesses] to start selling,” he said.