Leveraging UNSPSC Spend Data for Smarter Market Research
State procurement data can feel overwhelming, but tools like the Department Spend dashboard help businesses see where opportunities exist and plan accordingly. The California Department of General Services (DGS) hosts Statewide Procurement Data Dashboards (SPDDs) aimed at providing easy access to State governmental procurement information and transparency through online graphical reports. The SPDDs were developed based on Executive Order B-12-11, established by then-Governor of California Edmond G. Brown Jr. in 2011. The SPDDs provide businesses with data resources that allow them to make sound business decisions.
There are six dashboards under the SPDD: Department Spend, UNSPSC Spend, Leverage Procurement Agreement Spend, Top 10 Department Spend, Top 10 UNSPSC Spend, and Certified SB/ DVBE Spend Comparison. This newsletter is going to focus on the UNSPSC Spend dashboard.
The United Nations Standard Products and Service Code (UNSPSC) is a global, hierarchical, and open coding system used to classify products and services for e-commerce procurement, and spending analysis. The UNSPSC Spend dashboard is a graphical report on the State of California’s procurement spending by UNSPSC each fiscal year. The data from the past four fiscal years can be accessed on this dashboard. The data can be extracted based on the State spending by UNSPSC.
How to Conduct a Search
Searches may be conducted by “Spend by UNSPSC” or “Search by UNSPSC.” Simply click the button of choice or click the page number at the bottom of the page. Spend by UNSPSC or page one is the default setting and Search by UNSPSC is on page 2.
Conducting A Search Using “Spend by UNSPSC”
Let’s begin with “Spend by UNSPSC,” which is the default setting. The data resulting from conducting a “Spend by UNSPSC” search will depict data in the following areas: UNSPSC, UNSPSC description, total spend, percent of total spend, purchase order (PO) line frequency, and spend over time shown in a sparkline graph. The default setting shows the Total Spend from highest to lowest spending. To change this setting, simply hover the mouse over the Total Spend column and click the black arrow to show lowest to highest spending option. The Total Spend black arrow is circled in red below. Also, this method can be used to adjust the percent total, PO frequency, and spend over time categories from highest to lowest or lowest to highest.
The benefit of using the Spend by UNSPSC setting is that it shows the total spending per UNSPSC by fiscal year making it easy to determine the potential financial opportunities of each UNSPSC.
Next, decide which fiscal year to collect data. Select the applicable fiscal year by clicking the “select a fiscal year” pull- down tab on the left-hand side of the webpage. Only one fiscal year may be selected per search.
In our example, fiscal year 2024 – 2025 was selected. A search based solely on the fiscal year would yield data based on the State of California’s spending per UNSPSC for that fiscal year.
Conducting a Search Using “Search by UNSPSC”
Alternatively, a search can be conducted by “Search by UNSPSC” by clicking the Search by UNSPSC or page 2, which is highlighted below. The data resulting from conducting a search by UNSPSC depicts data in the following areas: UNSPSC, UNSPSC description, department name, vendor name, total spend, and percent of spend. Each of these categories can be adjusted from highest to lowest or lowest to highest or alphabetically from A to Z or Z to A by hovering the mouse over the applicable category using the black pull-down to make the adjustment.
The benefit of viewing the data under the “Search by UNSPSC” setting is because it correlates the total spend and percent of total spend with the vendor’s name, the department name where the contract originated, and the applicable UNSPSC code. Therefore, the UNSPSC code could be listed multiple times. An example of an UNSPSC code being listed more than once is highlighted in orange. Another benefit is potential vendors can use it as a tool to market to departments and/or vendors to form synergistic partnerships or subcontracting opportunities based on previous spending and contracts awarded.
Next, decide which fiscal year to collect data. Select the applicable fiscal year by clicking the “select a fiscal year” pull- down tab on the left-hand side of the webpage. Only one fiscal year may be selected per search.
In our example, fiscal year 2024 – 2025 was selected. A search based solely on the fiscal year would yield data based on the State of California’s spending per vendor correlating with the department and UNSPSC for that fiscal year.
Additionally, a Search by UNSPSC could be streamlined by UNSPSC number or UNSPSC description, which shows each expenditure under a given UNSPSC from highest to lowest or lowest to highest spending. This is demonstrated below.
Due to the transparency afforded by Executive Order B-12-11, businesses can search for California procurement spending by fiscal year and/or by UNSPSC and use that information to make more informed business decisions. The UNSPSC Spend dashboard provides practical data that can help businesses forecast and allocate resources such as staffing and supplies, focus marketing efforts on departments with significant spending in relevant UNSPSC categories, and inform broader strategic planning based on statewide procurement trends. When used consistently, this tool allows businesses to move beyond guesswork and take a more data-driven approach to pursuing opportunities with the State of California.
If you are looking for help with government contracting or want no-cost help to find contracting opportunities, please contact your Norcal APEX Accelerator counselor for assistance or apply for services today!
Authored by: Indria Gillespie, Norcal APEX Accelerator Procurement Specialist
If you have more questions, please contact us at info@apexnorcal.org or (707) 267 – 7561
