Overview

When dealing with small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), trade, government departments and international customers, a quotation function can offer additional value not generally available on B2C websites. There are many reasons for a customer to request a quote:

  • Compliance - the customer may need a few quotes from different suppliers as part of corporate governance; they may use this as a form of approval as well.
  • Better Pricing - the customer wants to buy a large quantity of multiple items and would like a sales rep to review for better prices;
    • Or they may have seen a competitor's product but would prefer to buy yours if you can price match or start a conversation about why your product is better.
  • Provide Assistance - the customer needs to buy a specific product but is unsure if there are any accessories, consumables etc required - a quotation will offer you an opportunity to upsell and convert a quote into Sales Order.
  • Freight Information - the customer wants to buy a product and would like to confirm the shipping costs and lead time before proceeding.

Request a Quote gives your B2B customers the ability to add items to their cart and send a quote request. Your staff responds. The customer reviews it and can place an order based on the quote.  This can be set up as a completely online only process or integrated in your ERP as 'Quote' order types. When captured in your ERP, simply follow your existing internal workflows for dealing with customer quote requests. An approval process where quotes need to be signed off by specific customer roles or users can also be added.




On this page:


Request Quote Modes

Several quotation modes are available. The standard mode can be self-configured. The other options need consultation with Commerce Vision.

  • standard: this self-configured mode can be enabled by Admin roles. Request Quote is set for specific Roles, e,g, B2B buyer. Note that freight is not calculated in the quote 

  • standard and approved: integrates quotes to your ERP with approvals managed online through the approvals feature 
  • standard and Pronto approved: this mode integrates the standard mode with Pronto approved 
  • advanced with freight: this mode includes freight calculations and must be customised to your specific freight solution 
  • Pronto approved: (for use with Pronto only) - this mode integrates with the Pronto quote approval system
  • Pronto freight approved: (for use with Pronto only) - this mode integrates with the Pronto freight system 
  • online only: this mode is completely managed on your Commerce Vision website
  • online with appproved: this mode is online with online approvals  

*Pronto can be replaced with the ERP used by your business. 



Customer Experience

Instead of proceeding to checkout from the Cart page, your customer requests a quote on their cart items by clicking the Request Quote button. They will receive a 'Quote Confirmation' email and your nominated admin staff member(s) will receive a 'Quote Submitted' email.  



In the standard quotation mode, a quotation request is loaded into your ERP, e.g., PRONTO, with the quotation status: '02'. In the ERP, your Sales Rep and Customer Service team can easily identify the items on the quote, check cost (and margin), etc. After any price adjustments, the team converts the quotation to a Sales Order directly in your ERP. This is re-integrated online.

View Quotes in Order History

Your customer can also view and review the quote details in their Order History screen.


Quote notification emails

After a quote has been submitted, your admin staff will receive a 'Quote Submitted' email. The customer will receive the 'Quote Confirmation' email.  


Email: Quote Confirmation emailExample: Quote Submitted email

Configure Standard Quote Mode

To enable standard quoting:

1. Set Request Quote for a Role

  1. In the CMS, navigate to Users → Roles.

  2. Select the Role you'd like to update (e.g. 'CSSUser'). The page will immediately refresh to display role details.

  3. Select the Functions tab and click Modify.

  4. Set Allow Order Quote Requests to Yes.

  5. Click OK to save.



2. Set Order Quoting Mode to Standard

Quote requests utilising standard system functionality will not include shipping charges. If this data is required in quote calculations, please contact Commerce Vision for assistance.

  1. In the CMS, navigate to Settings → Feature Management → Payment & Checkout.

  2. Scroll down to Quotes and ensure it is toggled ON.
     

  3. Click Configure.

  4. In Quote Mode Selection, select 'Standard'. (NOTE - While there are other options in the lookup, they will not function unless customised by Commerce Vision.)
  5. Click Save or Save & Exit.


3. Configure the Quote Confirmation Email (optional)

  1. In the CMS, navigate to Content → Emails.

  2. Search for 'quote' and you'll see the following options:
    • Quote Confirmation - the email your customer gets when they submit a quote request
    • Standard Quote Submitted - the internal email sent to your staff to advise of a new quote request


  3. Select the Quote Confirmation Email template. 

  4. You can edit any of the existing widgets, or add new ones. In the example below, Static Content Widget was added to display the 'thank you' subtitle text.


 

Additional Information


Minimum Version Requirements


4.17


Prerequisites


--


Self Configurable


No


Business Function


Orders


BPD Only?


Yes


B2B/B2C/Both


B2B


Third Party Costs


n/a



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