Negotiate a quote
If B2B Quotes are enabled in the configuration, price negotiation can be initiated by an authorized buyer from a company or a sales representative.
Buyers initiate the price negotiation process by requesting a quote from the shopping cart. Sales Representatives can initiate negotiation by creating a draft quote for a buyer, updating the quote with the initial order items and pricing, and sending it to the buyer.
When the price negotiation begins, quotes are listed in the Quotes grid. All negotiation between the buyer and seller takes place by email, and is initiated and tracked from the detail view of the quote.
During the negotiation process, the seller can do the following from the Admin:
- Add or remove products
- Change the quantity
- Apply a discount to line items, or to the entire quote
- Add or change the shipping method
- Add comments
- Send the updated quote to the buyer, or save as a draft
Buyers manage the quote negotiation process from the storefront using My Quotes. While the quote is open for review, its status in the buyer’s account is set to Pending. The buyer can change and resubmit the quote even if it was declined or is expired.
Step 1: View the request
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On the Admin sidebar, go to Sales > Quotes.
The new request appears in the Quotes grid.
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In the Actions column, click View.
Step 2: Modify the quote
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Under Quote & Account Information, click the Calendar (
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Choose an Expiration Date for the quote.
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Scroll down to the Quote Totals section and update the Negotiated Price as needed.
If the buyer changes the quantity of any items in the quote, a notice appears at the top of the quote, indicating that list of items has changed, and the negotiated price must be updated.
Add new products to the quote
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Click Add Products by SKU.
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Enter the SKU and Qty to be added.
Apply line item updates
Apply line item changes in the Items Quoted section if needed.
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Change the Quantity that must be purchased at the Proposed Price.
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Select Configure and change the product options.
The Configure option is available only on a line item for a configurable product
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In the Action menu, select an action to update the item:
- Discount item to apply a discount as a percentage, fixed amount, or preferred pricing.
Optionally, you can lock the discount amount to prevent further discounting. If the discount is not locked,
both the line item discount and any quote level discount are applied to the product price. - Leave a note to buyer to provide the buyer with additional information about an item
- Remove to remove an item from the quote.
- Discount item to apply a discount as a percentage, fixed amount, or preferred pricing.
Apply changes and update
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To apply changes, click Add to Quote.
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To update the quote, click Recalculate the Quote.
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To apply the changes and update the quote to the shared catalog and price rules, click Update Prices and then click Proceed to confirm the update.
Update shipping information
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If the buyer includes a Ship To address in the quote, click Get shipping methods and rates.
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Choose a shipping method from the available options.
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Enter a Proposed Shipping Price.
The Quote Totals are updated to reflect the proposed shipping price.
Attach a supporting document
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Under the Add your comment box, click Attach file.
By default, attached files can be up to 2 MB in any of the following file formats: DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PDF, TXT, JPG or JPEG, PNG.
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Choose the file from your directory.
Step 3: Update quote-level information, and send your reply
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In the Negotiation section on the Comments tab, enter your reply in the Add your comment section.
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To include a supporting document, click Attach file and select the file from your directory.
The maximum file size allowed for attachments is 2 MB.
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To apply a discount to the quote:
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Under Quote Totals in the Negotiated Price section, choose one of the following discount types:
Percentage Discount: A percentage discount reduces the original price by a specific percentage.Amount Discount: An amount discount applies a fixed price reduction.Proposed Price: A proposed price discount sets the final price to a specific amount, regardless of the original price.
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Enter the amount as a percentage or flat price.
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You can apply discounts to each line item or the quote as a whole:
- Line item discounts: Line item discounts are applied to individual items in the cart. The discount can be a
percentage, a specificamount, or aproposed price. - Cart-level discounts: Cart-level discounts are applied to the entire shopping cart. The discount can be either a
percentageor a specificamountand is applied to the total cart value. - Combination of Cart and Line Item Discounts: In some cases, discounts can be applied at both the cart and line item levels. The line item discount is applied first, followed by the cart-level discount on the remaining total.
- Line item discounts: Line item discounts are applied to individual items in the cart. The discount can be a
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Send or save the quote:
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If the quote is ready to send back to the buyer, click Send.
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To continue working on the quote later, click Save as Draft.
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Step 4: Follow up on a quote
When you send a quote, the system notifies both the buyer and the sales rep who manages the company account. The email includes a link to the quote in the buyer’s account and the expiration date of the quote. At any point in the negotiation, the buyer can do any of the following:
- Accept the negotiated quote and complete the purchase.
- Send a reply with a counter offer and continue the negotiation.
- End the negotiation.
To monitor its position in the workflow, check your email and the status of the quote in the grid. You can continue the negotiation process as long as needed.
Button bar
(copy) appended to the original name. Rename the new quote by editing the Name field. Process the new quote by saving it as a draft, or sending it to the customer.Field descriptions
Quote information and functions in the Admin are organized into the following sections.
Quote & Account Information
The seller can override the default expiration date by entering a different date (MMM DD YYYY ) or choosing the date from the calendar. The quote never expires if the field is left blank.
For open quotes, the seller receives an email notification 48 hours before the quote is scheduled to expire. Buyers are notified 24 hours before the expiration date.
The status of the quote changes to Expired and the buyer cannot make further changes to the quote. The proposed prices in the quote revert to the original values from the catalog.
If a quote is open for review by the seller when the quote is set to expire, the expiration date is reset according to the range that is set in the configuration.
The Expiration Date is the only field in the Quote & Account section that can be edited during the review process.
Add to Quote by SKU
Items Quoted
Selection menu of operations that can be applied to a line item:
- Discount item
- Leave a note to Buyer
- Remove an item from the quote
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Shipping Information
Negotiation
Add your comment - The comments are used to communicate with the buyer during the negotiation process. Use the comments to explain any discounts offered in the quote, or the reason a quote request is declined.
Attach file - The maximum file size and supported file types for attached files are determined by the configuration. By default, an attached file can be up to 2 MB, and of any of the following file types: DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PDF, TXT, JPG or JPEG, PNG.
Quote Totals
Subtotal (Excl. Tax) - The Catalog Total Price without estimated tax.
Subtotal (Incl. Tax) - The Catalog Total Price without estimated tax.
Estimated Tax - The amount of tax that is estimated to apply to the Catalog Total Price.
The discount that is offered to the buyer can be based on any of the following:
Percentage Discount - The discount as a percentage.
Amount Discount - The discount as a fixed amount.
Proposed Price - The price proposed by the seller.
If all items in the quote have a locked item discount, the Negotiated Price section is disabled because no further discount can be applied.
If a product has a line item discount that is not locked, both the line item discount and the quote-level discount are applied to the product price.