The Quoting Dashboard module is where Buyer Admins can view all Quote Requests and Quotes from all Site Users and Suppliers in a given Marketplace. Admins cannot take action with respect to any of the Quote Requests or Quotes in this module. Its purpose is purely to provide visibility over all quoting activity in a Marketplace.
For reference, here is some quoting terminology:
- Quote Request: Created by a Site User on a Marketplace, a Quote Request is a form that collects information from the Site User about what they’re looking to purchase. The Site User then submits the Quote Request to one or more Suppliers who can provide what they’re looking for.
- Quote: Created by participating Suppliers for a specific Quote Request, a Quote indicates how much the requested goods or services will cost, and when they can be delivered.
[Screenshot of Quoting Dashboard]
The Quoting Dashboard table displays a list of all Quote Requests from all Site Users in the Marketplace.
Enter a Quote ID, Quote Request name, Supplier Category, or Site User name in the search bar at the top of the table to find a specific Quote Request. Click the Filter by Status button to filter the Requests in the table by specific statuses.
[Detail Screenshot of Search bar and Filter by Status dropdown expanded]
A Quote Request can have one of seven statuses. This is what each status means:
- Request Submitted: The Site User has submitted the Quote Request, but no Suppliers have responded with Quotes.
- Change Requested: The Site User has requested a change to one or more Suppliers’ Quotes and the remaining Suppliers have either declined to quote the Request, or the Site User has declined the remaining Quotes.
- Pending Review: There are one or more Suppliers’ Quotes waiting to be declined or accepted by the Site User.
- Declined: All submitted Quotes have been declined by the Site User.
- Declined by Supplier: All Suppliers have declined to quote the Request.
- Accepted: The Site User has accepted one of the submitted Quotes but hasn’t yet ordered the quoted goods or services.
- Ordered: The Site User has ordered the quoted goods or services from the Supplier they chose.
[Include detail screenshots of each status in the list above?]
Sort the Requests in the table by clicking the arrow next to the column headers.
[Detail screenshot of column sorting]
If there are more than 20 Quote Requests in the Marketplace, the table will be paginated, and page navigation options will appear at the bottom of the page. Click the Results Per Page dropdown to display more Quote Requests per page.
[Detail screenshot of table footer with multiple pages]
The Quoting Dashboard table has eight columns. Some of these columns may not be visible if you are viewing the page on a smaller screen or browser.
- The ID column displays the unique ID assigned to each Quote Request. Click on the ID number to view the Quote Request Details page.
- The Name column displays the Quote Request Name entered by the Site User.
- The Category column indicates the Supplier Category selected by the Site User. Click here for more on Supplier Categories.
- The Quote-By Date column displays the deadline set by the Site User by which Suppliers must create Quotes for the Request.
- The Requested by column displays the name of the Site User who submitted the Quote Request.
- The Responses column displays the number of Suppliers who have responded to the Quote Request with a Quote out of the number of Suppliers to whom the Request was sent.
- The Status column displays the status of the Quote Request in the quoting process. See the statuses listed above.
- Click the view icon in the Action column to view the Quote Request Details page.
Quote Request Details Page
[Screenshot of Quote Request Details page (Supplies Style)]
The Quote Request Details page will display a list of all the participating Suppliers that the Site User submitted their Quote Request to. For those Suppliers that have submitted Quotes, an arrow on the right-hand side of the Supplier will expand the section, displaying the details of the Quote(s) submitted by that Supplier.
Click the Show Request Details button in the top right-hand corner of the page to view the Site User’s shipping address and the following details about the Site User’s Quote Request:
- Quote ID is the Request’s unique ID number.
- Request Date is when the Quote Request was first submitted by the Site User.
- Quote-By Date is the deadline set by the Site User by which Suppliers must create Quotes for the Request.
- In-Hands Date is the date by which the Site User would like their goods or services delivered.
- If enabled in Quoting Settings, and if utilized by the Site User, Tax Exemption will display a link to download any documentation proving tax exemption that was uploaded by the Site User to the Quote Request.
[Detail Screenshot of Quote Request Details section expanded]
Supplier List
By default, the Supplier list on the Quote Request Details page will be sorted by status. The Suppliers with Declined statuses will be at the bottom of the table, and the Suppliers with the Pending Review status will appear at the top. Among those Suppliers, the Supplier with the most affordable Quote will appear at the top. Click the Sort by button to change the way the Supplier list is sorted.
[Detail Screenshot of Sort by dropdown]
Each Supplier in the list will appear with its name, logo, Designations, and one of seven statuses. This is what each status means:
- Pending Quote: The Supplier has not yet responded to the Request with a Quote.
- Change Requested: The Site User has requested a change to the Supplier’s Quote.
- Pending Review: A Quote from the Supplier is waiting to be declined or accepted by the Site User.
- Declined: The Site User has declined the Quote(s) submitted by the Supplier.
- Declined by Supplier: The Supplier has declined to quote the Request.
- Accepted: The Site User has accepted the Supplier’s Quote but hasn’t yet ordered the quoted goods or services.
- Ordered: The Site User has ordered the quoted goods or services from the Supplier.
[Include detail screenshots of Pending Review status]
[Detail Screenshot of Supplier List, with as many statuses as possible displayed]
Click a Supplier’s logo to open a popup with that Supplier’s profile. Depending on the options enabled in Quoting Settings, the Supplier profile may include the Supplier’s star rating and statistics.
[Detail Screenshot of Supplier Profile popup, with the works]
Each Supplier in the list will also display additional at-a-glance information about their Quote:
- Valid Until is the date by which the Site User must accept and order the Quote for the quoted prices to be guaranteed.
- Lead Time is the amount of time the Supplier estimates it will take to deliver the quoted goods or services once the order is placed.
- The total price of the Quote. The total price of the most affordable Supplier will appear in green.
If the Supplier has submitted multiple Quote versions, the at-a-glance information will reflect the most recently submitted Quote.
[Detail Screenshot of a single, collapsed, Supplier line with Pending Review status.]
Click the Download Quote List button at the bottom of the page to download a PDF document of all Quotes.
Quote Details
If the Supplier in the Supplier list has submitted a Quote, click the arrow on the right-hand side of the Supplier to expand the section. The Quote and its details will appear.
[Detail Screenshot of (Supplies-style) Quote with line items collapsed]
A Quote can have one of five statuses. This is what each status means:
- Change Requested: The Site User has requested a change to the Quote.
- Pending Review: The Quote is waiting to be declined or accepted by the Site User.
- Declined: The Site User has declined the Quote.
- Accepted: The Site User has accepted the Quote but hasn’t yet ordered the quoted goods or services.
- Ordered: The Site User has ordered the quoted goods or services.
[Include detail screenshots of each status]
Below the line items in the Quote are additional details:
- Quote Date is the date when the Supplier submitted the Quote to the Site User.
- Valid Until is the date by which the Site User must accept and order the Quote. The quoted prices are guaranteed up to the Valid Until date.
- Lead Time is the amount of time the Supplier estimates it will take to deliver the quoted goods or services once the order is placed.
- In-Hands Date is the date by which the Site User would like their goods or services delivered.
- Shipping indicates the delivery method the Supplier intends to use for the order.
- Prepared by lists the name and contact information for the Supplier representative who submitted the Quote.
- Supplier Notes may appear if the Supplier has entered any additional notes to the Site User about the Quote.
Also below the line items in the Quote is a pricing breakdown with the item subtotal, shipping, and tax. Additional Fees may appear if the Supplier added an additional charge to the Quote. Processing Fee may appear if a Marketplace-wide processing fee has been created by the Buyer organization in Quoting Settings.
Click the Download Quote button at the bottom of the Quote to download a PDF version of the Quote.
Quoted Line Items
A Quote can contain any number of line items. These will be the line items requested by the Site User. In some cases, however, the Supplier may be allowed to suggest an alternate to one or more of the line items requested. If that happens, the Site User’s original requested item will be struck through, and a new line item, created by the Supplier and marked as Suggested Alternate, will appear below the struck-through line item.
[Detail Screenshot of Suggested Alternate (probably Supplies line item)]
A Quote can contain one of two kinds of line items depending on the Supplier Category that was selected by the Site User when creating the Quote Request:
- Supply Products
- Apparel/Promotional Products
1. Supply Product Details
[Detail Screenshot of Supply Product Quoted items]
Supply products will appear in a table that lists the item name along with any product image uploaded by the Supplier, the product SKU, quantity, per-unit price, and total quoted price. Sort the line items in the table by clicking the arrow next to the column headers. If a line item has additional details, click the arrow on the left-hand side of the line item to expand it. The following details may appear in the expanded line item:
- Item Description or Notes are notes entered by the Site User when submitting the Quote Request.
- Item Attachment is an attached link or file uploaded by the Site User when submitting the Quote Request.
- Supplier Notes are notes entered by the Supplier when quoting the Request.
- Supplier Attachment is an attached link or file uploaded by the Supplier when quoting the Request.
[Detail Screenshot of expanded line item]
2. Apparel/Promotional Product Details
[Detail Screenshot of Supply Product Quoted items]
Apparel/Promotional Products will appear in a list that displays the item name, product image provided by the Site User or Supplier, desired brand, desired color, total quantity, per-unit price or range, and total quoted price. Click the arrow on the left-hand side of the line item to expand it. The following details may appear in the expanded line item:
- Brand is the preferred item brand entered by the Site User.
- Color is the preferred item color entered by the Site User.
- Style/SKU is the item style or SKU entered by the Site User.
- Allow Supplier to suggest alternates indicates whether or not the Site User allowed the Supplier to suggest an alternate option for the item.
- Budget indicates whether the Site User has a budget for the item or not. If the Site User has a budget, the amount will be displayed.
- Quality indicates whether the Site User prefers good, better, or best quality.
- Quantities indicates whether the quantities listed in the table below are exact or are estimates.
- Product Details or Requests are general product notes entered by the Site User.
- Quantity Details or Requests are quantity-specific notes entered by the Site User.
- Supplier Notes are notes entered by the Supplier when quoting the Request.
- Supplier Attachment is an attached link or file uploaded by the Supplier when quoting the Request.
If the Site User would like to have the product decorated, a Decoration Method will appear with one or more decoration location cards below it. Each location card will include the name of the location, the number of colors in the artwork, and may include specific color swatches with color details, production notes from the Site User, a download button to access an artwork file uploaded by the Site User, and a download button to access a pre-approved logo file.
[Detail screenshot of decoration section]
If multiple sizes or variations of a given product have been requested, a table with all variations will be displayed with their respective quantities, unit prices, and total prices. The Supplier may also add a setup fee as an additional line item inside a given product. That setup fee will appear below the size/variation table.
[Detail screenshot of size/variation table]
Multiple Quotes per Supplier
A Supplier may choose to submit multiple versions of a Quote. The Site User may also request changes to a Supplier’s Quote, prompting the Supplier to submit a new version. In these cases, all Quotes submitted by a Supplier for the same Request will be visible when a Supplier in the list is expanded. Each Quote version will be numbered, and the most recently submitted Quote will be listed at the top. Change requests from the Site User may also appear in between Quotes.
[Detail Screenshot of two Quote versions with change request notes between them.]