Typically, in online sales activities on an e-commerce site, purchases are made directly: select a product, add it to the cart, and if everything is ok, confirm the order and proceed to payment.
In certain sectors, however—especially in B2B (business to business), such as selling equipment to companies—a very common activity that precedes the order is the request for a personalized quote.
A quote is a price quotation for a supply that can depend on various factors; for example, a specific time of year, the relationship with a long-standing customer, or the importance of the ordered quantity.
Quotes in an e-commerce site with Open2b
Usually the process from quote request to order completion goes through several steps and takes time. Having a tool that facilitates this transition can be extremely useful, even more so in e-commerce, where the relationship with potential customers happens mostly at a distance.
Open2b is e-commerce software that offers functionality to integrate quote management into the purchase process of an e-commerce site in addition to the normal order process.
This system is designed to speed up the transition from negotiation to order in commercial relationships.
You can freely generate a quote from a very convenient interface, send it to the customer with one click, modify it multiple times in real time based on their feedback, set amounts and deadlines, and enable printing.
The key feature is that once approved by the customer, the quote becomes an order in every respect, added to all others received and integrated into numbering and management.
All quotes and orders are saved, and the customer can view them at any time by accessing their reserved area.
Ease of use, speed of preparation and email delivery ensure a truly effective quote creation and management process: transcription errors are reduced, waiting times are shortened, and the company appears well organized and attentive to customer needs.
Imagine having the customer on the phone while you both review the quote you sent. You can modify it in real time in front of them, changing products, prices, quantities, shipping and payment methods, addresses, etc.
When everything is agreed, the customer will only need to click “Accept” to convert the quote into an order and possibly proceed immediately with payment by credit card or PayPal.
Online quote requests on the e-commerce site
Open2b also completes quote management with the ability to request specific quotations directly on the e-commerce site. This is not a simple information request form, as is often the case. It is the first step of negotiation, fully integrated into the purchasing process.
Interested visitors can select one or more products, indicate quantities, add notes, and then request a quote.
And as merchants, you can set with increasing precision that only certain customer groups can request quotes, or that a product is always quote-only, or only if certain quantities are ordered.
How the quote-to-order flow works
The customer adds desired products to the cart and requests a personalized quote based on their needs. Open2b guides them through completing the request and the notification arrives via email both to them and to you, enabling prompt handling.
Once the quote is created, the customer receives it via email and in their reserved area, evaluates the proposal and accepts it directly online. Open2b will automatically convert the accepted quote into a new order ready to be managed and paid. Everything is simple, fast, and intuitive!
All that remains is to try the Open2b e-commerce platform in its B2B version and experience firsthand the unique flexibility of a complete software developed entirely in Italy!