Separate Shopping Carts Using Website Quote Forms

Quoting carts are an example of a unique eCommerce business solution that online businesses can get during custom shopping cart development that they might not be able to find in an off-the-shelf or SaaS-based shopping cart. This is in addition to the regular eCommerce shopping cart that works alongside it.  

Typically, quotes can be easily integrated into an ERP system so that the estimated cost for items is accurate and up-to-date, but there may need to be a quote process because the customer has the ability to configure an item on the product detail page that they customized with a wizard configurator. If they do select certain aspects of a configuration, the client team may want them to review some of those customizations, maybe just have proof of what the plan is for that particular product before it gets built. 

This second cart allows them to get an answer from the salesperson, including the price of the line items and a note that says something to the effect of “this is a general estimate, not a final estimate.” During the checkout they could specify things like what their ideal lead time and delivery scenario is.

Improve Customer Communication

It would be ideal for a customer to not have to deal with multiple forms of communication, such as phone, chat, texting, faxes, and email, especially when they urgently need something. The ideal scenario would be that they could still utilize a quote request form within their secondary quote cart that's separate from a traditional cart to make the process as single-channel as possible. 

At this point, they could also put in information about their preferred form of contact for communication about this specific project (phone, text, email). Just being able to specify the preference for communication can be a complete game-changer for a customer who needs something in a timely manner. A return message from the eCommerce business they're working with could even let them know what phone number to look out for so that the number is not blocked or ignored. Another advantage of working with a customer developer is that you can offer the exact form of chat you need. The customer may decide that working via the website’s chat is what they’re looking for.

Having a quote cart (in addition to a regular cart) allows customers to have a single transaction on your eCommerce platform instead of going through checkout twice. This separate cart can be an excellent means of telling your team, “It’s not a product that we can just box up and send out. It's a quote that we need to get to quickly.”  

A typical business might offer a 12-hour turnaround time to provide estimates. Once the client has been alerted to this time estimate, the business might ask, “Would you like to schedule a 30-minute slot to review these with our team? We can incorporate all of these into the checkout process whenever we're dealing with a quote in order to streamline things and automate the quote process.  

Expediting Quote Paperwork

Depending on the level of complexity of the quote, there may need to be an engineering contact or purchasing contract in order to collaborate and coordinate on some of the specs for the item that came through the secondary shopping cart’s quote request form. The client could indicate who is on their team is involved with the project, and the B2B platform itself could send an automated set of information to the effect of: 

"Thank you for submitting a quote, we’ll respond within 12 business hours. Based on the fact that you've been listed as the engineering contact, we recommend providing this additional information if you haven't already."

The idea is to take advantage of the fact that Clarity has access and control of the entire eCommerce framework, and we can run a very sophisticated process in an automated way. 

Another eCommerce solution that Clarity can provide is the ability for a customer to check out with a regular cart and then be asked for more information once they've completed the checkout. In short, there may be a complicated item that someone wants a quote for. Instead of bombarding the customer with a requirement to provide all the information up front, we can allow them to process the request for quote and continue to check out their other items.  

This gets their quote into the queue for the quoting team, and a business can go ahead and let the customer know that they are now free to provide additional information. A customer who isn’t feeling rushed to get through the checkout process is more likely to provide better details — and more information — that can improve the accuracy of the quote. 

Bulk uploads can also be an important part of a website quote form. Customers can upload various pieces of information about non-custom products they’re interested in ordering; this list often comes from spreadsheets or from ERP outputs. This might be a preferred method for: 

• Reordering – The client keeps their own list of items they want to reorder and uploads the information repeatedly so that a new quote can be requested. 
• Future orders – Customers might not need items for a month or more but are interested in having a quote for a long list of items. 
• The customer is busy – Some clients might be too busy to search a site for a long list of items. A salesperson could tally what they need and give them a quote. 
• The customer wants service – Some old-school customers might be proficient with a computer but still want the service of a salesperson working for them. 
• They might be shopping around – It's much easier for a customer to bulk upload a list of items than to search for dozens of individual items, especially if they’re uploading the same list to multiple suppliers
• They might not find what they’re looking for – A customer may say, “I’m looking for this list of items, but I can’t find the brand or the SKU on your site.” The salesperson, who is much more familiar with the inventory, can help customers find the products or suggest alternatives. 

Clarity Improves Your Quote Process

Offering online quote forms as part of the website shopping cart can be a complete game-changer for a customer’s trust and confidence in making purchases from an eCommerce site. Focusing on these processes and workflows can be very, very beneficial and profitable, generating repeat, loyal customers. Clarity can make that happen, and the shopping cart and checkout UI can offer a smooth process that makes purchasing easy. A website quote form could be a useful part of your B2B ecommerce platform, so contact Clarity today.