What is Request for Quote (RFQ)?
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Term
A request for quote (RFQ) is a formal buyer request asking a supplier to provide pricing and commercial terms for specified products or quantities. In B2B ecommerce, RFQs can be created, negotiated, approved, and converted into orders through a digital portal.
RFQs are common when the final price cannot be determined from a public price list alone. The buyer may need a large quantity, project-specific configuration, negotiated delivery schedule, or account-specific terms. In a digital B2B flow, the request is captured as structured data so the seller can respond, negotiate, and convert the accepted quote into an order without re-entering the details manually.
An ecommerce RFQ workflow typically includes:
• Products, quantities, technical requirements, requested dates, and buyer account information.
• Seller review by a sales rep, pricing team, or CPQ system.
• Quote versions, comments, expiry dates, discounts, and approval status.
• Conversion of an accepted quote into a cart, sales order, or purchase order while preserving agreed terms.
RFQ capability is especially important for complex B2B catalogs where standard checkout would oversimplify the sale. The workflow should still use authoritative pricing, inventory, tax, and customer data from back-office systems. Otherwise the digital quote becomes another disconnected document that staff must reconcile manually before the order can be fulfilled.
Example: A buyer requesting 5,000 custom units can submit specifications and delivery needs online; the supplier’s sales team responds with a negotiated quote that later converts directly into the order.
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