PrestaShop request a quote: from price request to paid order

A PrestaShop request a quote process that stays inside your shop takes three pieces: a button on the product page so your customer can ask for a price, a place where you reply with your prices, and a way for them to pay that offer at your checkout. Without that last piece, every quote ends up in emails, PDFs and orders you key in by hand.

Picture Claire, who sells restaurant furniture from Manchester. A new restaurant gets in touch: they want forty chairs and ten tables, and they want to know what price she can do if they take the lot. Claire copies the list into a spreadsheet, works out the discount and sends a PDF. The customer replies: what if we go up to fifty chairs? Another version. When they finally say yes, Claire has to build the order herself, because on the shop the chairs are still at the catalogue price.

Does PrestaShop have a request a quote feature?

Not as such. The closest thing it has is creating an order from the back office: you find the customer, add the products, change the price by hand and email them a link to pay for that cart.

For a one-off, that works. For selling this way every week, it falls short:

• The customer can't ask for it from the shop. They email or phone you, and you type out their list.
• There's no back and forth. If they want to change quantities or discuss a price, it's back to email.
• You can't see how many quotes are open or how many turn into orders.

And the usual shortcut, a voucher code so the customer pays the agreed price, has a catch: codes get shared, and the price you agreed with one buyer ends up doing the rounds of a buying group.

How do I add an "Add to quote" button in PrestaShop?

With B2B Quotes for PrestaShop, the product pages you choose show "Add to quote" next to the buy button. It picks up the quantity from the quantity selector and the combination the customer has chosen: the size, colour or finish goes with the line.

Your customer fills their list, "My quote request", just like a cart. And if they already have a full cart, "Request a quote for this cart" copies every line in one click.

When they send the request, they can include:

• A note on each line ("in oak, not beech").
• A message for you and their files: a floor plan, a logo, a list from their supplier.
• The delivery address, so you can work out tax and shipping.
• If you allow it, the price they would like to pay for each line.

That last point changes the conversation. Instead of guessing how much margin you need to give up, you see straight away what price they are hoping for and decide whether you can get there.

Who can request a quote?

You decide by customer group. You can open it only to your trade customers, to every registered customer or to visitors too.

A visitor builds their list without registering and, when they send it, signs in or creates an account without losing anything. If the visitor group isn't allowed, they see "Sign in to request a quote". If your shop already controls who gets in, as explained in how to set up a trade-only PrestaShop shop, the two fit together: only the customers you have approved can ask for a price.

Can I hide the price and sell by quote only?

Yes. It's the second decision you make: which products can be bought straight away and which are sold only by quote. You set it for the whole shop, by category or on each product page.

• Quote only: the price and the buy button disappear, on the product page and in listings, and "Add to quote" takes their place. That product can't go into a normal cart, only into the cart of its quote.
• Both: someone who wants one unit buys now, and someone buying in volume asks for their price.

The first suits made-to-measure products; the second, a shop that sells to consumers and to businesses. You can also set a minimum amount so nobody asks you for a quote on two screws.

How do I send the customer my prices?

Requests reach you by email and in a list in the back office, under Customers › Quotes. Open one and you see the customer, their previous orders, what they are asking for and the price they suggest.

That's where you put the offer together:

1. Enter your price on each line, change quantities or add products they forgot.
2. If you like, a discount on the total, as a percentage or an amount, and free shipping.
3. Give it an expiry date (thirty days by default) and a message.
4. Click "Send offer". They get an email with the PDF and a link to view it.

You can also create a quote for a customer who hasn't asked for one.

How does the customer pay the agreed price?

This is what separates a quote that sells from a PDF that sits in an inbox. Your customer opens the offer in their account, under "My quotes", and has three buttons:

• Accept and buy: a cart is created with those lines and those prices and goes straight to checkout.
• Ask for changes: they write to you and suggest their price per line again.
• Decline the offer: and tell you why.

Once they accept, they pay like any other purchase in your shop, with your carriers and your payment methods. The order that comes in is a normal order, linked to its quote.

And the agreed price stays where it belongs: only for that customer and only in that cart. It isn't a code anyone can pass on, or a rule other customers can see. If they remove lines from the cart, the quote discount no longer applies.

How long is a quote valid for?

As long as you set in the offer: until the end of its expiry date. A few days before it expires (three, unless you change it) the customer gets a reminder, the nudge for anyone who had forgotten about it.

If the date passes without an order, the quote expires and the prices are withdrawn. From their account they can ask you for a new offer, and you decide whether to keep the prices or update them.

What if the customer wants to negotiate?

Back to Claire: "what if we take fifty?". The customer clicks "Ask for changes", writes a message and suggests their price. The quote goes back into your list as awaiting a reply, you change whatever you need to and send another offer.

Every offer you send is saved as a version, with its prices, total and expiry date. No more digging through email to find the right PDF. Messages, with their files, go both ways inside the same quote, and you can add internal notes the customer never sees.

At the top of the list you see how many quotes are waiting for a reply, how many offers are still live and how many of them turned into orders over the last ninety days.

Does it work with Odoo?

If you run sales in Odoo, with the Odoo PrestaShop connector every request from the shop arrives in Odoo as just another quotation. Your sales team works on it there, the offer comes back to the shop with its number and PDF, and the customer's order confirms that same quotation, with nothing duplicated.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work with PrestaShop 8 and 9?

Yes, from PrestaShop 1.7.6 to 9, with the Classic and Hummingbird themes and the themes built on them. It doesn't rewrite any part of PrestaShop, so it doesn't clash with other modules when you update.

Can customers attach files to a quote request?

Yes, up to five per message, and you decide which file types you accept and their maximum size. Floor plans, images, spreadsheets and PDFs are ready to go. Files are never on public view: they are downloaded from their quote, never from a public address.

Does the customer need to sign in to see the offer?

To see it, no: the link in the email opens the offer and its PDF directly. To accept it and pay, yes, they need to sign in.

Where do I start?

Think of the last ten quotes you sent by email and start with those products: decide whether they can also be bought directly, and answer the next request from the shop. Everything you have just read is built into B2B Quotes for PrestaShop: its page is just below, with the screens, compatibility and price.