Comparing Vendor Quotations

The Quotation Comparison & Approval screen shows all vendor bids for a specific line item side-by-side, along with Best Price, Average Price, Savings Insight, and Fastest Delivery summary cards — giving you everything needed to decide who to award.

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Complete step-by-step process:

1. Open Quotation Comparison & Approval and select the relevant quotation/PR from the left-hand Line Items panel (e.g., "Bearing-Tata (100000002)").
2. Note the top toggle options: Already in Auction and Negotiate, which indicate whether this item is part of a live auction or open for direct negotiation.
3. Review the line item summary card — showing Qty (e.g., 159), priority, number of quotes received, Best price, and Avg price.
4. In the main comparison panel, review four key summary metrics:
   • Best price — the lowest quoted price among all responding vendors.
   • Average price — the mean price across all vendors who quoted.
   • Savings insight — percentage below or above your average price benchmark.
   • Fastest delivery — the shortest delivery time quoted (e.g., 0 days).
5. In the vendor table below, compare each vendor's Unit Price, Delivery time, Quantity, UOM, Proposed Qty, and Discount (percentage or flat).
6. Use the Search vendors... bar and Sort: price toggle to organize the comparison if many vendors have responded.
7. To negotiate further, use Bulk Counter Offer (applies to multiple vendors simultaneously) or the individual action icons (history, comment, negotiate) next to a specific vendor's row.
8. Once you've identified the winning quotation, click Create PO (top-right) to convert it directly into a Purchase Order.

Reading the "Bid Close In" countdown: At the top-right of the screen, a live countdown (e.g., "7d 13h 19m 4s") tells you exactly how much time remains before the current comparison/bidding window closes — critical for knowing whether you can still negotiate or need to finalize immediately.

Real example interpretation: For "Bearing-Tata," with only 1 vendor (Samundra Jhala) responding at ₹200.00 unit price and 0 days delivery, the Best Price and Average Price are identical (₹36,119.80) simply because there's only one quote — Savings Insight shows 0% since there's no second quote to compare against.

Why single-vendor comparisons still matter: Even when only one vendor has responded, reviewing the comparison screen is still valuable — it lets you confirm the quoted Unit Price and Delivery Time meet your expectations before committing, and it gives you the option to negotiate (via Bulk Counter Offer or individual negotiation icons) for better terms even without competing bids to leverage.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "0.0% below avg quote" mean when Best Price equals Average Price? 

It means only one vendor has quoted so far (or all quotes are identical), so there's no price variance to calculate savings from.

Can I award a PO to a vendor other than the one with the Best Price? 

Yes — factors like delivery time, past reliability, or negotiated terms can justify awarding to a non-lowest bidder, subject to your organization's approval policy.

What's the difference between "Bulk Counter Offer" and individual negotiation? 

Bulk Counter Offer sends a counter-proposal to multiple vendors simultaneously (useful for quickly pressuring price down across the board), while individual negotiation targets one specific vendor's quote.

Does "Proposed Qty" ever differ from the original PR quantity? 

Yes — vendors can sometimes propose a different quantity they're able to fulfill, which you can review and adjust before finalizing the PO.

What happens after I click "Create PO"? 

The system generates a formal Purchase Order based on the selected vendor's quotation, which then becomes trackable under Live PO.

What does the "19/21" style counter near the Search vendors bar typically represent? 

It commonly reflects a completion or response count — for example, how many of the invited vendors have submitted a quote out of the total invited — useful for gauging response coverage before finalizing.