Quote in hours, not days:
how hardware suppliers win the RFQ.
In hardware and building supplies, most orders start as a request for a quote, and the supplier who answers first with a complete, clear quote usually gets the order. You get there by capturing every request in one place, drafting the quote from prices you already agreed, and keeping prices private where you need to.
Why speed decides the order
A contractor's list goes to three or four suppliers at once. One 2026 guide to selling building materials online puts it at 60% of purchases going through a quote request before validation, and names quoting in under four hours as the operational key: beyond that, the buyer asks a competitor. Whoever replies first with every line priced sets the benchmark the others are measured against.
What slows a quote down
- Lists in every format: a photo of a handwritten note, a spreadsheet, a voice note, an email with the spec buried under the signature.
- Sizes written the way buyers speak: 1/2" x 1-1/2", M12 x 40, “12 by 120”, 8.8 or “HT”.
- Prices that live in one person's head, or in a spreadsheet nobody else trusts.
- Units that do not match: the price list says each, the catalogue says pieces, and the draft comes out at zero.
- Items you do not stock holding up the whole quote.
A quote buyers can say yes to
- Every line answered. Price what you have and mark what you do not stock as not available, so the buyer sees you read the whole list.
- Terms on the page. Validity, delivery, payment terms and VAT, shown the way the buyer's accounts team expects.
- Spec sheets attached wherever a size or grade could be questioned.
- One click to accept, or to propose changes, so a yes turns straight into an order.
Keeping prices private without slowing down
Many trade suppliers do not publish prices: contract rates differ by customer, and competitors read websites too. That is a sound choice, as long as asking for a price is effortless. Let buyers browse the whole catalogue, add items to a request without creating an account, and send it from the website or WhatsApp. The price arrives on the quote.
How Sokisoko handles it
- Quote requests from the website (no account needed), WhatsApp and enquiry forms land on one quote desk.
- Each request is drafted into a quote from the buyer's price list (customer, then group, then website), with units matched however your catalogue spells them.
- Quote terms, attachments, per-line terms, not-available lines and VAT display are built in; a person always presses send.
- Buyers accept, decline or propose changes online, and an accepted quote becomes an order.
- Prices can be public, shown to signed-in buyers only, or quote-only, per store.
Source: Hardware and building materials online store: quotes and heavy delivery (2026)
Questions people ask about this
Can buyers request a quote without an account?
Yes. A guest adds products to a request and sends it with a name and contact details; it lands on your quote desk.
Does the system send quotes automatically?
No. It drafts them from your prices; a person on your team reviews and sends each one.
Can I keep my prices off the website?
Yes. Set prices to quote-only and buyers see the catalogue with a request-a-quote button instead of a price.
See it on your catalogue,
in your currency.
A working session on your own products and prices, not a slide deck.