Guided buying is a Marketplace shopping feature that categorizes suppliers.
Guided buying fosters compliant spending by directing buyers toward preferred suppliers while incorporating configurable product tags, such as: Eco-friendly, Local Vendors, Office Supplies, and Vendor Diversity, just to name a few.
Should your organization elect to utilize this functionality, your buyers will discover the guided buying section within the Marketplace. In the absence of defined and assigned collections lists, this section will not be visible in the Marketplace.
Users with the Community Management, Community Supplier Administrator or Community Administrator role can perform the task of adding Guided Buying groups.
To learn more about Guided Buying you can watch this video or continue reading below.
Customize Guided Buying
To customize Guided Buying, go to the Administration module > select Settings > click Management tab > select Guided Buying tab > click +Add Collection.
The Create Collection screen will populate > in the Collection Name field insert the desired collection name > Visible on Marketplace is enabled by default. If you desire ensure the Guided Buying Collection does not appear on the Marketplace screen, disable by selecting the toggle.
Add supplier with supplier tags, by selecting the dropdown in Add Supplier Tags field. To help support collections, supplier tags can be viewed on the Order Export. The Export will show the tags at the time of the order.
Click the encircled "i" above Add Content Block and the section will expand.
Insert the desired content in the text field and/or a URL (links will open in a new tab). That will appear at the top of the screen once buyers are on the Guided Buying screen in the Marketplace. To delete the content, select the trash can icon at the top of the text box.
To customize the Guided Buying landing screen, users can add one image to each collection with a maximum size of 2MB. The file format must be either JPG or PNG. To add the desired image, under Banner Image header select Browse.
Once completed, select Save. To cancel the in progress collection, select Cancel.
To reorder the community's Guided Buying Collections, select the up or down arrows in the desired collection.
Edit Guided Buying Collection
To delete a Guided Buying Collection, go to the Administration module > select Settings > click Management tab > select Guided Buying tab > select Edit.
The Create Collection screen will populate > to edit desired information > once completed, select Save.
View Guided Buying Collection
To view a Guided Buying Collection, go to the Administration module > select Settings > click Management tab > select Guided Buying tab > select View > review the listed content > select Save.
Delete Guided Buying Collections
To delete a Guided Buying Collection, go to the Administration module > select Settings > click Management tab > select Guided Buying tab > select Delete > a pop-up box will appear to confirm deletion, by clicking OK.
Create an RFQ from a Guided Buying Collection
Users can select a Guided Buying group of suppliers when creating an RFQ, by going to the Marketplace module > select Purchasing > click Request Quote.
The Request Quote screen will populate. There are 5 section within the Request Quote screen to complete, to submit the RFQ: Header, Suppliers, Attachments, Email, and Confirm.
Header section:
The RFQ header is used to define the buyer's requirements. To complete the Header section, insert required information marked with a red asterisk. Once completed, select Continue.
Suppliers section:
Select +Add Supplier > use the Search field to locate desired supplier(s) or choose supplier(s) from Guided Buying Collections, in Guided Buying field.
Once located, check the box associated with desired supplier(s) > click Add.
Attachments section:
Select Browse, to attach desired documents > click Continue.
Email section:
On the Email section, a standard email message is provided to include in the supplier invitation to submit a quote.
Review > update the message, if desired > select Continue once approved.
Confirm section:
Review the information. If you would like to update information, select Back.
Once completed, select Finish.
The supplier(s) will receive an email invitation to respond with a quote. Once supplier(s) creates a quote in their supplier profile, the buyer (who created the RFQ) will receive an email notification to review the submitted supplier quote.