By Justin Rashidi
Which B2B e-commerce proposal is actually the cheapest? It’s hard to say when each supplier has priced a different project.
One quote includes the app and integrations, another leaves them out, and a low build price can hide those costs until later. It’s a common trap for a manufacturer moving phone and email orders online, or a distributor replacing a store it has outgrown.
The way out is to make every supplier answer the same brief. This free B2B e-commerce RFP template does that. It gives them the same 78 requirements, response fields and cost tables in a 10-tab Excel workbook, so every proposal arrives in the same format.
B2B e-commerce RFP template (Excel)
Optional companion: Project brief and instructions (Word)
Both files are free to download and edit. No email address is required.
For a manufacturer taking phone and email orders online, or a distributor replacing an outgrown store, the build price is rarely the full story. App and integration costs can sit behind a low headline number.
To cut through procurement complexity, our approach aligns your internal priorities with transparent supplier evaluation right from the start:
- • Determine your briefing goal: Decide whether you need options, a proposed solution, or a fixed-scope quote.
- • Map out functional needs: Identify the specific buying tasks the store must support.
- • Require itemized pricing: Separate costs for platform, apps, integrations, and delivery.
- • Evaluate against set criteria: Score supplier evidence against pre-agreed priorities.
Key takeaways
- • Download the workbook, and use the Word brief if it helps.
- • Send every supplier the same scope, priorities and weights.
- • Separate platform, app, integration and delivery costs.
Resolve must-have gaps even when the overall score is high.
Do you need an RFI, RFP or RFQ?
An RFP, or request for proposal, sets out requirements and asks suppliers to propose how they will meet them. Use it when you need to compare solutions and delivery approaches.
| Document | What you need from suppliers |
|---|---|
| RFI: Request for information | Facts about available options before settling requirements |
| RFP: Request for proposal | A solution, delivery approach and price |
| RFQ: Request for quotation | A price against a defined scope |
For a small project with clear work and acceptance criteria, a short brief and quote may be enough. A fuller RFP helps when different approaches could meet the need but carry different costs or responsibilities.
Inside the B2B e-commerce RFP template
The workbook holds your brief, supplier answers, costs and evaluation in one file. Its 10 tabs are:
- • Start here: Five steps, a color key, delivery methods and the buyer score scale.
- • Buyer brief: 15 prompts covering business, scope, systems, dates, budget, submission and evaluation.
- • Vendor profile: 10 questions covering the supplier, quoted product, roadmap, team and references.
- • B2B features: 28 requirements covering buying tasks, payments, optional AI and product configuration.
- • Integrations & migration: 15 requirements covering connected systems, data transfers, migration and launch.
- • SEO & analytics: 12 requirements covering search, measurement, content management and B2B marketing.
- • Security & administration: 13 requirements covering access, data protection, recovery, administration and card-payment security.
- • Delivery & support: 10 requirements covering planning, testing, training, support and exit.
- • Costs: 10 cost lines with one-time and year 1, 2 and 3 amounts, commercial terms, rates and payment milestones.
- • Review: Automatic results, a manual vendor comparison and five decision-record prompts.
Each requirement tab has five spare rows. The optional Word companion holds your project brief and submission instructions; suppliers answer the requirements, vendor profile and costs in Excel.
If you want a second pair of eyes, our B2B e-commerce team can help turn those requirements into a project plan.
How to use the B2B e-commerce RFP template
Prepare one master workbook before making supplier copies. This keeps differences in their answers visible without introducing differences in your questions.
1. Describe the project
In Buyer brief, name one RFP owner and describe your products, customers, current buying process and problems to solve. Include systems, account, product and order volumes, plus whether you also sell to consumers.
Set the version, submission address and offer validity period. State whether you need a platform, implementation services or both, with separate software and build prices.
2. Agree on launch scope
Agree scope and exclusions with sales, operations, finance and IT. Record decision makers, evaluation criteria, demo scenarios and reference checks in Buyer brief.
Use our B2B e-commerce features checklist to cover everyday buying tasks. Reserve Must for launch essentials, Should for useful requirements and Optional for extras.
Set priorities and weights before sending copies. Higher weights give requirements more influence; a blank or zero weight excludes a row even if marked Must. Delete nothing, leave unused input cells blank and add requirements using the spare rows' assigned IDs.
3. Make requirements testable
A feature name leaves room for different interpretations. For example, have suppliers show an account ordering at its agreed price, then repeat the order after that price expires. Define the passing result.
For each integration, name the system and version, records to transfer, system holding the master copy, update timing and failed-transfer handling.
Our guides to Shopify B2B and BigCommerce B2B can help you prepare platform-specific follow-ups.
4. Set response rules
Set question and proposal deadlines with time zones. Save one workbook per vendor, requesting a project plan and completed yellow cells in Vendor profile, the requirement tabs and Costs.
Every answer should name the exact plan or product, evidence and limits. The delivery dropdown distinguishes built-in features, configuration, paid apps or partners, custom work, roadmap items and unavailable features.
Share relevant questions and answers with everyone. Send scope updates as the same revised version to all suppliers, including a request for timing and price changes.
How to score the responses
Score the evidence in each returned workbook using identical requirements and weights. Enter buyer scores in the blue cells, with each department reviewing its area.
Apply the same score scale
Use 0 to 4 for each included requirement; decimals are allowed.
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Does not meet the requirement |
| 1 | Major gaps; no workable plan |
| 2 | Partly meets it; substantial gaps or extra work |
| 3 | Meets the need with a credible delivery plan |
| 4 | Meets the need and is demonstrated with relevant evidence |
Review shows section percentages once their included rows are scored, and an overall percentage when all are scored. Until then, it shows progress such as "25 of 78 scored." Blank means unreviewed; zero means reviewed with no points.
Review separately flags included Must rows scored below 3 and Must answers marked Roadmap or Not available. A high score cannot resolve these gaps; require a workable commitment before shortlisting.
Compare the full cost
Review brings in one-time charges plus recurring charges for years 1, 2 and 3. Each year can reflect different renewal prices or usage. Rates and payment milestones are not added again; a blank quote does not mean free.
Record evidence and open questions in Buyer notes. The percentage measures requirements, excluding price and vendor strength. Ready for review means scoring is complete; supplier approval is a separate decision.
Choose with demos and references
Use the private Compare vendors table for scores, must gaps, costs, demos and references. Run the same demo script with your data and pass conditions and discuss delivery, budget and support with references.
Resolve gaps, negotiate terms and record the decision, owner and approval. Put accepted requirements, prices, responsibilities and exclusions in the contract.
What makes supplier proposals hard to compare
Unclear requirements let suppliers price different assumptions. These four mistakes deserve attention before you send the workbook:
- • Everything is mandatory: Keep Must for launch needs; price optional work separately or defer it.
- • A yes has no detail: Require the delivery method, cost and support owner, demonstrated with your products and account rules.
- • Only setup fees are compared: Include subscriptions, apps, maintenance, support and usage over the same period and growth assumptions.
- • Migration is vague: Name records, including order history and open quotes, and require a test migration and recovery plan.
Our take: Comparable proposals start with shared scope
The useful proposal shows what each requirement will cost, how it will work and who will support it. We would favor a supplier with a credible delivery plan and resolved launch requirements over a higher score with essential work left uncertain.
Download the workbook, complete the Buyer brief and the requirement tabs, then send identical copies to your chosen suppliers. Keep one person responsible for the decision and its reasoning.
If you would like help preparing or scoring the brief, our B2B e-commerce team can work through it with you. Talk through your requirements with SeedX.
Frequently asked questions
Should I share our budget?
Sharing a range helps suppliers propose a scope that fits. If it is unset, request priced options and assumptions while keeping the main scope consistent.
Can I use this for replatforming?
Yes. Update current systems, buying rules and migration requirements. Include existing URLs, customer accounts and historical orders that must remain available after the move.
How much response time should suppliers have?
We recommend 15 to 20 business days for a scoped request, allowing time for technical and commercial input. Extend this when integrations or migration need investigation.
How long should the whole process take?
We would reserve 12 to 16 weeks from discovery to a signed statement of work. That leaves room for requirements, responses, demos, references and negotiation; unresolved scope or approvals can extend it.
How many suppliers should we invite?
We suggest 4 to 6 qualified invitees per track, then 2 to 3 finalists for detailed demos. A track means platform or implementation partner selection. This gives you alternatives while keeping detailed review manageable; adjust to your team's capacity.
