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HCL Commerce is a high-availability, highly scalable and customizable e-commerce platform. Able to support hundreds of thousands of transactions per day, HCL Commerce allows you to do business with consumers (B2C) or directly with businesses (B2B). HCL Commerce uses cloud friendly technology to make deployment and operation both easy and efficient. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels. Business users can also use AI enabled content management capabilities.
Operating
Topics in the Operating category highlight tasks that are typically performed by business users, customer support representatives, to complete their day-to-day tasks in the operation of the HCL Commerce site.
HCL Commerce Accelerator
Use the HCL Commerce Accelerator to maintain online stores.
Request for Quote (RFQ)
A buyer can create a Request for Quote (RFQ), by using the HCL Commerce Accelerator, for unique variations of goods and services that are offered in a catalog. If buyers cannot find a product or category that match their needs within a catalog, they can select attributes from the personalized dictionary to precisely define the product specifications. A buyer can also create an RFQ by using the contents in their shopping cart, or add a shopping cart to an existing RFQ.
Managing RFQ responses
Submitting an RFQ response
To submit an RFQ response to the buyer, you can use two processes. The difference between the two is an approvals process.

Documentation
HCL Commerce is a high-availability, highly scalable and customizable e-commerce platform. Able to support hundreds of thousands of transactions per day, HCL Commerce allows you to do business with consumers (B2C) or directly with businesses (B2B). HCL Commerce uses cloud friendly technology to make deployment and operation both easy and efficient. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels. Business users can also use AI enabled content management capabilities.
- Getting started
  HCL Commerce has different advantages for business users, administrators and developers. HCL Commerce targets each of these roles with a tailored set of offerings so that each of your users can get maximum benefit.
- Installing and deploying
  Learn how to install and deploy HCL Commerce development environments and HCL Commerce production environments.
- Migrating
  Before you migrate to HCL Commerce Version 9, review this information to help plan and execute your migration.
- Operating
  Topics in the Operating category highlight tasks that are typically performed by business users, customer support representatives, to complete their day-to-day tasks in the operation of the HCL Commerce site.
  - Management Center for HCL Commerce
    The Management Center for HCL Commerce, is a suite of tools to support store management, merchandising, and marketing tasks for business users (Sellers, Marketing Managers, Product Managers, Catalog Managers, and others).
  - HCL Commerce Accelerator
    Use the HCL Commerce Accelerator to maintain online stores.
    - HCL Commerce Accelerator user interface
      The HCL Commerce Accelerator interface consists of several notebooks, wizards, dialogs, and lists to help you complete your tasks.
    - Opening HCL Commerce Accelerator
      Use HCL Commerce Accelerator to maintain online stores by completing various store operations such as creating and maintaining orders and tracking store activities.
    - Changing an HCL Commerce password
      If you have the appropriate authority, you can change the HCL Commerce logon password for an HCL Commerce user or for yourself from any of these tools.
    - Managing the store
      The Seller sets up store-level functions within the site. The Seller can access all menu items under the Store menu.
    - Customer information
      If customers register with the store, you can maintain their registration profiles to track information. Maintain information such as the customer's logon ID, logon password, authentication information, store account status, title, name, preferred language, or currency.
    - Order management
      A typical order includes one or more products, billing and shipping addresses, payment details, and the total cost (including shipping charges and taxes, as applicable). Comments or price adjustments can also be included in an order.
    - Inventory
      Inventory includes anything that can be physically accounted for in a fulfillment center such as items, products, SKUs, bundles, and prebuilt kits.
    - Inventory returns and dispositions
      Customers return products to a fulfillment center for many different reasons. Returned inventory might be reintegrated into the pool of inventory available for order, or it might be discarded. This process is called disposition.
    - Returns and refunds
      A return is a record of a customer's request for a refund, to return merchandise, or both. The term is used whether an RMA is issued in advance of merchandise receipt or the transaction is begun at the time of merchandise receipt. You can use the return merchandise authorization (RMA) function in both available to promise (ATP) and non-ATP inventory-enabled stores.
    - Viewing account reports
    - Viewing contract reports
    - Request for Quote (RFQ)
      A buyer can create a Request for Quote (RFQ), by using the HCL Commerce Accelerator, for unique variations of goods and services that are offered in a catalog. If buyers cannot find a product or category that match their needs within a catalog, they can select attributes from the personalized dictionary to precisely define the product specifications. A buyer can also create an RFQ by using the contents in their shopping cart, or add a shopping cart to an existing RFQ.
      - RFQ notification messages
        There are three RFQ notification messages: The RFQ was submitted successfully; The RFQ was closed successfully; and The RFQ was completed successfully.
      - RFQ response
        When a buyer activates an RFQ, the seller can respond to the terms and conditions and product descriptions that are specified by the buyer. The seller can either accept the RFQ as received, or the seller can present a counter proposal in their response, if the terms or conditions are designated as changeable. For example, they might want to propose another delivery date or change the value of a changeable product specification.
      - Creating an RFQ response
        Once buyers submit RFQ requests, you can respond to the request.
      - Managing RFQ responses
        Finding responses to a specific RFQ request
        Checking the status of RFQ responses
        You can check the status of any RFQ response to see its current stage in the workflow. This method determines whether RFQ responses are awaiting approval.
        Retracting an RFQ response
        You can retract a response instead of canceling it. This option is available when the response was submitted but was not accepted by the buyer. The response is then placed in an intermediary state where the response can either be canceled or modified.
        Changing an RFQ response
        Responses might be changed if they are in a draft or retracted state. The processes differ slightly.
        Canceling an RFQ response
        The seller can cancel a response when it is in a retracted or draft state. Once a response is canceled, it can no longer be changed. It can be canceled while it is in a draft state or when it is submitted to, but was not accepted by the buyer.
        Submitting an RFQ response
        To submit an RFQ response to the buyer, you can use two processes. The difference between the two is an approvals process.
        Approving an RFQ response
        If approvals are enabled for your organization, responses must be approved before they are sent to the buyer.
        Viewing the RFQ response list
        Accepting a buyer's terms and conditions
        Changing a response to an RFQ comment
        Responding to RFQ attachments
        Substituting a product in an RFQ response
        You can substitute a product in your RFQ response. This task is especially useful for a made to order item. The buyer might include a made to order item in the RFQ and the seller then reviews the RFQ. The seller then substitutes the item that the buyer had for the item in the seller's catalog. The seller can substitute an order if the buyer states that the product can be substituted. Refer to the RFQ Summary page, and click category to see whether the product can be substituted.
        Adding a remark to an RFQ response
        You might occasionally want to add remarks to your RFQ response.
        Viewing RFQ response summary and details
        Viewing response remarks
        Viewing a summary of an RFQ customer
        Viewing a summary of a category for an RFQ
        Viewing a dynamic kit configuration report for an RFQ
        A configurator determines which group of items can be sold together. The configurator might also supply a price for the configuration. The report lists all the specifications and values that are specified by the buyer.
      - Personalized attributes
        Attributes, sometimes referred to as specifications, describe characteristics of objects. Specifications such as height, color, weight, and size distinguish one product from another. A personalized dictionary provides a list of attributes that buyers use to define the specifications that they want a product to have. Buyers use the dictionary to prepare an RFQ request.
    - Business relationship management
      To customize what a customer can do in a store use the business relationship management system. By using this system, you can entitle customers to various aspects of a store such as what products they can purchase, the price they pay, and what payment methods a store accepts.
  - HCL Customer Service for HCL Commerce JSP stores
    HCL Customer Service for HCL Commerce provides customer service enhancements that enable a customer service representative (CSR) to resolve common issues and capture orders. These capabilities are built into the HCL Commerce Aurora storefront and enable a CSR to complete key tasks on behalf of a guest and registered customers for both B2B and B2C stores. Customer Service for HCL Commerce is offered for both Professional and Enterprise editions.
- Integrating
  Topics in the Integrating category highlight the tasks that are commonly performed for using HCL Commerce in combination with other products.
- Administering
  Topics in the Administering category highlight tasks that are typically performed by the Site Administrator, to support daily operations of the HCL Commerce site.
- Customizing
  The topics in the Customizing section describe tasks performed by an application developer to customize HCL Commerce.
- Tutorials
  HCL Commerce provides many tutorials to help you customize and understand your HCL Commerce instance and stores.
- Samples
  Topics in the Samples category highlight the various samples that are provided with HCL Commerce.
- Compliance
  The following section describes how you can leverage HCL Commerce features and functionality to help your site be compliant with different privacy and security standards.
- Securing
  These topics describe the security features of HCL Commerce and how to configure these features.
- Performance
  Topics in the Performance section describe the means by which to plan, implement, test, and re-visit the optimization of HCL Commerce site performance.
- Troubleshooting
  Topics in the Troubleshooting section highlight common issues that are encountered with HCL Commerce, and how they can be addressed or mitigated.
- Reference
  Topics in the Reference section contain all of the HCL Commerce reference documentation.

Submitting an RFQ response

To submit an RFQ response to the buyer, you can use two processes. The difference between the two is an approvals process.

About this task

If approvals are not enabled, you can submit an RFQ directly to the buying organization:

Procedure

Open HCL Commerce Accelerator
Find the response you want to submit.
Select the check box for the row that contains the response that you are working with.
Click Submit.
This task is relevant only if approvals were enabled for this process. It can be carried out only by the individual within an organization who has the responsibility for approving a response before its submission to the buyer.