Magento B2B Quote Explained: How to Import, Export & Manage Negotiable Quotes in Magento 2

Managing Magento B2B quote data doesn’t have to be a manual nightmare. Whether you’re migrating to a new B2B store or integrating with a third-party platform, handling Magento 2 quotes can quickly become time-consuming, especially since the default Magento tools don’t support importing or exporting negotiable quotes. That’s where most store owners hit a wall.

But what if you could automate the entire process of transferring Magento B2B quotes with just a few clicks?

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the most efficient way to import and export Magento 2 B2B quotes, saving hours of manual work and ensuring data accuracy. We’ll start with what negotiable quotes are and how the quote workflow operates in Magento 2. Then, we’ll dive into how to structure your import files, streamline your export process, and unlock the full potential of Magento quote management.

Let’s simplify your Magento quote operations, starting now.

What is a Magento B2B Quote?

A Magento B2B quote is a powerful feature within the Magento quote system that enables flexible pricing negotiations between buyers and sellers. Built into Magento 2 Commerce, this tool streamlines the B2B sales process by allowing customers to request custom quotes for large or complex orders — an essential workflow in wholesale, manufacturing, and other business-focused industries.

Instead of fixed pricing, a Magento 2 quote lets both parties collaborate on the terms of the deal. Buyers can add products to their cart, request a quote, suggest quantity changes, or ask for discounts. Sellers, in turn, can respond with adjusted pricing, offer counter-discounts, or propose alternative terms. We will describe this process in more detail in the next section.

This level of interaction makes Magento B2B quotes indispensable for businesses that rely on personalized pricing, high-volume transactions, or long-term customer relationships.

Native Magento 2 Quote Functionality: An Overview

The Magento 2 quote system — available in Adobe Commerce with B2B features — offers built-in functionality for managing negotiable quotes between buyers and sellers. This feature is especially valuable in B2B industries like wholesale, distribution, and manufacturing, where fixed pricing models often don’t align with complex customer needs.

🧾 How Magento 2 Quotes Work

A Magento negotiation quote can be initiated either by a company buyer from the storefront or by a sales representative directly within the admin panel. Once a quote request is submitted, the negotiation process begins, and the quote is added to the Quotes grid in the backend. This grid provides full visibility into all active quotes and their statuses, including a log of communication between both parties.

Buyers can:

• Add products to their cart
• Submit a quote request or save it as a draft
• Monitor all activity under My Quotes in their account dashboard

Sellers (sales reps or admins) can:

• Create quotes on behalf of company accounts
• Save drafts or submit quotes directly to buyers
• Review, modify, and respond to buyer requests via the admin Quotes grid

The negotiation process continues in a structured back-and-forth. Buyers and sellers take turns submitting changes or comments — Magento 2 enforces this turn-based system so only one party can respond at a time. Once a mutually acceptable price is reached, the buyer can convert the quote into an order and proceed to checkout. At that point, the quote becomes fixed — no further edits or discounts can be applied.

If either side declines the offer, the quote is closed and cannot be reactivated.

⚙️ Magento 2 B2B Quote Functionality General Overview

To leverage Magento 2 quotes for B2B use, follow these steps:

1. Set up your store on Adobe Commerce (Magento 2 Commerce).
2. Install the official B2B for Adobe Commerce extension.
3. Enable company accounts from the Magento admin.
4. Activate the Negotiable Quote feature from the B2B configuration.
5. Assign quote management permissions to specific admin roles via System → Permissions → User Roles → Sales → Operations → Quotes.

Once configured, your store is ready to support personalized pricing workflows via the Magento quote system, improving your B2B sales experience and customer satisfaction.

Magento 2 B2B Quote Workflow: Step-by-Step Guide

To fully leverage the Magento B2B quote system, you need to enable and understand how negotiable quotes work across both the storefront and admin panel. Below is a clear, step-by-step breakdown of how to activate, create, manage, and finalize Magento 2 quotes for B2B customers.

✅ Step 1: Enable Magento 2 B2B Quotes

Before creating negotiable quotes, you must enable the B2B quote functionality in Magento 2.

If your store is already running on Adobe Commerce with company accounts and the B2B module installed, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to: Stores → Configuration → General → B2B Features
2. Set Enable B2B Quote to Yes

This activates the Magento negotiation quote feature, allowing your customers to request custom pricing directly from the shopping cart.

🧾 Step 2: Create a Magento B2B Negotiable Quote

From the Storefront (Buyer-Side): Customers can request a quote by adding products to their cart and clicking “Request a Quote” in the summary section. They can:

• Add a quote name
• Leave comments
• Choose to submit or save the quote as a draft

Submitted quotes appear in the My Quotes section of the customer’s account. The assigned sales representative is instantly notified via email, and the quote appears in the admin grid with the status New.

From the Admin Panel (Seller-Side): Sales reps can create quotes on behalf of a company account:

1. Go to Sales → Quotes → Create New Quote
   
2. Select the customer account
   
3. Add products, apply discounts, and leave internal notes
4. Save the quote as a Draft, or send it to the buyer to begin negotiation
   

Once submitted, the quote status changes to Submitted, and the buyer can review and respond. Only one party can modify the quote at a time, ensuring a structured and trackable negotiation process.

🤝 Step 3: Review & Negotiate the Magento Quote

When a Seller Responds to a Buyer’s Quote:

• The quote status updates to Pending
• The buyer is temporarily locked from editing the quote
• The seller can apply discounts, add comments, and send a response (all these processes are described below)
• The buyer receives an email notification

When a Buyer Responds to a Seller’s Quote:

• The buyer can access the quote from the My Quotes section or via email
• They may update product quantities, leave notes, or remove items
• Any changes must be submitted back to the seller for review

This back-and-forth process continues until a price agreement is reached or the quote is declined. Both parties alternate control of the quote to maintain order and transparency.

🛒 Step 4: Convert Quote to Order & Checkout

Once both parties agree on the pricing and conditions, the buyer can accept the offer and proceed to checkout. At this stage:

• The Magento 2 quote becomes locked and cannot be changed
• No additional discounts or adjustments can be applied
• The quote is finalized and converted into a standard Magento order

This workflow ensures accurate pricing, efficient negotiation, and a professional B2B purchasing experience directly within the Magento quote system.

How to Prepare a Magento 2 B2B Quote for Negotiation

Once you’ve created a draft Magento B2B quote in the admin panel and added the necessary products, it’s time to fine-tune the offer before sending it to the buyer. This stage involves applying discounts, customizing pricing, and leaving detailed communication notes — all essential parts of the Magento quote negotiation workflow.

Here’s how to prepare your Magento 2 negotiable quote like a pro:

🔢 Apply Line Item Discounts in Magento Quotes

You can offer product-specific pricing directly within the quote grid. To apply a discount to individual items:

1. In the product grid, click Select Action → Discount Item
2. In the Discount Line Item window, choose a Discount Type:
   • Percentage
   • Fixed Amount
   • Proposed Price
3. Enter the discount value
4. Optionally, lock the item price to prevent additional quote-level discounts from being applied to this line
5. Click Confirm

The updated pricing appears instantly in the product grid, giving the buyer a clear view of adjusted item-level prices.

💰 Apply a Quote-Level Discount

To apply a discount to the entire Magento 2 quote, follow these steps:

1. Scroll to the Quote Totals section
2. Under Negotiated Price, choose the discount method:
   • Percentage Discount
   • Amount Discount
   • Proposed Total Price (Note: This option disables all line item discounts)
3. Enter the value and confirm

The product grid will automatically recalculate totals to reflect the applied quote-level pricing, ensuring transparency before submission.

📝 Add Comments & Attachments for the Buyer

Clear communication is crucial in B2B negotiations. Magento makes it easy to add context:

• Go to the Negotiation → Comments tab
• Add a personalized message for the buyer
• Upload any supporting files (e.g., spec sheets, contracts, or additional terms)

These details help build trust and clarify the terms of your offer.

📤 Submit the Magento B2B Quote to the Buyer

Once everything is in place, click Send Quote. The quote status will change to Submitted, and the buyer will receive an automatic email notification inviting them to review, respond, or propose changes.

By preparing your Magento B2B quote thoroughly — using precise discounts and clear communication — you significantly improve the chances of a faster, more successful negotiation.

How to Decline a Magento 2 B2B Quote Request

No Magento B2B quote guide is complete without covering what to do when a deal isn’t moving forward. In some cases, declining a quote is the right business decision, whether due to pricing limitations, inventory issues, or an unqualified lead.

Here’s how to professionally decline a Magento 2 quote request:

1. Open the Quotes grid in the Magento admin.
2. Select the quote with “Open” status that you want to decline.
3. From the Actions dropdown, choose Declined.
4. Enter a brief explanation in the comment box—this message will be shared with the buyer.
5. Click Confirm to finalize the action.

⚠️ Note: Only quote requests with “Open” status can be declined. Once the negotiation process has started, the quote must be closed through the standard negotiation flow.

By handling declined Magento quotes with transparency and clear communication, you maintain a positive buyer experience, even when the answer is no.

Challenges of Managing Magento B2B Quotes Manually

While the built-in Magento B2B quote functionality is powerful, managing quotes manually can quickly become a bottleneck, especially as your business scales. Without automation or advanced tools, the process is prone to inefficiencies that can affect both sales performance and customer satisfaction.

Here are the key challenges of manual quote handling in Magento 2:

⏱️ Time-Consuming and Repetitive Tasks

Creating, reviewing, and updating each Magento 2 quote individually takes significant time, especially when working with large product catalogs or high-volume requests. Sales teams often waste hours on tasks that could easily be automated, like adding SKUs, applying discounts, or sending responses.

💸 Risk of Pricing Errors

Manual data entry increases the likelihood of mistakes. Whether it’s entering the wrong discount, omitting a product, or miscalculating totals, a single pricing error in a Magento B2B quote can result in lost revenue or a damaged client relationship.

📉 Lack of Bulk Quote Management

One of the biggest Magento 2 quote limitations is the lack of native support for bulk actions. There’s no way to import multiple quotes, update them in bulk, or export data for reporting. This forces sales teams to handle each quote one by one — a serious drawback for fast-moving B2B operations.

📂 Fragmented Communication

Magento’s default quote system offers basic comment functionality, but it lacks a centralized view of all communication across quotes. This can lead to delays, missed messages, and disjointed customer interactions.

To overcome these limitations, many businesses turn to import/export solutions that streamline Magento B2B quote management — freeing up sales reps to focus on closing deals, not chasing spreadsheets.

How to Import Magento B2B Quotes Efficiently

By default, Magento 2 does not support quote import functionality, leaving store admins stuck with time-consuming manual work. But there’s good news: you can streamline the entire Magento B2B quote import process using the Improved Import & Export for Magento 2 with the B2B Add-On.

This powerful extension allows you to import Magento B2B quotes in bulk using flexible formats like CSV, XLSX, ODS, or Google Sheets, saving hours of work and eliminating errors.

🧾 Step 1: Download the Sample Magento 2 Quote CSV

Before starting your import, download the Magento 2 Negotiable Quote Sample Table. This spreadsheet includes all required columns, sample values, and comments explaining each attribute used in the import.

Supported file formats:

• CSV
• XLSX
• ODS
• Google Sheets

🧠 Step 2: Understand Magento 2 Quote Attributes

Each row in your file represents a quote or a related comment. Below are key attributes required for a successful Magento B2B quote import:

Use a separate row for each quote comment and reference the same increment_id.

⚠️ Quote Import Considerations

When importing negotiable quotes to Magento 2:

• Only registered customers with quote permissions can be assigned.
• The increment_id field is mandatory and must be unique for each quote.
• Magento doesn’t generate unique quote IDs by default — this is handled by Firebear’s custom attribute that should be specified manually.
• Comments require a dedicated row per entry, associated by increment_id. You only need to specify the increment_id of the quote. The extension will understand that all comments belong to the specified increment_id until a new row with another increment_id is processed, then the extension will switch to this very increment_id.

🚀 Step 3: Run the Magento B2B Quote Import

To import Magento B2B quotes, follow these steps inside your Magento admin:

1. Go to System → Improved Import / Export → Import Jobs → Add New Job
   
2. Configure General Settings: Name your job and schedule it if needed
   
3. In Import Settings, select Entity: Negotiable Quotes
   
4. Choose Import Behavior: Add/Update, Replace, or Delete.
   
5. Choose your file format and source (CSV, XML, XLSX, ODS; local file, FTP, Dropbox, Google Sheets, etc.)
   
6. Map attributes (if needed).
7. Save and run the job

That’s it! The module will automatically process and insert your B2B quotes into Magento.

📘 Need more help? Explore the full documentation: Improved Import & Export Manual

By automating the Magento B2B quote import process, you eliminate repetitive tasks, reduce human error, and give your team more time to focus on sales, not spreadsheets.

How to Export B2B Negotiable Quotes from Magento 2

Need to export Magento B2B quotes for reporting, integration, or migration purposes? With the right tools, exporting negotiable quotes from Magento 2 becomes fast, flexible, and fully automated.

Let’s walk through how to export Magento 2 B2B quotes using the Improved Import & Export extension by Firebear.

Magento 2 B2B Quote Export Workflow

To export Magento B2B Quotes, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to: System → Improved Import/Export → Export Jobs
2. Create a New Export Job: Click “Add New Job”, enter a job name, and define scheduling options.
3. Select a Magento 2 B2B Entity to Export: Negotiable Quotes
4. Choose Output File Format: Export your data as CSV, XML, JSON, XLSX, or ODS — depending on your business requirements or external system compatibility.
5. Select Export Destination: Define where the exported file should be delivered:
   • Local storage
   • Remote FTP/SFTP server
   • Dropbox
   • Google Drive or Sheets
   • REST/SOAP API for third-party integrations
6. Configure Optional Filters: You can filter the export by specific conditions — for example, only exporting B2B companies created in the last 30 days, or filtering shared catalogs by company.

Once saved, you can run the export manually or let it execute automatically based on your chosen schedule.

Why Use Improved Import & Export for Quote Export?

Here’s why merchants rely on this tool instead of Magento’s default exporter:

🔁 Automated Export Scheduling. Set up cron-based jobs or trigger exports based on system events — no need for manual downloads ever again.

📄 Multiple File Formats. Export Magento B2B quote data in any format your external system needs — not just CSV. Choose XLSX, XML, ODS, JSON, and more.

☁️ Flexible File Destinations. Push data directly to remote locations such as FTP servers, Google Drive, Dropbox, or even integrate via REST or SOAP API.

🧩 Attribute Mapping. Easily rename or transform attributes to match third-party system requirements. For example, change customer_email to CustomerEmail without altering your Magento data.

By using the Improved Import & Export tool, you not only simplify the export process but also future-proof your Magento 2 B2B quote management.

Tips for Optimizing Magento B2B Quotes for Sales Teams

Managing Magento quotes effectively is key to closing deals faster and delivering a better buying experience for B2B customers. While Magento’s native quote system provides solid negotiation tools, sales teams can achieve even more with smart workflows and advanced features.

Here are practical tips for B2B quote optimization that can boost your sales performance:

🎯 Filter Quotes by Customer Group or Priority

Use Magento’s admin filters to sort quotes based on customer groups (e.g., wholesalers, VIP clients, regional buyers). This allows sales reps to prioritize high-value accounts and personalize offers based on group-specific pricing or business rules.

Pro Tip: Add custom attributes or use tags to mark quotes as Urgent, Hot Lead, or Repeat Buyer to streamline follow-ups.

📋 Use Bulk Actions to Save Time

The Magento quote system doesn’t support bulk quote updates by default, but with tools like the Improved Import & Export extension, you can manage multiple quotes in one go. Bulk import/export allows you to:

• Update prices or discount structures across quotes
• Reassign quotes to different sales reps
• Archive or back up batches of quotes for auditing

This is especially helpful when seasonal pricing changes or large campaigns require mass updates.

🔍 Set Up Saved Views for Faster Access

In the Quotes grid, create saved views for different sales scenarios, such as:

• Quotes awaiting approval
• Drafts not yet submitted
• Recently declined or expired quotes
  This lets your team jump directly into action without repetitive filtering.

🧾 Standardize Internal Notes and Templates

To avoid miscommunication, establish quote messaging templates for common scenarios, like discount offers, follow-ups, or rejection explanations. Use the Comments tab in each quote to maintain a clear, consistent record of communication.

📊 Analyze Quote Performance Over Time

Export Magento quotes regularly and track key performance indicators such as:

• Average time to close a quote
• Win/loss ratio by rep or product
• Most requested items by customer segment

These insights help fine-tune your quoting strategy and highlight where automation or training can make the biggest impact.

🧩 Full Compatibility with Magento B2B Modules

Firebear’s solution is built specifically to work with Magento 2 B2B shared catalog features and supports all related entities, including:

• Companies and company structure
• Requisition lists
• Negotiable quotes
• Shared catalogs

This means you can manage your entire Magento B2B workflow — from catalog creation to customer-specific pricing — using one centralized tool.

With these B2B quote optimization strategies, your team can turn Magento’s negotiation tools into a sales engine, shortening deal cycles, improving conversion rates, and delivering more value to your B2B customers.

Final Words: Streamline Magento B2B Quote Workflows

Managing Magento B2B quotes efficiently is critical to keeping your sales operations responsive, accurate, and scalable. Manual quote creation and updates can be error-prone and time-consuming, especially when dealing with large volumes of data or migrating between stores.

By automating the import and export of Magento 2 quotes, you reduce human error, eliminate repetitive tasks, and free your team to focus on what matters most: closing deals and supporting your customers.

The Improved Import & Export for Magento 2, combined with the powerful B2B Add-On, offers the most flexible and robust way to streamline your quote workflows. From scheduled imports and multi-format support to advanced attribute mapping and seamless integrations, this extension covers everything your B2B store needs.

Ready to simplify your Magento B2B quote operations?

👉 Contact us here and we’ll help you configure a tailored solution for your business.

Curious how to import Magento 2 configurable, bundled, or virtual products? We break down the process for every product type.
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