The Core Commerce quoting framework provides components that can be extended for integration with a third-party quoting engine. This API gives you the ability to extend your existing checkout process so that your customers may initiate and perform quoting actions.
Note: To exchange information between Core Commerce and your quoting engine you must extend the quoting API.
When you add quoting functionality, once the customer enters the shopping cart checkout process and enters shipping and payment information, they can request a quote from the checkout page. By selecting a UI element on the checkout page, they can add a note and direct the order to the quoting API where the order information is stored, validated and made available for integration with your quoting system.
The quoting API must also be configured to accept quote information from your quoting system so that it may be presented to the customer. The customer, once presented with the returned quote, can accept or reject the quote, or request a requote.
Core Commerce assumes the following workflow for the quoting process:
When you integrate the quoting API with your existing quote engine, you need to do the following:
Your checkout JSPs must be modified so that they contain quoting UI elements
The order information must be adapted to meet the requirements of your quoting system
The quote information returned by your quoting system must be readable by Core Commerce
To perform these tasks, Core Commerce provides quote-specific form handlers, components and methods, as outlined in the Quoting Framework Architecture section, and described in detail in the Quote Actions section.
