Shopify Request a Quote: How to Run Quotes and Draft Orders for B2B in Canada (2026)

Quick answer:

To sell by quote on Shopify, most Canadian B2B sellers combine a request form that creates a deal in their CRM with Shopify draft orders that carry custom pricing, company payment terms, and an invoice link. Add a quote app when buyers should build quotes themselves at volume, and consider CPQ only when pricing depends on configuration. The step that decides whether quotes turn into orders is follow-up, so link every quote to a deal from the first request.

If your best customers ask for a price before they buy, a shopping cart alone will not close them. Manufacturers and wholesalers quote on volume, freight, lead time, and custom specifications, and a single catalog price rarely captures all of that. Shopify can handle quote-based selling well, but it takes a deliberate workflow rather than a single switch.

This guide compares the four practical ways to run quotes on Shopify, explains how draft orders turn a quote into an order, and shows how to connect the whole thing to your CRM so quotes stop disappearing into inboxes.

01. The Quick Answer

Start with a request form and draft orders. The form captures what the buyer wants and creates a deal in your CRM. A rep then builds a draft order attached to the buyer's company, adjusts the prices that are truly custom, and sends an invoice link. When the buyer pays or is billed on terms, the quote becomes a real order with no re-entry.

Why it matters: a quote that converts into an order inside the same system avoids the retyping, pricing mismatches, and lost follow-ups that plague quotes built in spreadsheets and email.

02. Four Ways to Run Quotes on Shopify, Compared

Option	Best for	How it works	Watch out for
Request form + CRM	Low volume, fully custom pricing	Rep builds the quote by hand and follows up manually	Quotes live in email unless the form creates a CRM deal
Shopify draft orders	Rep-reviewed quotes for known B2B companies	Rep enters lines, prices, and terms in the admin, then sends an invoice link	Manual entry becomes the bottleneck as quote volume grows
Quote app	Buyers who build and submit their own quotes	Buyer assembles a quote from the catalog, rep approves or adjusts	App fees, theme compatibility, and how quotes sync to your CRM
CPQ or configurator	Configurable, dimension-based, or engineered products	Rules engine prices the configuration, often with approval steps	Higher build cost, justified only when price logic is complex

Why it matters: these options are steps on a ladder, not rivals. Most businesses climb one rung when quote volume or pricing complexity outgrows the last one.

03. How Draft Orders Work as Quotes

A draft order is an order a merchant builds in the admin before payment. You add products, override prices or apply a discount, attach the customer or B2B company, and send an invoice link. When a draft order is tied to a B2B company, that company's payment terms can apply, so a buyer on net 30 receives a quote that already reflects how they pay.

Draft orders also keep inventory and tax logic in the same place as your regular orders, including GST, HST, and PST handling, which matters for a Canadian seller shipping across provinces. If you have not set up company accounts and catalogs yet, our guide to Shopify B2B without Shopify Plus covers what is available on each plan.

Why it matters: because the draft order becomes the real order, there is no second system to reconcile and no chance that the price the buyer accepted differs from the price you invoiced.

04. When a Quote App Makes Sense

Confirm CRM sync before you install anything.

A quote app that keeps quotes only inside its own dashboard recreates the inbox problem with a nicer interface. Ask how each quote reaches your CRM and how the accepted quote becomes a Shopify order.

An app earns its fee when buyers should assemble quotes themselves, when you handle enough requests that manual entry slows you down, or when several reps need a shared approval flow. If approvals are the main issue, pair it with the ideas in our guide to Shopify B2B order approval workflows.

Why it matters: an app solves a volume problem. If you handle a handful of quotes a week, it adds cost and moving parts without saving real time.

05. Connecting Quotes to Your CRM

The quote is a sales event, so it belongs in your CRM as a deal. For HubSpot users, the request form creates the contact, company, and deal, and the draft order reference is stored on the deal. Our guides on routing website quote requests into a HubSpot sales workflow and HubSpot quote-to-cash cover the CRM side in detail.

Why it matters: once quotes are deals, you can see which are aging, which reps are slow, and what your real win rate is. None of that is possible when the record is an email thread.

06. A Quote Workflow That Does Not Leak

Capture the request as a deal, not an email.

The quote request form should create or update a contact, a company, and a deal in your CRM, with the products and quantities attached, so nothing depends on someone remembering to forward a message.

Build the quote as a draft order tied to the buyer's company.

Attach the company so its catalog, price list, and payment terms apply, then override the lines that are genuinely custom. This keeps the quote consistent with what a repeat buyer normally sees.

Send it as an invoice link with an expiry you actually enforce.

State how long the price holds. Steel, resin, and freight costs move, and an open-ended quote is a liability.

Link the draft order back to the deal and update the stage automatically.

When the buyer pays or is billed on terms, the deal should close without anyone retyping it. When the quote ages out, the deal should surface for follow-up.

Report on win rate and time to quote.

These two numbers tell you whether the workflow is working. Slow quotes lose deals to competitors who answer the same day.

Why it matters: each step closes a specific gap where quotes usually die: capture, pricing consistency, price expiry, conversion, and measurement.

07. When You Need CPQ Instead

If a price cannot exist until a configuration is chosen, or if engineering must review a spec first, forms and draft orders will strain. Made-to-order, dimension-based, and multi-material products are the usual triggers. Our guide to CPQ and 3D product configurators for manufacturers explains when that investment pays back.

Why it matters: overbuilding too early wastes budget, and underbuilding too long burns rep time, so match the tool to how complex your pricing truly is.

08. How AtlanticWorks Helps

AtlanticWorks is a certified Shopify and HubSpot partner working with manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and DTC brands across Atlantic Canada and beyond. We set up the request form, company accounts, and draft order process on Shopify, connect it to HubSpot so every quote is a tracked deal, and automate the follow-up so nothing goes stale. It starts with a free assessment.

09. Key Takeaways

Quote-based selling on Shopify usually runs on a form, draft orders, a quote app, or a CPQ layer, and the right one depends on quote volume and price complexity.
Draft orders are the practical core: they carry custom prices, company terms, and an invoice link that turns a quote into an order.
Most quote problems are follow-up problems. Quotes that live in email go stale, so the request should create a deal in your CRM from the first click.
Start with a form and draft orders, add a quote app when manual entry becomes the bottleneck, and consider CPQ only when the price logic is genuinely complex.
Set an expiry on every quote and measure time to quote and win rate, since speed and follow-up decide most B2B quote outcomes.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add a request a quote option to Shopify?

There are three common routes. The simplest is a request form on the product page that creates a lead in your CRM. The second is a quote app that lets a buyer build a quote from the cart. The third is a form plus a sales rep who builds a draft order in the Shopify admin and sends it back as an invoice. The right choice depends on how many quotes you handle a week and how much of the price is negotiated.

What is a Shopify draft order and how is it used for B2B quotes?

A draft order is an order a merchant creates manually in the admin before the customer pays. You can add products, set custom prices or discounts, attach a company and payment terms, and then send an invoice link. For B2B it works as a quote that converts into a real order the moment the buyer accepts and pays or is billed on terms.

Does Shopify have a native request a quote feature?

Shopify's built-in B2B tools cover companies, catalogs, price lists, payment terms, and draft orders, but a buyer-facing request a quote button is generally handled by a form, an app, or a custom build rather than a single native switch. Check the current admin and the app store before you commit, since Shopify ships changes often.

Should I use a Shopify quote app or draft orders?

Use draft orders when a person on your team reviews every quote and the volume is low to moderate. Use a quote app when buyers should be able to assemble and submit quotes themselves at volume. Many Canadian manufacturers start with a form and draft orders, then add an app once quote volume makes manual entry the bottleneck.

How do I stop quotes from getting lost between Shopify and my CRM?

Treat the quote as a deal, not an email. The request should create or update a contact and a deal in your CRM, the draft order should be linked to that deal, and the deal stage should change when the buyer pays or is invoiced. That single record is what lets you follow up on stale quotes and report on win rate.

Can a quote include net payment terms and custom pricing?

Yes. A draft order attached to a B2B company can carry that company's payment terms, and you can override line prices or apply a discount for the specific quote. The buyer then receives an invoice link and pays or is billed according to the terms you set.

When does a quote workflow need CPQ instead?

If your products are configurable, priced by dimensions or materials, or need engineering review before a price exists, a form and a draft order will strain. That is the point where a configure-price-quote layer, covered in our guide for manufacturers, starts to earn its cost.