This article is intended for suppliers. If you're a buyer, check out our help articles here.
This article focuses on the new layout and user journey. For the previous version, see this article here.
This article covers:
How to Send Your Intention to Bid
When a buyer invites you to bid on a request, you need to respond to confirm your intention to participate or decline. Until you send your intention to bid you will only be able to access the details of ‘Stage 1’.
To respond or participate, log into DeepStream, open the relevant request, click on ‘My bid’ within the request menu.
Under the ‘My response’ section either choose Start bidding to send your intention to bid or choose Decline to bid and you will be prompted to provide a reason why you are not participating. The buyer will then be notified of your response.
Understanding the ‘My bid’ page
Request Statuses
At the top of the ‘My bid’ page you can see an overall status of the request, including:
Request status: This will show as either Live, Pending or Ended
Bid status: This will show as either No response, Bidding or Declines to bid
Bid outcome: This will show as either Pending, Awarded, Unsuccessful or Partially Awarded (depending on the Award scenario the buyer has chosen)
Lots
If you are bidding on a request with Lots enabled you will see the breakdown here of each possible lot to submit a bid on.
To learn more about bidding on Lots click here
Stages
When starting to submit your bid (unless enabled by the buyer) you will only see the current stage you are bidding in. Details you can see on the ‘My bid’ page for the stages are:
Stage status: This will either be set as Live and Deadlines Passed
Deadline: This will show the stage deadline including the date, time and time zone
Time to deadline: This will show the amount of days and hours left until the deadline (this clock colour will change as the deadline gets closer)
Requirements completion: A percentage calculated on how much many requirements you have completed so far
If you are successful from the first stage and the buyer moves you into the second this will then appear in the same place on the ‘My bid’ page.
And finally at the bottom of the ‘My bid’ page you have the option to withdraw your bid at any point if the request is still live.
Explaining Different Section Requirements
In a Request, there are several section requirements to complete:
Line Items
Documents
Questions
When working on any requirement, a status bar will appear at the bottom.
You can choose 'Auto-advance' to automatically move to the next incomplete section after submitting a response, allowing for quick navigation between sections.
You can also navigate between section requirements using the up and down arrows on the left hand side, which indicate the exchange you are currently on.
✏️ Please note: You can not auto-advance to the next stage using this shortcut
Completing Line Items Submissions
Click on the line for pricing submission.
In the pop-up window, submit your price in the indicated fields.
Enter pricing for each line item and add supporting comments if required.
💡Important: Update your price before the deadline by opening the line you have already submitted a price on, click Edit and then clear the response. Resubmit the pricing and click the update response button.
✏️ Please Note: You can update your pricing without clearing the first response.
Completing Line Item Submissions with Excel
Open up the relevant stage and scroll down to the ‘Tools’ section
Click on Open flow next to Submit line items with Excel
Download the excel file template and follow the instructions in the document to paste in your line item submissions
Go back to DeepStream and in the pop up window click ‘Next’
Upload your Excel file and click ‘Next’
Next you need to select the sheets you want to import then click ‘Next’
The next step will show you if you have any errors you need to fix before allowing the upload. If you do have errors, you can edit this within the grid view once you have clicked ‘Next’
Confirm you are happy with submitting the upload by ticking the box and finally select Submit
The final window will show the status of your submission
Document Exchange
DeepStream allows document uploads or requests. Each document uploaded or requested from the buyer will have an action against it.
As the supplier, you will need to complete these actions in order to complete the Request. Actions against documents include:
Information only: A document that does not require any actions from you
To accept: A document that you will be required to accept to move forward with the Bid process.
To accept or deviate: A document that you will be required to accept, but also offers the option to offer deviations.
To complete/sign: A document you are required to complete. You won’t be able to deviate or post stand-alone comments.
To complete/sign or deviate: A document you are required to complete. You are able to offer deviations on the initial form.
To complete/sign (locked): A document you are required to complete. Upon submission, the document will be locked until the unlocking condition is met. You won’t be able to offer deviations.
All exchanges are logged in the Audit Trail. Replacement of documents marked obsolete by the buyer is possible before request closure, award, or deadline expiration.
Completing Questions
Click on the line containing the Question.
In the pop-up exchange window, respond according to the question format (Multiple choice, Text-based, Numerically based, Address/location, Date and time).
Utilise the comments section for additional supporting information.
Click Submit Response
Bidding on Lots
When in the ‘My Bid’ page you will see the list of Lots that have been sent to you to bid on just under the status panel. Here you will see the title of the Lot and a description provided by the buyer.
If you need to provide information for Lots within the first Stage you will be able to see some detail by clicking on Stage 1. If they are not included in this stage you will not be able to see any further information until you have been successfully moved to the next stage.
To start bidding on Lots you first need to click on the Start bidding button next to the corresponding Lot. If you wish to decline, choose Decline to bid (you can then hide this inactive Lot by clicking on the hyperlink Hide inactive lot).
✏️ Please Note: If you choose Decline to bid accidentally and want to undo that action you can still choose the Start bidding option to reactive it.
When you have been moved to the relevant Lot stage by the buyer, and you have confirmed to move to the next stage you can start bidding on each lot:
Open the stage you need to complete
You will now see each Lot listed and a completion status for each
To complete your bid for each Lot click on the link and complete as you normally would following the requirements instructions earlier in this article
If the Lot contains Line Item requirements you can submit this information via Excel - follow the instructions earlier in this article here
What Are Stages
If there are multiple stages in the request, your company is moved to the next stage at the buyer's discretion.
You'll receive an email notification that the buyer has progressed you to the next stage. Within the email will be a link to go directly to the request in DeepStream.
Once in the request navigate to the ‘My bid’ page and scroll down to click Continue, you will then be able to open up the next stage to continue your bid.
How to Communicate with Buyers
You can communicate with buyers through messages. Four types of messages are available:
Clarifications: Proactively ask or respond to buyer questions. You can open as many clarifications as needed. To send one, go to the Messages tab, select Clarifications, click New Clarification, and type your message.
✏️ Please Note: Buyers can upload their own files and optionally
allow you as a supplier to upload files too as part of
clarification.
Chats: Only buyers can open a new chat. Buyers can give permission to suppliers to attach and exchange documents within a chat message.
Bulletins: Shared with all suppliers on a request. Suppliers cannot respond directly; if needed, open a new clarification. Only buyers can create a bulletin post.
Comments: Suppliers can comment on each individual exchange.
Check the table below for a summary of different communication modes:
| Clarification | Chat | Bulletin |
Who's it sent to? | Individual | Individual | Mass communication |
Who can send one? | Buyer & supplier | Buyer only | Buyer only |
Can include documents? | No | Yes (if buyer allows) | No |
Who can resolve it? | Buyer only | n/a | n/a |
Click here to see the full article on contacting a buyer.
For further queries, please use our live chat feature or email support@deepstreamtech.com