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Participate in a Sourcing Event

Learn how to participate in a sourcing event.

Coupa allows buyers to run RFx- and auction-like sourcing events to select suppliers. Each event will display information about the buyer company, commodity, start and end dates, and type of event. The awarded offer can be sent back to a requisition.

For a high level walkthrough of steps and references to participate in sourcing events, see A Suppliers Guide to Coupa Sourcing.

1. Access a sourcing event

For more information about accessing events, see View Sourcing Events in CSP.

Sourcing Events page

As a supplier, once you have been invited to or responded to multiple events and signed in to the platform, you are welcomed by a page where you can see a table with all the events you have access to.

Above the table, you can see the invitation of the most recent event that you have been invited to. The table files are different events and table columns are a glimpse of the main details for each event.

When you click on an event link, you can see the event details for that event. Above the table, you can see the invitation of the most recent event that you have been invited to.

Clicking View Event in the invitation mail will bring you directly to the Event Info page in the event and not the general Events page.

Participate in a sourcing event

As a supplier, once you have accessed a sourcing event though Coupa or through the CSP you are welcomed by a page where you can see a table with all the events you have access to.

From this page you can:

See more information about the event, including start and end dates, status, and more.
If the event has not yet started you will be taken to a page with a countdown timer indicating the time to opening.
You will not get any notification when the event opens.
Choose to participate or not, by accepting the Terms and Conditions.
Deliver required information, including filling out sourcing event custom forms made by the buyer which might also require uploading documents.
Respond to buyer's requests.
Search for specific events using the search bars in the platform.
Event searchbars are located at the top right corner of the table of event results. You can search for events using their name or identification number.
Filter event results by customer, status, and other fields.

These options and more can be accessed through the main page of the event.

Event Info page sections and fields

Select an event to see more details about it. Depending on the event, you can see one or more sections as described below. The setup may differ between events and buyers, so all sections and fields described below may not be shown in all events.

Section name	Description
Countdown timer	The Countdown timer at the top right shows the time to closing or to the opening of an auction step, if the event setup is an RFx – auction.
Timeline	The Timeline shows the start of each of the phases with the duration of the phase displayed underneath.
Terms and Conditions	You have to accept all Terms and Conditions to gain access to the event details. If you are not able to accept one or more of the conditions, click ‘No’ and give a brief explanation in the mandatory comment field to help the Buyer understand your choice. Click Send to Event Owner to submit. Should you change your mind, you may change your ‘No’ into a ‘Yes’ and re-submit. Note that acceptance is binding, i.e. it is not possible to change a 'Yes' into a ‘No’ once it is submitted. The conditions for the event are listed in the Event Information & Bidding Rules section. Additional information about the process and scope may be provided for download in the Buyer Attachments section. Read all information carefully. Only once you have submitted your acceptance of all Terms and Conditions, the Enter Response button at the bottom of the page becomes available to you. Click it to get to the My Reponses page where you find the event details.
Attachments	Files you receive from the buyer or you send back. The buyer may provide you with further information about the items in attached files. You may also be requested to respond by submission of a file. To upload an attachment: Click the File link in the Your Response section in the right. Browse for the file. It is submitted once you click it. To delete an attachment: Hover your mouse over the attachment Click the red icon . Note Coupa Sourcing does not support `.zip` or `.exe` files for security reasons.
Questionnaires	Questions that the buyer needs you to answer. There can be several questionnaires in an event, use the Hide/Expand arrows in the right margin to facilitate overview. Submit your answers by clicking Save at the bottom right of each of the questionnaires.
Items and Lots	Pricing section. This is the section where you specify and price your offers. Click an item to open it. The requested input may vary depending on what is sourced. There may also be additional item-specific questions from the buyer. If you want to partially participate in an event (participate for only certain items and not others), leave the pricing in blank for the item you do not want to source. If the item is mandatory, you can assign a price of 0 to it. Items in Lots are always awarded together. For more information about how to submit items and lots in bulk, see the header Bulk submissions below. Make sure to complete all mandatory information and click Save Item. Note To partially participate in an event, add a price only to the line items you wish to participate with. Items you do not wish to sumbit or bid for should be blank. If the price is mandatory but the buyer accepts partial participation, mark the price as 0.
Message center	Post all questions regarding the event in the Messages center at the bottom of the event pages. The questions are relayed to the Event Team and you will get an email notification when they have posted the answers for you. The answer is also shown in the Messages center as are possible updates to the event information.
Language settings	At the bottom of the page, you can select your preferred language settings for the online view and email notifications.
Activity Log	You can see a log of your submissions and other activities by selecting Load History at the bottom of the My Responses page.

Bulk submissions

For multiple items, it might be easier to enter prices and specifications offline in an Excel form and submit the offers in bulk. To enter a bulk submission in an event, follow the steps below:

Click Edit response.
Select Export to Excel.
Open the file and enter your data.
The first tab is for the item pricing, the second one contains the Questionnaires, if any. Mandatory information is marked by a “Y”.
Save the file on your computer. Make sure the name is exactly the same as that of the original downloaded file.
Click Import from Excel.
Browse for the file and click Start Upload.
A green receipt appears when the upload is successful.
Verify that the updates are as intended.
Click Submit Response to Buyer.

Competitive bidding

The following sections refer to specific settings for competitive bidding in auction type events.

For more information about spot buy, RFx Events, and auction type events, see Sourcing Events Types for Suppliers.

English auction

During competitive bidding of an English auction type you will get feedback on your prices. The Attachments and Forms sections are still available, although at the bottom of the page, and may be updated as well.

You will see feedback on your pricing expressed as a rank or as a difference to best bid, depending on the buyer’s choice. All items in a lot are ranked together but may be awarded individually if the buyer has allowed that. Items not included in lots are ranked separately. The total cost is also ranked.

For more information, see the Bidding rules section in the Event Info page.

Click Edit response to update your offers. Enter the new prices for each of the items and click Submit. You will see your new rank once you get the receipt for the submission. Beware the recalculation may take some time.

The items will remain open should you wish to update again. You can update your offers as many times as you wish until the auction closes to improve your position.

Dutch auction

If the competitive bidding phase is set as a Dutch auction, the Items and Lots section will look and behave a bit different from that in an English auction. You may be asked to enter prices before the auction opens, but these prices are replaced by the start prices set by the buyer for the actual auction.

As soon as the Dutch auction opens, the countdown timer at the top right corner starts ticking. The tick interval is shown in the Event Information & Bidding Rules section in the Event Info page.

The start prices shown in the Items and Lots section will increase with every tick. If you wish to accept the call-out prices, click the Accept bid button to the lower right. As soon as you have confirmed your response, the auction ends and you are marked as the winner.

Note that your bid is for the total cost, i.e. all items are awarded together, irrespective of in a lot or not.

Responses

Click Enter Responses at the bottom of the Event Info page to open the My Responses page where you submit the requested information. You can hide sections by clicking the arrows in the right margin. All mandatory information is marked by a red asterisk: If you do not complete these, your submission is not accepted and you will receive an error message at the top of the page.

Submit responses

When you have completed all requested information in the three sections, click Submit Response to Buyer at the bottom of the page. You will get a green receipt of successful submission at the top of the page.

During pre-bidding phase (submission of information without feedback), you can update your information as many times as needed.

Bidding rules do not apply to pricing in pre-bidding phases.

Participate in a follow-on event

When you receive an invitation to a follow-on event, you receive a notification email with the title and identification of the new event. The notification also indicates the name and ientification of the original event.

You can respond directly from the notification following the steps below:

Select your preferred option through the invitation email, you can:
1. Select the I intend to Participate button to notify the buyer that you will participate later, or
2. Select the View Event button to go to the event page and enter your responses:
3. Under the Event Follow-On Information section is a link to the original event. To participate in the follow-on event, select I intend to participate in this event.
Review the follow-on event information.
Search for the Terms and Conditions section of the event page.
Events may have several Terms and Conditions which you need to accept individually by selecting the Yes radio button option under the Do you accept these Terms and Conditions? question next to each one.
Select Send to Event Owner.
You can edit the rest of the fields later.

Once you select Send to Event Owner, you can select Enter Response below the Timeline section to view the Buyer Attachments, Forms, Material Questionnaires, and Items and Lots for the event. Your response from the previous event is automatically carried over as a draft.

You can edit your previous response and submit it to the buyer.