Chapter 9: Managing Wholesale and Catering Orders

In addition to retail sales, many bakeries have a significant B2B business, supplying goods to local cafes, restaurants, or catering corporate events. These transactions are typically larger, may involve special pricing, and are managed through the Odoo Sales application rather than the POS.

9.1 The Quote-to-Cash Process for B2B Customers

The workflow for a wholesale or catering order is more formal than a retail transaction and is designed to handle negotiations and credit terms.

  1. Create Quotation: The process begins in the Sales app by creating a quotation for the client. The quotation details the products, quantities, prices, and any specific terms.[48, 52]

  2. Send Quotation: The quotation can be sent to the client directly from Odoo as a professional-looking PDF. Clients can even view and approve the quotation online through a customer portal link.

  3. Confirm to Sales Order: Once the client accepts the quotation, it is confirmed into a Sales Order. This action is the trigger for the fulfillment process. Odoo automatically creates a Delivery Order in the Inventory app to schedule the shipment of goods and prepares a draft Invoice in the Accounting app.[53]

  4. Deliver & Invoice: The bakery staff will process the delivery order to ship the goods. The invoice can then be sent to the client for payment according to the agreed-upon terms (e.g., Net 30 days).

9.2 Creating and Managing Wholesale Pricelists

Wholesale customers typically receive preferential pricing compared to retail customers. Odoo’s Pricelists feature automates this. You can create a “Wholesale Pricelist” that applies a specific discount (e.g., 20% off the public price) or sets fixed prices for certain items.

This pricelist can then be assigned to your wholesale customer’s contact record. When you create a new quotation for that customer, Odoo will automatically apply the wholesale pricelist, ensuring that the pricing is always accurate and consistent without requiring manual adjustments by the sales staff.[48]