QuoteStore – Platform Overview
Audience: Everyone. Read this first, then jump to your role-specific guide.
QuoteStore (internally also called LiveQuotes) is a B2B micro-ecommerce platform for the commercial foodservice equipment industry. It lets dealers turn AutoQuotes (AQ) project exports into curated, buyer-facing online catalogs, and lets their buyer organizations shop, build orders, and check out on Open Credit through a structured approval workflow.
This documentation set is split by role:
| Guide | Who it’s for |
|---|---|
| Dealer Guide | Dealer admins, regional managers, and sales reps who manage catalogs, buyers, and orders |
| Buyer Guide | Buyer admins and buyer users who shop and place orders |
| Buyer Group Admin Guide | Multi-org buyers who manage several buyer organizations at once |
| Super Admin Guide | Platform operators who manage every dealer, buyer, and order |
1. The cast of characters (roles)
The platform has four top-level user types. Your role is stored on your login (Supabase Auth) and determines where you land after signing in.
| Role | Belongs to | Can do (in short) |
|---|---|---|
| Super Admin | The platform | See and manage every dealer, buyer, order, and product across all tenants |
| Dealer Admin | One dealer org | Full control of the dealer org: projects, buyers, team, orders, settings |
| Regional Manager | One dealer org | Same as admin but scoped to buyer orgs in their assigned regions |
| Sales Rep | One dealer org | Same as admin but scoped to buyer orgs in their assigned districts |
| Buyer Admin | One buyer org | Shop, approve/reject orders, manage org users, addresses, see all org orders |
| Buyer User | One buyer org | Shop and submit orders (may need buyer-admin approval); sees the org’s orders |
| Buyer Group Admin | One dealer org | Shop and approve orders across multiple assigned buyer orgs |
Signing in
Everyone uses the same login screen. In the development environment there are one-click test accounts (all share the password TestPass123!).
After login you are routed automatically:
- Super Admin →
/admin/dashboard - Dealer →
/dealer/dashboard - Buyer →
/catalog - Buyer Group Admin →
/buyer-group/dashboard
2. Core concepts
Projects (a.k.a. LiveQuotes)
A Project is a dealer-owned mini-catalog built from a single AutoQuotes (AQ) project export. The dealer imports the AQ data (via the AutoQuotes API or a JSON file), which fills the project with products, specs, and pricing. The dealer then links one or more buyer organizations to the project, and those buyers can see and buy the products.
The product/feature was originally named LiveQuotes; the database, routes, and UI now say Projects. You’ll see both terms in older material — they mean the same thing.
- A dealer can have many projects.
- A buyer org can be linked to many projects.
- Projects have a status (
draft→active→archived) and optional validity dates.
The unified buyer catalog
Buyers never think in terms of projects — they just see “the catalog.” When a buyer (or buyer group admin in an org context) opens the catalog, the system gathers products from every active project linked to their org and presents them as one browsable, filterable, searchable storefront.
Open Credit (how “payment” works)
There is no credit-card processing. Instead, each buyer org has an Open Credit limit and a running balance:
- Available Credit = Credit Limit − Current Balance
- Placing an order increases the balance (a hold against the limit).
- Cancelling/rejecting an order, or a dealer reducing an order, releases credit back.
- An order that exceeds available credit is blocked at checkout.
The order approval workflow
Orders move through a state machine that supports internal buyer approval, dealer review with regional/admin escalation, and a dealer↔buyer “request changes” negotiation loop.
Throughout the flow, dealers and buyers can exchange comments. Dealers also have internal notes that buyers never see.
Immutable order history
When an order is placed, the system snapshots each product’s data and price at that moment. Later re-imports or price changes on a project never alter historical orders.
3. Architecture at a glance
- Frontend: Next.js (App Router) with React Server Components, shadcn/ui, and Tailwind.
- API: tRPC with end-to-end TypeScript types and Zod validation.
- Auth & DB: Supabase Auth and Supabase Postgres (with Row-Level Security).
- Commerce primitives: product catalog, carts, orders, and Open Credit ledger.
- Integrations: AutoQuotes Projects API (per-dealer catalog import) and AutoQuotes Products API (product names, images, spec sheets); Wasabi/S3 for file storage; Resend for email; Upstash Redis for rate limiting/caching.
| Area | Default URL path |
|---|---|
| Buyer storefront | /catalog, /cart, /orders, /wishlists, /account |
| Dealer portal | /dealer/* |
| Buyer group console | /buyer-group/* |
| Super admin console | /admin/* |
Continue to the guide that matches your role: Dealer · Buyer · Buyer Group Admin · Super Admin