The situation
Lena sells wooden toys to families and to dealers. Dealer inquiries arrived by email, sometimes with a business licence attached, sometimes with a link, sometimes with nothing. Every missing detail meant another email back.
Lena checks every dealer inquiry before there is a dealer account
Toy shops and other web stores want to stock Lena's wooden toys. Before they see dealer prices, Lena checks who is asking: with proof of business, a website and the question of where they sell.
The job
Where the built-in tools stop
Shopware can create a registration page of its own for a customer group. It holds the normal registration with company and VAT ID; a proof to upload or the question about shop and website do not appear in it.
This is what the form looks like
Website and shop location hang on the same choice, each with two rules; with "both", both fields appear.
What matters here
your-shop.example/admin
FormsCancelSave
FormStructureElement
Elements
#NameTypeWidth
Create top-level element
Two rules, one field
The website should appear with "Web store" and with "Both". So the field gets two conditions: "Selling through equals Web store" OR "equals Both". Several conditions are combined with OR, and one that is met is enough.
The proof as a file
The proof of business is a file upload taking pdf, jpg and png up to 5 MB, as a mandatory field. The file lands in the media folder set in the plugin configuration, and the submission carries the link to it.
Mandatory means both halves
"First name + Last name" and "Email address + Phone number" are double fields. As mandatory fields they require both halves; without a phone number the form does not accept the inquiry.
Where it sits
As a block on the "Become a dealer" page, linked in the footer. There is no assignment here, because the inquiry comes from people without an account. The volume enquiry for approved dealers, by contrast, sits on the product.
What comes back
Without a context: company, VAT ID, sales channel type, website, range and the link to the proof as columns of their own. Approval then happens in the shop itself, with a customer account and a customer group.
How to set it up
In the "Form" tab the confirmation is an "Info message (blue)", not a green one: the inquiry has arrived, but nothing is decided yet. The message says when Lena will get back.
your-shop.example/admin
FormsCancelSave
FormStructureElement
Base data
Dealer inquiry
Active
Confirmation
Info message (blue)
Thank you for your inquiry. We will review your details and get back to you within a week.
Email notification
dealers@your-shop.example
Active
- 01
The "Email notification" to sales
Under "Email notification" sits dealers@your-shop.example, with "Active" switched on. The email brings every entry along, the proof of business as a link.
- 02
"Add condition" for the second rule
In the "Conditions" tab of the website field sits the first rule; "Add condition" adds the second below it, combined with OR. The same goes for "Shop location" with "Shop" and "Both".
- 03
"Activate CAPTCHA"
The "Become a dealer" page can be reached by anyone. With "Activate CAPTCHA" the form checks the CAPTCHA from the shop's basic information before it stores an inquiry.
Three options, two fields, four rules: with "Shop" and with "Web store" one field appears each, with "Both" both appear. The proof may be 5 MB. The export has 14 fixed columns and 10 for the fields, 24 in all.
Questions about the dealer inquiry
Do I need a plugin for dealer inquiries?
For a proof to upload and questions of your own, yes. The registration for a customer group only asks what every registration asks, and the contact form has no upload. With the plugin you build the inquiry in the administration.
Does the inquiry create a dealer account?
No. It lands in the history and in your inbox. After the review you create the customer, or move an existing one into the customer group for dealers.
How does the proof of business reach me?
As a file in the media folder set in the plugin configuration, and as a link in the submission and the email. The extensions on the field are accepted, here pdf, jpg and png.
What does mandatory mean for name and contact?
With the double fields, both halves: first and last name, email address and phone number. If the phone number is to be optional, you use two separate fields instead of the double field.
What happens after approval?
With forms for dealers only. A rule from the rule builder on the product assignment, on the customer group for instance, shows the volume enquiry on the product to them alone.
Can I sort inquiries by range?
In the export, yes: "Interested in" is a column of its own with the chosen ranges, comma-separated, and "Selling through" always holds one of three values. The spreadsheet filters and sorts by them.