Turn Emails & WhatsApp Orders Into Website Quotes
At Ad Lab, we’ve spent years working with builders’ merchants, and one thing is consistently clear: most trade customers do not buy by browsing a website in the traditional way.
They call. They email. They send WhatsApp messages.
The issue is not demand. The issue is how that demand is captured.
A large proportion of orders are still handled manually, sitting outside the eCommerce journey. That leads to lost data, underreported revenue, and a heavy internal workload simply to interpret and process what are often straightforward trade requests.
A Better Way to Capture Trade Orders
We’ve developed an AI application for Magento that sits alongside our Builders’ Merchants Platform and integrates directly with ERP systems such as Epicor BisTrack.
It allows merchants to automatically interpret inbound emails and WhatsApp messages, match products, and generate structured quotes directly within the eCommerce website. Instead of staff re-keying requests manually, the system turns unstructured communication into structured, reviewable quotes.
What We’ve Seen in the Industry
Having worked with a wide range of builders’ merchants, including larger operators, we consistently see that a significant proportion of trade orders are still placed via phone and email, with only a smaller percentage going through the website in the traditional sense.
This creates a disconnect. Revenue is being generated, but much of it is not being captured properly within the digital ecosystem. That affects visibility, reporting, remarketing and the overall ability to scale efficiently.
Quote from David Newman
“Having worked with builders’ merchants for many years, we know trade customers often prefer to order via email, phone or WhatsApp rather than through a standard website journey.
Our AI application for Magento bridges that gap by interpreting those requests and converting them into structured website quotes.
This reduces admin, improves accuracy, and increases the volume of orders flowing through the digital channel — while giving merchants far better data on what customers are buying and when.”
Why Data Is Critical
For this to work properly, the system needs access to the full product catalogue, customer account data, pricing structures, trade terms and previous order history.
This is where BisTrack integration, and the Ad Lab Builders’ Merchants Platform, becomes essential. Without that depth of information, the system can only interpret orders to a limited degree. With it, accuracy becomes far stronger and commercially reliable.
How It Works in Practice
If a customer sends a message saying they need a quantity of a certain product, the system can identify the customer using their email address or phone number, reference previous ordering behaviour, match the most likely product, and generate a structured quote within Magento.
That quote can then be reviewed, approved and converted into an order that flows directly into BisTrack. The process removes manual re-keying, reduces friction and creates a much cleaner digital trail around each transaction.
Traditional vs AI-Driven Approach
The commercial difference between the traditional process and a structured AI-led approach is significant.
| Area | Traditional Process | Structured AI + ERP Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Order Capture | Manual handling of phone and email orders | Automated capture of email and WhatsApp orders |
| Processing | Staff manually interpret and re-key requests | AI interprets requests and structures them automatically |
| Speed | Slower response times and quote turnaround | Faster quote creation and response times |
| Accuracy | Greater risk of human error | Improved accuracy using customer, product and order data |
| Data Quality | Limited, inconsistent and difficult to analyse | Structured, consistent and commercially usable |
| Revenue Attribution | Often offline and underreported | Fully attributed to the website |
| Customer Insight | Fragmented across systems and teams | Centralised, visible and actionable |
| Marketing Capability | Broad and generic campaigns | Targeted, personalised and behaviour-driven |
| Operational Efficiency | High admin workload | Reduced manual input and faster processing |
| Scalability | Growth limited by staff capacity | Scales without needing equivalent increases in headcount |
24/7 Ordering Without Increasing Headcount
One of the biggest commercial advantages of this approach is availability. Customers can send quote requests at any time, including outside normal working hours, and receive a structured response much faster than with a traditional manual workflow.
Instead of waiting for a member of staff to pick up emails and interpret requirements, the system works continuously in the background. That reduces admin workload, speeds up response times, improves quote accuracy and increases the amount of revenue being captured digitally.
Real-World Application
We are currently trialling this approach with Harlow Timber Group, applying it to real trade workflows and using live merchant logic to test how AI-led quote creation can improve operational efficiency.
The early benefits are clear. Quote turnaround becomes faster, the scope for human error is reduced, and more orders begin to flow through the website layer rather than sitting outside it.
The Bigger Opportunity
Most builders’ merchants do not have a traffic problem. They have a data capture problem.
By turning emails and WhatsApp messages into structured website quotes, merchants can improve reporting, gain better customer insight, strengthen remarketing opportunities, reduce operational overhead and create a more scalable sales process.
Most importantly, they can do all of this without forcing customers to change how they prefer to buy.
See It in Action
If you are currently handling trade orders manually via email or phone, there is a clear opportunity to improve both efficiency and visibility.
Ad Lab’s AI-powered Magento application, combined with our Builders’ Merchants Platform and BisTrack integration, is designed to do exactly that.
