Over the years — from Levi Strauss to ASICS, and now at Phoon Huat — I’ve been part of several eCommerce platform evaluations.
Each RFP process brought familiar challenges: getting alignment across teams with different priorities; making sense of vendor responses that all sound promising; and managing timelines, scorecards and communications without losing clarity.
This time, I had a quiet, helpful partner: AI. Not to replace expertise, but to bring structure, clarity, and space for better conversations. Here’s how AI supported me across each step of the RFP journey.
Drafting the RFP
Using GPT, I outlined the RFP document — executive summary, business context, capability needs, integration expectations, evaluation criteria and submission timelines. It even helped draft a vendor FAQ and questionnaire tailored to our priorities.
Setting up confidentiality
I developed clear confidentiality guardrails — including NDA language and a tiered approach to what could be disclosed and when. This helped create a respectful and professional tone early in the process.
Reaching out to vendors
I crafted personalized yet consistent outreach emails — striking the balance between informative and open, and setting the stage for strong vendor engagement.
Comparing vendors more clearly
I built a structured scorecard, translating long-form vendor docs into side-by-side comparisons. It flagged overlapping features, real differentiators, and supported our weighted scoring model.
Aligning internal teams
Instead of sending everyone a 40-page RFP, I generated role-specific summaries:
- Tech teams reviewed API, uptime and integration flexibility
- Marketing focused on CMS and campaign tools
- Ops looked at fulfillment logic and admin UX
This helped everyone engage on their terms — and reduced confusion.
Preparing for clarification calls
Before calls, I asked GPT: “What’s unclear or missing from this proposal?” It helped generate questions like:
- “Can promotional rules be localized by market and channel?”
- “How does the platform support APAC-specific payment gateways?”
- “Can we manage B2B and B2C storefronts from a single backend?”
These calls became much sharper — and far less generic.
Making the final call
I summarized feedback across reviewers, highlighted where our scores differed, and made it easier to align on trade-offs.
Communicating with care
Reaching out to vendors — selected and not — was easier with AI-generated drafts I could personalize.
I’ve compiled this entire process into an RFP Playbook — including templates, scorecards and sample AI prompts. If you’re navigating your own eCommerce platform evaluation, I hope it helps. The RFP Playbook is linked from the original post on LinkedIn.
In the end, AI didn’t lead the project — but it helped me create space to lead and manage better.