What criteria should I use to evaluate supplier bids?

Start from six: total cost of ownership, technical compliance, delivery reliability, quality and certifications, track record, and commercial terms. Reweight per purchase: delivery might be 30% for a shutdown and 10% for a stock order.

Why weight the criteria?

Unweighted scoring silently makes everything equally important, which is never true. Weights force the real decision (what actually matters here) to happen before the bids can argue for themselves.

What's a common scoring mistake?

Letting price stand in for total cost. A low unit price with slow delivery, thin warranty, and hidden exclusions usually loses on TCO. The scorecard makes that visible instead of discovering it after award.

How does this compare with AI scoring on VEXORS?

Same philosophy, automated: on VEXORS every bid is scored against the request with written reasoning, and the comparison builds itself. The scorecard is the manual version; the platform does it in seconds and keeps the record.

How many bids can this scorecard compare?

The file has room for three, in three columns with one formula each. If a tender draws more responses than that, either extend the columns and the formula by hand, or score them on VEXORS, where the count is not fixed to a spreadsheet's width.

Can I change the criteria or the weights for a different purchase?

Yes; it is your file. A shutdown spare part might weight delivery at 30% and track record at 5%; a long-term supply contract might weight commercial terms and total cost far higher. Whatever you choose, the six weights still have to sum to 100%.

What if two bids score almost the same?

A near-tie usually means the weighting did not actually separate what matters to you. Look at the criterion carrying the most weight first: whichever bid scored higher there is doing more of the work the purchase actually needs.

Should I score before or after I see the price?

Score the technical and quality criteria first, on their own merits, before price enters the picture. Scoring after the price is known tends to pull every other score toward whatever justifies the number you already like.

Is a 1 to 5 scale enough, or should I use a finer scale?

1 to 5 is enough for most purchases; a finer scale mostly adds false precision to a judgment call. If evaluators keep landing on the same score for genuinely different bids, that is a sign the guidance needs sharpening, not the scale.

Do I need a new scorecard for every tender?

Keep the same six criteria as your default and only reweight them per purchase; rebuilding the whole scorecard from scratch each time is what makes people skip it. On VEXORS a set of weights can be reused across similar requests.

How do I keep the scoring defensible if the award is questioned later?

Keep the completed sheet, with every score and the reasoning behind it, filed against the tender. On VEXORS this happens without filing anything: the scores, the AI's reasoning and every named approval are already kept with the tender record.

Can a supplier see how it scored against the others?

No; the evaluation is yours to keep internal. On VEXORS, a supplier that loses can request AI Bid Insights showing where its bid ranked and why, without ever learning who won or by how much.

Free template

Evaluation scorecard that makes the award defensible

Six weighted criteria with scoring guidance and automatic weighted totals, so the winner is the bid that scored best, not the one that shouted last.

No card to start. Your first request goes out in minutes.

vexors-supplier-evaluation-scorecard.xlsx

Supplier bid evaluation scorecard

CriterionWeightGuidanceBid ABid BBid C

Total cost of ownership30%Price, delivery, payment terms, lifecycle cost

Technical compliance20%Meets specification without exclusions

Delivery time and reliability15%Lead time and confidence it will be met

Quality and certifications15%Standards, samples, QA process

Track record and references10%Comparable delivered work

Commercial terms and warranty10%Validity, warranty, penalties accepted

Weighted score

SUMPRODUCTSUMPRODUCTSUMPRODUCT

The highest weighted score wins on paper.

Sanity-check it against anything the scores cannot see.

Free to start, no card
Your data stays yours
Suppliers respond free

Download the free evaluation scorecard

Real .xlsx files in English and Arabic, formulas included.

What is a supplier evaluation scorecard?

A supplier evaluation scorecard is a weighted checklist that scores each bid on the criteria that actually matter for the purchase, not on price alone. Total cost of ownership, technical compliance, delivery, quality, track record and commercial terms each carry a weight set before any bid is opened, so the criteria decide the winner instead of whoever argues loudest in the room. Score every bid the same way, multiply by the weight, and the totals rank themselves. On VEXORS the same weights score every bid automatically, out of 100, with the reason written beside each score.

What's inside

Six criteria: TCO, technical compliance, delivery, quality, track record, commercial terms
Adjustable weights that must sum to 100%
Plain-language guidance on what a good score looks like per criterion
Columns for three bids, 1–5 scoring
Automatic weighted score per bid via SUMPRODUCT

Weights, before any bid is scored

Weights sum to100%

Total cost of ownership30%
Technical compliance20%
Delivery time and reliability15%
Quality and certifications15%
Track record and references10%
Commercial terms and warranty10%

Change a weight for a different purchase. The rest still has to add up to 100%.

Weights decided before anyone is biased

Set what total cost of ownership, delivery, quality and the rest are worth to this purchase before a single price is on the table. A weight added after the bids are open is a justification wearing a criterion's coat.

Every score has a reason beside it

A number alone invites an argument later. Guidance beside every criterion, and a reason beside every score, means the scorecard still makes sense to someone who was not in the room when it was filled in.

The record that answers why this one won

Keep the completed sheet and you can answer, six months later, exactly why a particular bid won. On VEXORS that record builds itself: every score, every reason and every approval stays with the tender.

How the scoring works, from the sheet to VEXORS

Criteria

Guidance beside every criterion, so two scorers land on the same number

A criterion without guidance means every scorer invents their own definition of a good answer. This file writes it down beside the weight: total cost of ownership means price plus delivery, payment terms and lifecycle cost together, not the unit price alone; technical compliance means the specification met without a quiet exclusion buried in the small print. Six criteria, each with its own guidance, so a 4 out of 5 means the same thing whoever is holding the pen.

Guidance written beside every criterion, not left to memory
Total cost of ownership carries the heaviest weight, at 30%
Six criteria in total, from cost to commercial terms

Manual scoring

Score three bids by hand, the formula does the rest

Score every bid 1 to 5 against each criterion, and a single SUMPRODUCT formula multiplies each score by its weight and adds the result up for you. Score independently before comparing notes with anyone else evaluating the same bids: convergence reached by discussion beats a number anchored on whoever spoke first. The bid with the highest weighted score is not always the cheapest one, and that is the point of weighting in the first place.

1 to 5 scoring on each of the six criteria
The weighted total computes itself, no manual multiplication
Room for three bids; score independently before comparing

AI scoring on VEXORS

The same weights, but every bid scored out of 100 with the reason beside it

Bring the criteria and weights from this scorecard onto a VEXORS tender and the scoring happens the moment a bid is submitted. Every bid is scored out of 100 against your published commercial and technical weights, and the reason for the score is written next to it, so a strong bid is not lost beside a cheap one and a thin answer cannot hide behind a good price. AI recommends an award; the decision, and the approval, stay yours.

Every bid scored out of 100 against your own published weights
The reason for the score written in plain language beside it
AI recommends the award, you decide
As many bids as the tender receives, not the three columns a sheet has room for

AI score, out of 100, with the reason beside it

AStrong on technical compliance and total cost together86/100

AI recommends

BGood total cost, technical answers slightly thinner81/100

DSolid on delivery, weaker on total cost of ownership78/100

CTechnical compliance strong, commercial terms carry exceptions71/100

ELowest total cost, weakest technical compliance58/100

The weighting is the one you set. The scoring is instant, for as many bids as the tender receives.

Award record

The award stays yours, with named approvals kept beside it

A completed scorecard is only as good as what happens to it after the last cell is filled in. On VEXORS, the recommendation, every score and every approver's decision are kept with the tender itself, not scattered across an inbox and a shared file. Each approver signs off under their own name before the award goes out, and when someone asks why this bid won, the answer is already sitting with the record instead of waiting to be reconstructed.

The recommendation and every score kept with the tender, not a separate file
Each approver signs off under their own name before the award goes out
The reason for the award is already on record when anyone asks

Scorecard file vs VEXORS

What changes once the scoring is not a shared file

The same weights, from a file to a live tender.
	The scorecard sent by email	Sent as a tender on VEXORS
Setting the weights	Typed into a shared file, easy to edit after bids are already open	Locked to the tender and published to every bidder before it closes
Scoring the bids	Typed by hand into the three columns the file has room for	Every bid scored automatically against the same published weights
The weighted total	One formula per bidder, redone by hand if a bid is added	Computed the moment a bid is submitted, for any number of bidders
The reason for a score	Wherever someone remembered to leave a comment	Written beside every score and kept with the tender
Which copy is current	Whichever file someone last saved and sent around	One record; the weights and scores never fork into versions
Who scored what	One name on the file, if anyone signs it at all	Each evaluator's score recorded under their own name
Approving the award	A signature or an email chain outside the file	Approvals recorded by name on the award itself
Answering for the award later	Reopening the email trail to find the final version	The scores, reasons and approvals are already kept with the tender

Setting the weights
The scorecard sent by email
Typed into a shared file, easy to edit after bids are already open
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
Locked to the tender and published to every bidder before it closes
Scoring the bids
The scorecard sent by email
Typed by hand into the three columns the file has room for
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
Every bid scored automatically against the same published weights
The weighted total
The scorecard sent by email
One formula per bidder, redone by hand if a bid is added
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
Computed the moment a bid is submitted, for any number of bidders
The reason for a score
The scorecard sent by email
Wherever someone remembered to leave a comment
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
Written beside every score and kept with the tender
Which copy is current
The scorecard sent by email
Whichever file someone last saved and sent around
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
One record; the weights and scores never fork into versions
Who scored what
The scorecard sent by email
One name on the file, if anyone signs it at all
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
Each evaluator's score recorded under their own name
Approving the award
The scorecard sent by email
A signature or an email chain outside the file
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
Approvals recorded by name on the award itself
Answering for the award later
The scorecard sent by email
Reopening the email trail to find the final version
Sent as a tender on VEXORS
The scores, reasons and approvals are already kept with the tender

Who this scorecard is for

Buyers scoring more than one bid

Procurement teams and contractors comparing several suppliers on price, quality, delivery and terms together, who need the winner to be defensible, not just cheapest on the page.

Technical and commercial evaluators scoring together

Wherever a technical scorer and a commercial scorer have to agree on what matters before either of them sees a price, so neither can quietly outweigh the other after the fact.

Whoever has to answer for the award later

The person who has to explain, next week or during an audit next year, exactly why this supplier won and not the one that quoted less.

From scoring to award

How to use it

Set weights before bids arrive

Decide what matters while you are still neutral. Weights set after reading bids are justifications, not criteria.

Score independently, then compare

If several people evaluate, score separately and discuss the gaps. Convergence by discussion beats anchoring.

Keep the sheet

The completed scorecard is your award record. When anyone asks why this supplier won, this is the answer.

Or bring the weights onto VEXORS

Send your next tender on the platform with the same criteria and weights already set. Every bid arrives already scored out of 100, with the reasoning attached, ready for you to approve by name.

Evaluation scorecard FAQ

Score your next tender the same way, automatically

Bring the criteria and weights from this scorecard onto VEXORS. Every bid arrives already scored out of 100, with the reasoning attached, and the award still yours to approve.