Vendor Comparison
Price isn't everything — weigh delivery, credit and quality too, and let the score pick the vendor.
Vendors
Criteria, weights & scores (1–10 per vendor)
Total weight: 100%| Criterion | Weight % | Vendor A | Vendor B | Vendor C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking
Score each vendor from 1–10 on every criterion — the weighted ranking appears here.
What is a vendor comparison matrix?
A vendor comparison matrix, also called a supplier scorecard or weighted decision matrix, lists the suppliers you are considering as columns and the things you care about as rows: price, quality, delivery reliability, credit terms and support. Each supplier gets a score on each row, each row carries a weight, and the weighted total ranks them. The result is one sheet that shows why a supplier was chosen, instead of a decision made from memory of the last phone call.
For a restaurant buying oil and dairy, a pharmacy choosing a distributor or a shop switching wholesalers, the cheapest rate card rarely tells the full story. Thirty days of credit instead of cash on delivery changes your working capital. A supplier who issues correct tax invoices with your GSTIN and files GST returns on time keeps your input tax credit flowing, while a distributor who misses delivery days forces emergency buying at retail rates. Writing these trade-offs down also gives you an answer when a partner, auditor or CA/CPA asks why a costlier vendor was approved.
The tool multiplies each score by its criterion weight, adds the results, divides by the total weight and multiplies by 10, giving a score out of 100. With the starting weights of Price 30, Quality 25, Delivery reliability 20, Credit terms 15 and Support 10, Vendor A scores 9, 6, 6, 8 and 5: 270 + 150 + 120 + 120 + 50 = 710, and 710 ÷ 100 × 10 = 71. Vendor B scores 6, 9, 9, 5 and 8: 180 + 225 + 180 + 75 + 80 = 740, or 74. B ranks first even though A has the better price.
Features of the vendor comparison tool
Weights you set
Give each criterion its own weight. A live total turns green at 100%, and scores are normalised by the total even when it isn't 100.
Editable criteria
Start with five common criteria or a ten-row sample set, then add, rename and delete rows to match what you buy.
Live ranking
Vendors re-rank as you type, each with a score out of 100 and a bar, and the leader carries a Best value tag.
Supplier Book import
If you keep suppliers in the Setu Supplier Book, load them as the vendors with one tap after allowing workspace access.
CSV export
Download the criteria, weights, every vendor's scores and the final score out of 100 as a CSV for Excel or Google Sheets.
Auto-saved comparison
Your vendors, criteria and scores are saved in this browser, so an unfinished comparison is still there next time.
How to use the free vendor comparison tool
- 1Rename Vendor A, Vendor B and Vendor C to your real suppliers, or tap Add vendor for more. If you have allowed workspace access and keep a Supplier Book, Load suppliers fills the vendor list from it. This replaces the current vendors, so do it before you start scoring.
- 2Type what you are buying in the item box, for example cooking oil 15 L tins, monthly.
- 3Review the criteria and weights. Rename or delete rows, tap Add criterion for your own, or tap Load sample criteria for a ten-row set that adds lead time, warranty, MOQ, shipping cost and GST compliance.
- 4Score every vendor from 1 to 10 on each criterion, where 10 is best. For price, give the cheapest quote the highest score.
- 5Read the Ranking card: each vendor gets a weighted score out of 100 and the leader is tagged Best value.
- 6Tap Export CSV to save the criteria, weights, scores and final scores for your purchase file.
What to score when comparing suppliers
- Landed price per unit, including transport and loading charges, not just the rate on the quotation
- Credit period, and whether the supplier charges interest or stops credit when you pay late
- Delivery reliability over your last few orders, not the promise made in the sales meeting
- Quality consistency, such as rejected or short-supplied quantity per delivery
- GST compliance: correct tax invoices with your GSTIN and timely return filing, so your input tax credit is not held up
- Minimum order quantity and lead time, which decide how much stock and cash you have to hold
Frequently asked questions
You score each vendor from 1 to 10 on every criterion. The tool multiplies each score by that criterion's weight, divides the total by the sum of the weights and shows the result out of 100, so the weights only need to be right relative to each other. Change a weight or a score and the ranking updates instantly.
Match them to what hurts most when it goes wrong. Perishable goods? Weight delivery high. Tight cash? Weight credit terms. Customer-facing quality? Weight quality. The starting weights (Price 30, Quality 25, Delivery reliability 20, Credit terms 15, Support 10) are a sensible place to begin for retail buying.
The cheapest vendor who delivers late or supplies poor quality costs more in stockouts, returns and lost customers. A weighted score makes those trade-offs explicit instead of gut-feel.
No. The score divides the weighted total by the sum of all weights, so weights that total 80 or 120 rank vendors the same way as the same weights scaled to 100. The total weight indicator turns green at exactly 100 and amber otherwise, because 100 lets each weight read as a percentage.
Add as many vendors and criteria as you need; the table scrolls sideways when it gets wide, which also keeps it usable on a phone. A comparison needs at least two vendors and one criterion, so the remove button is disabled below that. Note that Load sample criteria replaces your current rows, and their scores, with the ten-criterion set.
A blank score counts as zero, so that vendor is treated as the worst possible on that criterion and its score drops. If you are missing a figure for one vendor, find it out or enter a cautious estimate. If no vendor can be scored on a criterion, delete the row or set its weight to zero, otherwise every score is dragged down and harder to compare with your next review.
Yes. Rate your current suppliers on the same criteria every quarter using real records such as late deliveries, rejected lots and price changes, and export a CSV each time. Comparing the exported scores over time shows which supplier is slipping before it hurts your stock. The tool holds one comparison at a time, so export before you reuse it.