Companies buy and sell goods and to do so they need to deal with orders. Typically orders have a date and a reference number and are usually written on a company’s official order form.
Order – example:
| XYZ Company (ordering company) Address Contact details | ||||
| Order no: AB 1234/2020 | ||||
| ABC Company Address | ||||
| Authorized: Andrew Johnson | ||||
| quantity | Item description | Cat. No. | Price | |
| 100 | Envelopes – commercial 9 ½ x 4 1/8 | C No. 9 | £0.10 each | |
| 450 | Envelopes – commercial (Standard Poly Window) 9 ½ x 4 1/8 | C No 10 | £0.15 each | |
| Comments: 15% Trade Disc. allowed Del. 2 weeks | Date: 15 July 2020 | |||
Order no. – this is the reference number of your order; use it when referring in correspondence or telephone calls
Quantity – this is how many you order
Item description – this is what you order; usually you write here the size, colour, etc.
Cat. No. – this is the number of the item you can find in the catalogue
Price – this is how much each item costs
When making an order you usually produce a covering letter where you inform the buyer that you are enclosing your order, confirm terms of payment, discounts and delivery.
Covering letter – example:
XYZ Company (ordering company)
Address
Contact details
Your ref: AB 1234/2020
Our ref: Order AB 1234/2020
Date: 15 July 2020
ABC Company
Address
Dear …………………..
Please find enclosed our order No AB 1234/2020.
Although we anticipated a higher trade discount than 15%, we will place an initial order and hope that the discount can be reviewed in the near future. We would like to confirm that payment will be made on delivery.
If you do not have any of the items we have ordered currently in stock, please do not send alternatives.
We would appreciate delivery within the next two weeks, and look forward to your acknowledgment.
Your sincerely,
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Chief Buyer
Enc. Order No. AB 1234/2020
A covering letter helps you add any necessary points and confirm the terms that have been agreed.
See below what you should include in your covering letter while placing an order.
OPENING
- Please find enclosed our Order No. AB 1234/2020 for 100 commercial envelopes and 450 Standard Poly Window envelopes.
- I would like to place a trial order of 100 commercial envelopes and 450 Standard Poly Window envelopes. Please find enclosed …
PAYMENT
- As agreed you will send us an invoice and payment will be made on delivery.
- We would like to confirm that payment is to be made by a letter of credit, which we have already applied to the bank for.
DISCOUNTS
- We would like to thank you for the 15% trade discount you allowed us.
- … we will take advantage of the cash discounts you offered for prompt settlement.
DELIVERY
- It is essential that the goods are delivered before …
- Please confirm that you can deliver by …
METHODS OF DELIVERY
- Please send the goods by express freight as we need them urgently.
- Could you ship by express freight to avoid any unnecessary delays?
CLOSING
- We hope that this will be the first of many orders we place with you.
- If our sales targets are met, we shall place further orders in the near future.