Procurement runs on acronyms, and they are not interchangeable: each one tells you how settled the buyer is, how binding your response will be, and what actually gets scored. Here is every common format, defined once, properly — and what a good response looks like for each.
The one-table answer
| Acronym | Stands for | Buyer’s goal | You compete on | Binding offer? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EOI | Expression of Interest | Shortlist capable suppliers | Capability, not price | No |
| RFI | Request for Information | Research the market | Information only | No |
| RFQ | Request for Quotation | Buy a fixed specification | Price & delivery | Usually |
| RFP | Request for Proposal | Buy a solution to a problem | Approach + price | Usually |
| RFT | Request for Tender | Buy specified work formally | Conformance + price | Yes |
| ITT | Invitation to Tender | Same as RFT (UK/Commonwealth) | Conformance + price | Yes |
The deeper logic: these formats sit on one axis — how much the buyer has already decided. At the EOI/RFI end, almost nothing; your job is to be credibly capable. At the RFT/ITT end, almost everything; your job is to conform, evidence and price. Misreading where you are on that axis is how teams write twenty pages of vision for a buyer who wanted a price, and one page of price for a buyer who wanted proof.
EOI — Expression of Interest
A pre-qualification round: the buyer wants a shortlist of suppliers worth inviting to the real tender. You’re scored on capability — relevant experience, certifications, capacity, financial standing — not on a solution or a price. Respond by matching the stated criteria exactly, evidencing every capability claim, and keeping it tight; an EOI is a filter, and filters reward precision. Losing here costs you the right to bid at all, which is why your evidence library matters before any tender is even live.
RFI — Request for Information
Market research. The buyer is shaping an approach (and sometimes a budget) before committing to a procurement route. There’s no contract at the end of an RFI — but your answers routinely shape the specification that follows. Respond by being genuinely useful and quietly educating the buyer toward requirements you’re strong on. Vendors who skip “mere” RFIs meet their competitors’ language in the eventual RFT.
RFQ — Request for Quotation
The specification is fixed; the buyer needs price, delivery and conformance. Respond by answering in the buyer’s exact format, confirming conformance line by line, and getting the arithmetic right — an RFQ is lost on a missed line item far more often than on price level.
RFP — Request for Proposal
The buyer has a problem and wants solutions proposed: your approach, your team, your price. This is the format with the most room to differentiate — and the most rope to hang yourself with. Respond by structuring around the evaluation criteria (not your brochure), leading every section with the answer, and evidencing claims. Our executive-summary structure earns the most points here, where narrative is actually scored.
RFT / ITT — Request for Tender, Invitation to Tender
The formal end of the axis: a binding, priced offer against specified work, evaluated in two passes — a conformance screen first, quality scoring second. Mandatory conditions are real here; one missed “shall” can set the whole bid aside unscored. Respond by running the full discipline: extract every requirement into a compliance matrix, draft against criteria, verify before submitting. The complete method is our step-by-step RFT playbook.
Why the label on the document can lie
That classification is also the first thing Palmar does when it reads a pack — RFT, RFQ and EOI formats, annexes included — before extracting the requirements into a matrix. You can see the result on an illustrative hospital ICT tender in the annotated sample response.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an RFP and an RFT?
An RFP (Request for Proposal) asks for your approach as well as your price — the buyer has a problem and wants solutions proposed. An RFT (Request for Tender) asks for a binding offer against work the buyer has already specified — competition is on conformance, capability and price. In practice many government bodies use the terms loosely, so read the evaluation criteria, not the title.
Is an EOI legally binding?
Generally no — an Expression of Interest is a pre-qualification step used to shortlist capable suppliers before the real tender is issued. Your EOI response should be accurate (misrepresentation has consequences) but it is not an offer. The binding moment usually comes at the RFT/ITT stage, when you submit a priced tender against terms.
What does ITT mean in procurement?
ITT stands for Invitation to Tender — common in UK and Commonwealth procurement. It is functionally the same instrument as an RFT: a formal invitation to submit a binding, priced offer against a defined specification, evaluated on published criteria.
Do RFQ responses need a full proposal?
No. A Request for Quotation has a fixed specification — the buyer mostly needs your price, delivery terms and confirmation of conformance. Respond completely and precisely in the buyer's format, but don't pad it: an RFQ scored on price doesn't reward twenty pages of methodology.
