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A purchase order (PO) is the document you send a supplier to restock: which products, how many, and at what cost. Purchase orders live in Shopify - Stockful helps you get there faster by working out what to reorder and handing the line items to Shopify, so you don’t retype anything.

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From recommendation to purchase order

Stockful exports the reorder recommendations you choose as a CSV in Shopify’s purchase-order import format. You pick what to include, download the file, then import it onto a new purchase order in Shopify.
  • Pick what to order - use a row’s Create purchase order action for a single item, or select several and choose Create purchase order from the selection bar
  • Review - a preview lists each item’s product, SKU, quantity to order, unit cost, and line total, with a running total for the whole order
  • Download the CSV - the file uses the columns Shopify’s importer expects: SKU, Barcode, Supplier SKU, Quantity, Cost, Tax
Items are matched to your Shopify products by SKU or barcode, so anything with neither is left out - Shopify can’t match it to a product. Stockful fills in the quantity and unit cost; supplier SKU and tax are left blank for you to set in Shopify.

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Creating the purchase order in Shopify

  1. Open purchase orders - in Shopify admin, go to Products > Purchase orders and click Create purchase order. There’s a direct link in Stockful’s download dialog.
  2. Choose a supplier - select an existing supplier or create a new one. Optionally set the destination location the stock will arrive at.
  3. Import the line items - under Add products, import the CSV you downloaded from Stockful. Shopify matches each row to a product by SKU or barcode and fills in the quantities and costs. You can also search or scan to add more items.
  4. Review costs and tax - adjust cost, tax, payment terms, and currency as needed. For suppliers you’ve ordered from before, Shopify auto-fills supplier SKU, cost, and tax from past orders.
  5. Save and order - Save as draft to keep editing, or mark it as Ordered when you send it to the supplier. You can export the purchase order as a PDF to share.

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Receiving stock

When your order arrives, receive it against the purchase order in Shopify. As stock is received, Shopify updates your inventory - and Stockful picks that up automatically: received units show as on-hand, and stock still in transit (tracked on Shopify inventory transfers) shows as incoming, so it’s netted out of future recommendations.
Purchase orders are a Shopify feature. Stockful prepares the line items and hands them off; you create, order, and receive the PO in Shopify. For the full walkthrough, see Shopify’s guide to creating purchase orders.