Shopify Purchase Orders: Create, Import From CSV, Send and Receive

1. Add your suppliers

Every purchase order belongs to a supplier. You can add them as you go, but it’s quicker to set them up once with their contact details, payment terms and currency. Shopify’s supplier help (opens in a new tab) covers the fields.

2. Create the purchase order

1. Go to Products, then Purchase orders, and click Create purchase order.
2. Choose the supplier, or click Create new supplier.
3. Choose the destination location. You can leave it for later, but it has to be set before you mark the order as ordered.
4. Add products with Add products or Browse, or import them from a CSV (next step).
5. For each line, enter the quantity, and if you like the supplier SKU, cost and tax.
6. Add a reference number or a note for the supplier, check the payment terms and currency, then click Save as draft.

Shopify fills each line’s cost with the price you paid last time, or the product’s cost per item when you haven’t bought it before. Check those against the supplier’s current prices before you send the order. Our guide to updating supplier prices shows how to keep cost per item current.

3. Import the lines from a CSV

For an order with more than a handful of lines, the CSV import saves typing. Open the purchase order, click Import, then Add file, choose your CSV and click Import products.

The import dialog offers a sample template. Download it and keep its column headers exactly as they are. Shopify matches each row to a variant by SKU or barcode. The template also has columns for the quantity, supplier SKU, cost and tax.

4. Send it to your supplier

Shopify doesn’t email purchase orders. Open the order, click More actions, then Export PDF, and attach the PDF to an email from your own mail app.

When the supplier confirms, open the draft and click Mark as ordered. You can’t undo that step, but you can still edit most of the order afterwards. Only drafts can be deleted. An ordered purchase order can only be archived.

5. Receive the delivery

Receiving now happens on a transfer that stays linked to the purchase order. Shopify’s receiving help (opens in a new tab) has the details. In short:

1. Open the ordered purchase order, click Create transfer, choose the destination and save. The lines are copied from the purchase order.
2. When the delivery arrives, go to Products, then Transfers, open the linked transfer and click Receive items.
3. For each line, choose Accept, Reject or Cancel and enter the quantity. Accepted units become available at the destination. Rejected units are recorded but not added to stock.

If the supplier ships in parts, receive each shipment as it arrives. The transfer stays In progress until every unit is accounted for. You can also add shipping or customs costs to the shipment, so you can compare what you paid with what you agreed. Shopify says deliveries can be received in the admin or on Shopify POS.

What Shopify leaves to you

• Deciding what to order. A purchase order records quantities, it doesn’t suggest them. Our reorder guide shows how to work them out.
• Pack sizes and minimums. You round to the supplier’s cases and minimum order, then convert back to units.
• Sending. You export the PDF and email it yourself.

Start from a suggested order

Efficiencia covers the part before the purchase order. Its Reorder list works out what to buy from each supplier from your recent sales, the supplier’s lead time and the stock already on order, rounded to pack sizes and minimums. Each supplier’s order opens for review, where you can change quantities or add products.

From there, download the order as a CSV for a Shopify purchase order and import it as in step 3. The quantities are already in units. You can also save a PDF, or open an email draft to the supplier in your own mail app. Efficiencia doesn’t create the purchase order or receive stock for you. That stays in Shopify.

Efficiencia is still in development. If you’d like to try it on your store, join early access.