Create a purchase order
A purchase order is what you’re buying from one supplier, delivered to one of your locations. You create it as a draft, which you can change as often as you like, then place it with Mark as ordered or by emailing it to the supplier.
There are three ways to start one:
- Purchase orders → Create purchase order.
- Create purchase order on a supplier’s page, which picks the supplier for you.
- On Growth and Pro, from the Reorder page, which drafts one order per supplier from your suggestions. → Reorder suggestions
Fill in the details
Section titled “Fill in the details”| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Supplier | Who you’re ordering from. Required. |
| Destination | The active location the stock will be delivered to. Required. |
| Purchase order number | Leave the next number, or enter the number your supplier uses. |
| Supplier reference | Your supplier’s invoice or order number, if you have one. |
| Expected | The date you expect the delivery. |
| Notes to supplier | Printed on the order your supplier sees. |
Expected starts empty on orders you create by hand — it isn’t filled in from the supplier’s lead time. Orders drafted from the Reorder page do get one.
Add products
Section titled “Add products”In the Products section:
- Browse products opens Shopify’s product picker. Choose as many variants as you like.
- Add from supplier lists every product linked to the supplier, with how many you have available and a Suggested quantity where there is one. Tick the ones you want and press Add 3 products (or however many you ticked). Products already on the order are marked Already added. If the supplier has no linked products yet, link some first. → Link products to suppliers
Each line has a Supplier SKU, Quantity and Cost, filled in for you where Shelfcast knows them:
- Cost comes from the supplier’s cost for that product, then the product’s cost in Shopify, then 0.
- Quantity from Add from supplier starts at the suggestion, otherwise the supplier’s smallest order, otherwise 1.
Change anything you need. Remove a line with its remove button.
If you pick a product Shelfcast hasn’t synced yet — one you’ve just created in Shopify, say — you’ll see a message such as “2 picked products are not in Shelfcast yet. They appear after the next catalog sync.”
Add freight, duties and other costs
Section titled “Add freight, duties and other costs”Under Additional costs, press Add cost and choose a Type — Freight, Duties, Surcharge, Discount or Other — with a Description and an Amount. Discounts are taken off; everything else is added on.
Check the summary
Section titled “Check the summary”The Summary shows the Subtotal of the lines, the Additional costs, the Total, and how many units you’re ordering.
Save it
Section titled “Save it”Press Save. A new order shows “Purchase order PO-1001 created” (with your number) and opens as a draft. Change a draft any time; the save bar appears when you have changes, and saving shows “Purchase order saved”.
When it’s ready, place it:
- Send to supplier emails it, and by default marks it as ordered at the same time. → Send it to your supplier
- Mark as ordered places it without emailing — if you ordered by phone or on the supplier’s website, for example.
Mark as ordered asks you to confirm, then shows the order’s products as incoming at its destination in Shopify until you receive them. If a product isn’t stocked at that location yet, Shelfcast starts stocking it there first. An order needs at least one product to be placed.
Once placed, an order can’t be edited. → Purchase order statuses
Numbering
Section titled “Numbering”New orders take the next number from Settings → Purchase orders: a
Number prefix (PO- to start with) and a Next number (1001 to start
with). Leave the number as it is and Shelfcast claims it when you save, so two
people creating orders at once never get the same one.
Type your own number instead and it’s kept exactly as typed, without moving the counter on. Every number must be unique in your store, and 64 characters at most.
Currencies
Section titled “Currencies”An order uses its supplier’s currency, or your store’s if the supplier doesn’t have one. Amounts are shown in that currency but never converted, so enter costs in the currency the supplier bills you in.
Limits
Section titled “Limits”An order can have up to 1,000 products and 50 additional costs. Each product can appear once. Quantities run from 1 to 1,000,000.