Link products to suppliers
Linking a product to a supplier tells Shelfcast who you buy it from and on what terms. Suggestions then plan around that supplier’s lead time and round up to what they sell, and purchase orders fill in their SKUs and costs for you.
You link products from the supplier’s page, in its Products section. Each variant is linked on its own — a T-shirt in three sizes is three links, each with its own terms.
Add products
Section titled “Add products”Open the supplier from Suppliers, then either:
- Add products — opens Shopify’s product picker. Choose the variants you buy from this supplier; you can pick many at once.
- Add a vendor — choose a vendor, and every product with that vendor in Shopify is linked to this supplier in one go. Products already linked to this supplier keep their terms.
You’ll see how many were added, for example “12 products added”.
New links start with:
- Cost set to the product’s cost in Shopify;
- Minimum order quantity and Pack size of 1;
- Preferred switched on if the product had no supplier before.
Set the terms
Section titled “Set the terms”Press Edit terms on a product to open Terms for [product]:
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Supplier SKU | The supplier’s own code for the product. It’s printed on purchase orders, and you can scan it when receiving. |
| Cost | What the supplier charges you per unit, in their currency. Purchase orders start from it. |
| Minimum order quantity | The fewest units the supplier sells. Suggestions are rounded up to at least this. |
| Pack size | Units per case. Suggestions are rounded up to whole packs. |
| Reorder this product from this supplier | Makes this the preferred supplier for the product. Ticking it unticks the product’s other suppliers. |
Press Save to see “Product terms saved”. Remove unlinks the product (“Product removed from supplier”). Neither touches the product in Shopify.
How the terms are used
Section titled “How the terms are used”Which supplier a suggestion uses. A product can be linked to several suppliers. Suggestions, and purchase orders created from them, use the preferred one. If none is preferred, they use the supplier the product was linked to first. Deleted suppliers are skipped.
Lead time. The suggestion plans around that supplier’s lead time, or your default if they don’t have one.
Rounding. Shelfcast works out how many you need, then rounds up to at least the minimum order quantity, then up to whole packs. Say you need 13:
| Minimum order quantity | Pack size | Suggested |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 13 |
| 20 | 1 | 20 |
| 1 | 12 | 24 |
| 30 | 12 | 36 |
Purchase orders. When you add a product to an order for this supplier, its supplier SKU and cost are filled in. With no supplier cost, the cost in Shopify is used, and failing that, 0. Add from supplier on a purchase order lists every product linked to the supplier, with a starting quantity: the suggestion if there is one, otherwise the smallest order the supplier takes, otherwise 1.
Receiving. When you scan items in, Shelfcast matches the supplier SKU as well as the barcode and SKU.
Every change you make here — adding, editing or removing a link — refreshes forecasts, so the Reorder page reflects it shortly afterward.
Finding a product’s suppliers
Section titled “Finding a product’s suppliers”Each product’s page has a Suppliers section listing every supplier it’s linked to, with the preferred one marked Preferred, and a Manage suppliers link. A product with no supplier shows “Not bought from any supplier yet.” → Your products
On a supplier’s page, use Search this supplier’s products to find a link.
Linking from a file
Section titled “Linking from a file”To link hundreds of products with their terms, import a supplier products file instead. → Import a CSV