From first vendor to synced inventory
Eight steps, all inside Shopify admin. Most merchants are placing their first purchase order within a few minutes of finishing the setup wizard.
Step 1
Run the setup wizard
A one-time, first-run wizard walks through the basics: how money is displayed, vendor email notifications, and — optionally — importing vendors straight from your existing Shopify product vendor field. Importing also auto-links each vendor's current Shopify products, so you're not starting from zero.
Step 2
Build your vendor directory
Add suppliers by hand or via CSV import. Each vendor profile holds contacts, payment terms, lead time, minimum order quantity, currency, and free-form notes — searchable and filterable by status.
Step 3
Link Shopify products to each vendor
Pick products and variants from Shopify's own resource picker. SupplierHQ stores the real variant ID, which is what lets purchase orders and inventory sync actually work later. You can also push the vendor's name back onto the product's Shopify vendor field.
Step 4
Create a purchase order
Choose a vendor, quick-add line items from their linked products, set quantities and unit cost, and send. The PO moves through a clear status lifecycle — draft, sent, confirmed, in transit, received.
Step 5
Vendor confirms (Enterprise)
On the Enterprise plan, send the vendor a self-service portal link — no Shopify login required — where they can confirm or reject the order and view any shared documents. On other plans, you track confirmation manually.
Step 6
Receive stock
Mark items received against the PO. For every line item linked to a Shopify variant, inventory updates automatically. Line items without a linked variant still update the PO's own quantity, just not Shopify's stock count.
Step 7
Set reorder rules
Define a reorder point per variant. SupplierHQ watches live stock levels and can warn you — or auto-draft a new purchase order — before you're caught short.
Step 8
Track performance in Analytics
Spend by vendor, on-time delivery rate, vendor scorecards, and side-by-side comparison for vendors who supply the same product — all without exporting anything.
On inventory sync: only line items linked to a real Shopify variant update Shopify's stock count when received. Unlinked line items still track quantity on the purchase order itself — link products from a vendor's Products tab to get the automatic sync.
Or see plan pricing first.