Shopify Purchase Order Management: A Complete Guide

Managing purchase order in shopify is the process of deciding what stock to reorder, creating a purchase order (PO) for a supplier, sending it, tracking the incoming shipment, and receiving the stock so your inventory stays accurate. Shopify used to offer Stocky for inventory and purchasing. With Stocky being phased out, these purchase order features are handled directly in the Shopify admin. Shopify now includes built-in purchase order tools in the admin, so you can analyze past product movement and current stock, create a PO by choosing a supplier and destination, add products, quantities, costs, delivery details, and payment terms, then track and receive the order once it arrives.

This guide walks through the full workflow: how to analyze inventory, calculate the metrics that tell you when to reorder, create and track a PO, and receive stock while keeping your purchasing organized.

Key Takeaways

• Finish the setup first: add new suppliers and new products to Shopify before you create a PO.

• Analyze your inventory: review stock levels, product performance, and how fast each item is moving before deciding what to reorder.

• Create and send the PO: use your inventory data to set quantities, build the purchase order, and send it to the supplier.

• Track incoming stock: monitor PO status, expected delivery date, destination location, and any partially received items.

• Check and receive stock: when the order arrives, accept items that are correct, and reject anything damaged or incorrect.

Pre-Setup for Purchase Orders in Shopify

Before you can raise a PO, the supplier and the product both need to exist in your Shopify admin. If either is new, add it first.

Add a New Supplier

You cannot select a supplier that Shopify does not know about yet. Go to Products, then Purchase orders, then Create purchase order, then Select supplier, then Create new supplier. Collect the details from your supplier, fill in the fields, and save. The supplier is now in your Shopify admin.

Add a New Product

You also cannot raise a PO for a product that is not in your catalog. Go to Products in the Shopify admin, click Add product, enter the details, and save.

Note: always add the supplier before the product. Adding a supplier does not ask you to link a product, but adding a product will ask you to link a supplier.

Analyze Your Inventory before Reordering?

Analyzing inventory is the first real step of Shopify purchase order management. You are looking beyond current stock to product demand, recent sales, and a few calculated metrics, so you can decide what to order and how much.

Look Beyond Your Current Stock

To see your current snapshot, go to Products, then Inventory. Shopify shows five columns: available, unavailable, on-hand, committed, and incoming. That summary tells you where stock stands, but it does not tell you when to reorder. For that, go to Analytics, then Reports, then the Inventory category, and dig into how each product is actually moving.

Factor in Product Demand

Check how quickly each product sells before you reorder. Looking only at current stock leads to either overbuying or stockouts.

For example, say you ordered 200 units of Product A four months ago and have sold only 15. Product A is moving slowly, so it may not need reordering yet. Meanwhile you ordered 300 units of Product B and have 60 left. If Product B sells consistently, it is moving much faster and needs attention sooner.

A product with 20 units left can need reordering before a product with 50 units left, if the first one sells much faster. The right decision depends on both current stock and demand, not the unit count alone. That is why you should always review past sales before raising a PO.

Calculate the Key Inventory Metrics

Shopify does not forecast demand for you, so you use past sales data to estimate future needs. Depending on your business, the useful metrics are monthly sales velocity, reorder point (ROP), days of inventory remaining, days of inventory at each location, and ending inventory units. Here is how to calculate each.

Monthly sales velocity - Tells you how many units you sell per month on average.

Formula: Monthly Sales Velocity = Total Units Sold ÷ Number of Months.
Example: 300 units over 3 months = 300 ÷ 3 = 100 units per month.

Reorder point (ROP) - Tells you when to place a new order so you have enough stock while you wait for the supplier.

Formula: ROP = (Average Daily Sales × Supplier Lead Time) + Safety Stock.
Example: 5 units per day, a 10 day lead time, and 20 units of safety stock = (5 × 10) + 20 = 70 units. Reorder when stock reaches roughly 70 units.

Days of inventory remaining - Estimates how long your current stock will last.

Formula: Days of Inventory Remaining = Current Inventory ÷ Average Daily Sales.
Example: 60 units and 4 sales per day = 60 ÷ 4 = 15 days.

Days of inventory at each location - It does the same calculation per warehouse or store, for multi-location businesses.

Formula: Days of Inventory at Location = Stock at Location ÷ Average Daily Sales at Location.
Example: a Bangalore location with 100 units selling 5 per day = 100 ÷ 5 = 20 days.

Ending inventory units - Tells you how many units are left at the end of a period.

Formula: Ending Inventory = Beginning Inventory + Stock Received − Units Sold, plus or minus any adjustments.
Example: start with 100, receive 50, sell 80 = 100 + 50 − 80 = 70 units.

Together, these move you from staring at a stock number to understanding how fast inventory moves, how long it will last, and when to reorder.

Decide what and how much to Order

Once you have your sales history, current stock, sales velocity, reorder point, and days of inventory remaining, decide which products to reorder and in what quantity. A simple approach is to keep the calculated data in a spreadsheet and compare current stock against reorder point and expected demand. Products at or near their reorder point get priority; slow movers can wait.

For example, if a product has 30 units left, a reorder point of 50, and expected demand of 40 during the lead time, it clearly needs attention. Your order quantity depends on sales pattern, supplier lead time, safety stock, storage capacity, and upcoming demand. Once products and quantities are set, you are ready to create the PO.

Create a Purchase Order in Shopify

To create a purchase order in Shopify, go to the Shopify admin, then Products, then Purchase orders, and click Create purchase order. Select the supplier and the destination location for the stock. Add the products you are reordering, with quantity and cost. You can also add notes, reference numbers, tags, payment terms, and the currency for the order.

Save the PO. At this point it is still in Draft and has not been placed. You can export it as a PDF and send it to your supplier for confirmation. Once the supplier agrees, return to the saved PO in Shopify and mark it as Ordered.

That completes the basic creation step. Management does not stop there: you still need to track the order, receive the stock, and update inventory each time you restock.

Track an Incoming Purchase Order

Once the PO is created and sent, tracking keeps you updated on how much stock is on the way, when it should arrive, and whether there are delays.

Go to the Shopify admin, then Products, then Purchase orders. Open the PO and confirm it is marked as Ordered. Then create an inventory transfer from the PO and select the destination location. Shopify adds the products and quantities from the PO to the transfer. When your supplier ships, mark the transfer as In transit, which shows the stock as Incoming at the destination location. When the shipment arrives, open the linked transfer and select Receive items, where you can accept the full order, partially receive it, or reject damaged or incorrect items.

You can also check the following at any time:

• Incoming stock: in the Inventory section, check Incoming to see how much is on the way.

• Expected delivery: check the expected arrival date on the purchase order.

• Multiple locations: select the destination when creating the transfer to track where stock will land.

• Receiving progress: use the linked transfer to see how much has been received and how much is pending.

Receive Ordered Inventory in Shopify

When stock arrives, receive it in Shopify and confirm the quantities match the delivery. Check the parcel before you update stock. Go to Products, then Purchase orders, and open the PO in progress. Click the linked transfer and select View transfer. On the Receive items page, enter the quantity you actually received for each item. If the full order arrived, click Accept all, and Shopify updates your inventory.

Handle Partially Received Items

If only part of an item arrived, enter the exact quantity received and save. Shopify records what you received, and the remaining quantity stays pending.

Reject Damaged or Incorrect Items

If items are damaged, incorrect, or have any other issue, reject them instead of adding them to available inventory. Select Reject in the Receive action column and enter the quantity to reject. After saving, Shopify shows both received and rejected quantities, giving you a clear record of what happened to the shipment.

Why do Sellers need a Purchase Order Management System

Shopify gives you the basic tools to create and manage purchase orders, but several purchasing decisions still happen manually. As products, suppliers, and locations grow, those manual steps get harder to keep on top of. Common gaps include:

• No built-in reorder point calculation: Shopify shows inventory and sales data, but you calculate reorder points yourself from sales velocity, lead time, and safety stock.

• Limited replenishment planning: Shopify shows stock levels and history, but deciding what and how much to reorder is still on you.

• Limited PO status visibility: Shopify offers basic statuses like Draft and Ordered; detailed shipment and receiving tracking runs through the linked transfer.

• Manual inventory analysis: you often review data and calculate metrics like sales velocity and days of inventory remaining before deciding.

• Confusing receiving and rejecting: the action area still reads Receiving while you enter quantities to reject, which blurs accepted versus rejected counts on large or partial orders.

A dedicated purchase order management system helps by connecting inventory analysis, replenishment planning, purchasing, tracking, and receiving into one workflow.

How ChannelBay Simplifies Shopify Purchase Order Management

ChannelBay fills the gaps in Shopify's purchasing workflow without adding complexity. Instead of moving between inventory reports, spreadsheets, and separate screens, it brings the information you need for replenishment and purchase orders into one place. Connect your Shopify store and ChannelBay keeps inventory synced in real time, so you build POs against up-to-date stock. Here is how it helps:

• Get low-stock alerts, so you are told what to reorder instead of checking every product by hand.

• See available inventory and the quantity to order while you build a PO.

• Use past inventory and sales data to estimate future demand for more informed purchasing.

• Create purchase orders from a single dashboard without switching between screens.

• Let product costs and order totals calculate automatically, cutting manual math on every PO.

• Track the status of each purchase order through the full purchasing process.

• Manage purchasing and inventory across locations while keeping stock connected.

The aim is to shrink the manual work between spotting a replenishment need and receiving the stock, so you spend less time recalculating and more time running the business.

Bottom line

Shopify gives sellers the core tools to manage purchase orders, from creating a PO to receiving stock. Some of the planning and replenishment work still lands on you. If you want a simpler way to handle it, ChannelBay brings inventory insights, low-stock alerts, demand forecasting, and purchase order management together in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate a reorder point in Shopify?

Use the formula ROP = (Average Daily Sales multiplied by Supplier Lead Time) + Safety Stock. For example, 5 units a day, a 10 day lead time, and 20 units of safety stock gives a reorder point of 70 units, so you reorder when stock reaches around 70.

Can I track incoming stock from a purchase order in Shopify?

Yes. After marking a PO as Ordered, create an inventory transfer from it and set it to In transit when the supplier ships. The stock then shows as Incoming at the destination location, and you can check the expected arrival date and receive progress on the PO and its linked transfer.

How do I receive partial or damaged items from a purchase order?

Open the PO, go to the linked transfer, and select Receive items. Enter the exact quantity received for each item to record a partial receipt, leaving the rest pending. To handle damaged or incorrect items, choose Reject in the Receive action column and enter the quantity, which Shopify records separately from accepted stock.

Why do I need a purchase order management system if Shopify already has POs?

Shopify covers creating and receiving POs, but reorder points, demand forecasting, and replenishment decisions stay manual. A purchase order management system like ChannelBay adds low-stock alerts, demand estimates, and single-dashboard PO creation across locations, which reduces the manual analysis between spotting a need and receiving stock.