How to add products and choose your columns

The product table sits in the middle of every order in What are suppliers and purchase orders? (Buying › Purchase orders, then open an order). This page covers adding lines, the quantities and costs on each one, the costs that sit on the whole order, and the columns you can switch on.

Before you start

You need two rows in Settings › Permissions: Edit purchase orders and the buying calendar and Change stock, receiving and store settings, both starting at lead, per How to set who can do what. Without them the table is read-only.

Adding and removing products works while the order is still being written. Once it reaches a placed stage, such as Order placed, the products on it are fixed, covered below.

How do you add products?

Press Add product above the table, search by product name or SKU, and tick the ones you want. Press Add to put them all on the order at once.

The search covers the order's own vendor, and the dialog says so ("Showing Portside Mills products only"). Each row shows how many you have on hand. A product already on the order reads added and cannot be picked twice.

Each product goes on at its suggested quantity where Tideswell has one, otherwise at 1. You can change the number on the order straight away.

Why does Add product find nothing?

Because the vendor's products are listed under a different brand name in Shopify. A mill like Kaimen Knitwear may make goods your store sells under your own label.

On Buying › Suppliers, find the brand under Unmatched brands and use Attach to… to give it to the supplier. Its products then appear in the search. See How to add and set up a supplier.

What are suggested quantities?

Numbers Tideswell works out for each line from your sales forecast, your stock and what is already on order. While an order is still being written, a line with a suggestion shows a small chip with a moving dotted orb and the number beside its Ordered box.

Hover the chip to see the working, headed Why 24: expected sales, In stock now, what is on order, what Sells before these arrive, and any rounding up to the supplier's minimum order. Press Use 24 (or click the chip itself) to take it, or Not now to leave it.

Use all 6 suggestions (the count matches your order) fills every line that has a chip in one go. Afterwards a line reads Suggested 24, used as is, or Suggested 24 with Add reason when you typed your own number. Write a short reason in Why this number instead? and press Save reason, so the next buyer knows what you knew.

Who sees suggestions?

Anyone who can edit the order and can also see your store's sales and stock. In Settings › Permissions that means Edit purchase orders and the buying calendar, plus the row that opens Analytics and Inventory. Both start at lead.

A chip appears on lines matched to a Shopify product that has a forecast. If the page says Suggestions need your owned locations confirmed, press Confirm locations and choose which store locations are yours, per How to send your open-to-buy file to a buying planner.

What is Products you might be missing?

A list below the table of this supplier's products that are selling and are not on the order. Each row reads like "14 sold in the last 90 days · 3 in stock", and hovering the reason shows the same working as a chip.

Press Add (it shows the number, such as Add 14) to put it on the order at the suggested quantity. Press Skip to take it off this order's list.

What is the difference between Ordered and Revised?

Ordered is what you asked for. Revised is what the supplier confirmed.

A confirmed Revised number shows a small badge saying how far it moved: green for more, red for fewer. The totals under the table show the Original and Revised value of the order side by side.

A blank Revised box means nobody has confirmed that line yet, which is different from confirming zero. Fill every line before you send a revision, because Send revision waits until each one has a confirmed quantity. See How to send a revision and export an order.

What happens to the lines once the order is placed?

The Ordered numbers lock, and hovering one tells you to use Revised to change the quantity. Add product, Import lines and the bin icon for removing a line go away too.

From then on, change quantities through Revised. Unit cost stays editable.

Which stages lock the lines depends on what each stage is set to mean in Settings › Stages › Purchase orders, covered in How to move a purchase order through its stages.

Where does the unit cost come from?

From Shopify, until you type one. A matched line starts at the product's cost in Shopify, so the order total is right before anyone keys in a price.

Type the supplier's price into Unit cost to use your own. The figure you type is saved on this order, and it reaches Shopify when you receive the shipment, per How to receive a delivery. Empty the box to go back to Shopify's cost.

When your figure differs from Shopify's, a small Shopify amount shows underneath for comparison. After a delivery, a Booked amount shows what that delivery was booked in at, if the cost has changed since.

How do you add freight, fees or tax to an order?

Press Add fees, freight or tax under the order's totals to open Order costs. Once something is set, the button reads Edit costs & adjustments.

Under What the supplier will invoice, enter Discount, Fees and Tax, each as a percentage or an amount. Under What it costs to land, enter Freight and Duty & customs, and choose who bills each: Supplier bills it, or Forwarder bills it for freight and Broker bills it for duty.

Press Save. The totals under the table then run from Subtotal to Total, with a line for each cost you set. With freight or duty entered, Freight & duty (est.) and Landed (est.) follow underneath.

Freight the supplier bills counts once, inside their total. An empty box removes that cost.

What is landed cost?

Unit cost plus that line's share of freight and duty. It is the real cost of the goods, and usually the number that decides whether a product is worth buying again.

Before anything arrives, Landed cost is worked out from the freight and duty in Order costs and marked est. Once goods arrive it uses the freight and duty recorded on each delivery.

Margin % is worked out on unit cost. On an order with heavy freight, read it beside Landed cost for the full picture.

How do you choose which columns show?

Press the columns icon (Customize columns) at the left of the Product heading. It lists 17 columns, each with a one-line explanation, and you tick the ones you want.

Set current view as default saves your current layout, and Reset to default brings it back. The Product column always shows, and your column choice is kept in this browser.

To move a column, drag its heading left or right. The order you set is saved to your account, so it follows you to any computer.

Which columns are worth switching on?

It depends on the job in front of you.

• Writing the order: Ordered, Unit cost, On-hand and Incoming, so you see what you already have while you decide.
• Recording a confirmation: Ordered, Revised and Supplier says side by side. Supplier says is what the supplier's rep told you they can ship, filled in by them, per How to let a supplier's rep confirm their orders.
• Checking a delivery: Receive qty, After receipt (on-hand plus what you are about to receive) and Discrepancy (received minus expected; negative is short, positive is over).
• Judging the order: Retail price, Margin % and Landed cost.

Damaged counts units that arrived broken. They are recorded on the order and never added to your Shopify stock.

How do you sort the lines?

Click a column heading. The first click sorts low to high, the second high to low, and the third puts the lines back in the order's own sequence.

Every column sorts except Destination, and Product sorts by name. Receive shipment lists the lines in the same order, which helps on a long delivery. The sort lasts for your visit.

Where did a line revised to zero go?

A line you revised to 0 leaves the table once that revision is sent to the supplier. Totals do not change, because it was contributing nothing.

To see those lines again, open Customize columns and tick Show cancelled lines under Revisions. Changing a cancelled line's Revised number puts it back on the order.

Why are retail price and margin blank?

Because the order is in a different currency from your Shopify store. Retail price and Shopify's cost belong to the store's currency, so they are left out rather than mixed in.

On such an order, Unit cost shows a price you typed or imported. Key in the supplier's prices in their currency.

What if a line is not matched to Shopify?

It shows a link icon (Link to Shopify) at the end of the row. Press it, search the vendor's products, and pick the right one in Link to a Shopify product.

Linking works at any stage, even after the order is received. A matched line gains its photo, stock figures and retail price.

On a matched line, clicking the SKU opens that product in Shopify's own inventory screen.

Is there a faster way than adding every line?

Yes, when the supplier has sent a file. Import lines reads a spreadsheet of products and quantities onto the order, matching by barcode, SKU or Shopify variant ID. See How to import purchase orders and supplier confirmations.