Choosing tools
What software handles wholesale POs, bulk orders and B2B invoicing on Shopify?
If you sell wholesale on Shopify, three jobs eat your week: getting stores' purchase orders into Shopify, handling big multi-line bulk orders, and billing stores on Net terms. No single kind of software does all three the same way. Here are the five kinds of tools brands use, what each one actually solves, and how to choose the mix that fits how your orders arrive.
Key takeaways
- Pick tools by how your orders arrive. Stores that order online need a portal; stores that email PDFs, spreadsheets or photos need a PO reader.
- Bulk orders are mostly a matching problem: dozens of lines, sizes, scents or case packs that must land on the right Shopify variants at your wholesale price.
- B2B invoicing can live in the same tool or stay in your accounting software. If you don't want a tool emailing invoices, make sure that step is optional.
The three jobs, defined
Wholesale purchase orders are the orders a boutique, shop or store sends you, usually as a PDF, an Excel sheet, an email or a paper form from a trade show. Bulk orders are large orders with many lines: a full size run of ten styles, six scents in two sizes, or "4 cases of 12" of each flavor. B2B invoicing means billing the store on terms such as Net 30, tracking what's paid and following up on what isn't. In Shopify, a wholesale order usually becomes a draft order first.
Five kinds of tools, compared
| Kind of tool | Solves | Leaves undone |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale portal or B2B storefront | Stores order online at their prices, with quick-order forms for bulk | Stores that keep emailing POs or hand you paper forms |
| PO reader (PO to draft order app) | Turns emailed or uploaded POs into Shopify draft orders, line by line | Doesn't give stores a place to browse and order themselves |
| Order or inventory management system | Stock across channels, fulfillment, purchasing from your own suppliers | Usually still needs someone to key in a store's PO |
| Invoicing or accounting software | Net-terms invoices, payments, reminders, your books | Doesn't read POs or create Shopify orders |
| Data-entry service or virtual assistant | A person retypes POs for you | Cost grows with volume, turnaround waits on them, and errors still need checking |
Which tool for wholesale purchase orders?
Look at your last 20 orders and count where they came from. If most stores already order through a website, a portal or Shopify's own B2B features may be enough. If most arrive as attachments, email text or photos, a PO reader saves the most time, because it removes the retyping. Test any PO reader with your messiest real POs, not the demo file, and check what it does when it isn't sure: it should flag the line for you, not guess.
Which tool for bulk orders?
Bulk orders go wrong in the details: a size missing from a run, the wrong scent, a case count read as units, a price copied from the buyer instead of your price list. Whatever you choose should:
- Match every line to a real Shopify variant (size, color, scent, flavor, shade, weight or pack size).
- Expand packs: apparel prepacks into sizes, and case orders into units or your case-pack variant.
- Use your wholesale prices and flag a PO price that differs.
- Handle a revised PO by updating the same order, not creating a duplicate.
- Show you every flagged line before anything reaches Shopify.
Which tool for B2B invoicing?
You have two sensible setups. Either the order tool makes the invoice from the approved order, so the lines, PO number and terms carry over without retyping, or you keep invoicing in your accounting software and only use the order tool to create drafts. Both work. What matters is that nothing is emailed to a store before you're ready. If you want to bill from your accounting software, choose an order tool where invoices and buyer emails are off unless you turn them on. If you want reminders handled for you, see how to follow up on unpaid wholesale invoices.
A simple way to choose
- Map arrivals. Count online orders vs emailed or paper POs.
- Cover the biggest pile first. Portal for online stores, PO reader for files and emails.
- Decide where invoices live. In the order tool, or in your accounting software.
- Test with your own orders. Three real POs, compared line by line against the drafts.
- Check support. Who sets it up with you, and how fast a person replies when an order is stuck.
Orderseam is a PO reader with optional invoicing, so here is where it fits. It turns POs that arrive as PDF, Excel, Word, CSV, email text or phone photos into Shopify draft orders for brands in any category, flags anything unclear, and works alongside a portal or B2B app. Net-terms invoices and payment reminders are there if you want them and off if you don't; nothing is sent to a store unless you send it. It's new, so try it in the demo inbox or read about Orderseam.
Common questions
- Is there one tool that handles wholesale POs, bulk orders and B2B billing?
- Some tools cover two or three of those jobs, but most small brands end up with a mix: a portal for stores that order online, a PO reader for orders that arrive as files and emails, and an invoicing step for Net terms. Start from how your orders actually arrive, then fill the gaps.
- Can I get wholesale orders into Shopify without sending invoices from the same tool?
- Yes. Look for a tool where invoices and buyer emails are optional and off until you turn them on. Then you can create the Shopify draft orders and keep invoicing in your accounting software or wherever you do it today.
- Do I need a wholesale portal if my stores email POs?
- Not necessarily. A portal helps stores that are willing to order online. Many boutiques and buyers keep emailing PDFs and spreadsheets anyway, so a PO reader that turns those files into draft orders often saves more time than a portal they won't use.
Try it with one of your real POs
Send Orderseam a PO your stores actually sent and check every line of the Shopify draft order it makes. Your first 10 POs are free, up to 30 days, with no card and no contract.
Start free: 10 POs, no card