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How to turn a wholesale purchase order into a Shopify draft order

Your retail buyer sends a PO. You need it in Shopify as a draft order with the right styles, colors, sizes and prices. Here is how to do it by hand, what usually goes wrong, and what to check before the invoice goes out.

By Ram, founder of Orderseam · October 8, 2026 · 7 min read

What is a Shopify draft order?

A draft order is an order you create in the Shopify admin instead of the buyer checking out on your store. You choose the products and quantities, set prices or discounts, add the buyer as the customer, and add shipping. When it is ready, you can email the buyer an invoice with a payment link, record a payment you took another way, or, if your store uses payment terms, let the buyer pay later.

Wholesale brands use draft orders because most retail buyers don't order through a store page. They send a purchase order (PO): a PDF from their buying system, an Excel sheet, a few lines typed into an email, or a photo of a paper order form written at a trade show. Someone at the brand has to turn that document into a draft order.

Step by step: entering a wholesale PO as a draft order

1. Read the whole PO first. Note the buyer's store name, PO number, ship date, cancel date, ship-to address and payment terms before you touch Shopify. Write the PO's total units and total amount down; you will use them at the end.
2. Open a new draft order. In the Shopify admin, go to Orders, then Drafts, and create a new order.
3. Add the buyer as the customer. Pick their existing customer record or create one with the store's business name, buyer contact and email. This is where the invoice will go.
4. Add each line as a variant. Search for the style, then pick the exact color and size. In apparel this is where most of the time goes, because one PO line such as "Linen shirt, Sage, S/M/L 2/4/2" becomes three separate variants with three quantities.
5. Set wholesale pricing. Apply your wholesale price, either as a line or order discount, through a wholesale price list your apps manage, or by the method your store already uses. Check that the unit price matches what the buyer expects to pay.
6. Add the PO details. Put the PO number, ship and cancel dates and any buyer notes in the order notes or tags, so anyone on your team can find the order by PO number later.
7. Add shipping and terms. Add the shipping rate you agreed with the buyer, and payment terms if you offer them (for example net 30).
8. Check, then send. Compare the draft against the PO (see the checklist below), then send the invoice.

Why apparel POs take so long to enter

A PO for mugs or candles has one line per product. A PO for clothing has one line per style, but each style comes in several colors and a run of sizes. The buyer writes it as a compact grid. Shopify needs it as a list of individual variants.

Multiply that by a dozen styles, two or three colors each, and you are clicking through dozens of variants for a single PO. Add the ways buyers write things differently from your catalog (an old style number, "Sage" when your catalog says "Sage Green", "Lg" instead of "L") and the job turns into detective work. We cover size grids in more detail in How to read an apparel size grid on a wholesale order.

Common mistakes when retyping a PO

• Wrong size or color. Picking M instead of L, or the wrong shade, is the most common error and the one buyers notice first, because it arrives in the box.
• Quantities shifted by one column. When a size grid is retyped, a whole row can slide one size over.
• Discontinued or out-of-stock items. The buyer ordered from last season's line sheet. Shopify will happily add the variant; nobody notices until picking.
• Price mismatch. The buyer's PO shows one unit price, your draft shows another, and the invoice gets disputed.
• Lost dates. The cancel date isn't recorded, the order ships late, and the store is entitled to refuse it.

The 2-minute check before you send the invoice

Most of these mistakes are caught with three comparisons:

1. Total units on the draft equal total units on the PO.
2. Order total on the draft equals the PO total (before shipping and tax).
3. Line count: every PO line is accounted for, including anything you couldn't fill.

If all three match, read through the size runs once more and send. If they don't, the difference usually points straight at the line that is wrong. For a longer list, see 10 things to check on every wholesale PO before you invoice.

When to stop doing it by hand

Entering POs by hand is fine when there are a few a month. It becomes a problem when the season opens and POs arrive faster than you can enter them, or when the person who knows the catalog best spends their week typing instead of selling. At that point brands usually hire help, use a B2B or wholesale app so buyers order themselves, or automate the PO entry.

Wholesale apps work well for buyers who are willing to log in and order. Many buyers still send their own POs, though, and those still need entering. That is the gap Orderseam is built for: you forward the PO, it reads every line, matches each style, color and size to your catalog, flags anything unclear, and creates the Shopify draft order for you to review and send.

Common questions

Can a Shopify draft order be used for a wholesale order?

Yes. A draft order is an order you build in the Shopify admin on the buyer's behalf. You add the variants and quantities, set the wholesale price or discount, attach the buyer as the customer, and then send an invoice or record payment. It does not become a real order until it is paid or marked as paid.

How long does it take to enter a wholesale PO by hand?

It depends on the number of lines. An apparel PO multiplies quickly because every style comes in several colors and sizes, so a 10-style order can easily become 60 or more variant lines to find and type. Messy formats such as phone photos of handwritten forms take longest.

What should I check before sending a wholesale invoice from a draft order?

Check every style, color and size against the PO, the unit price against your wholesale price list, the order total against the buyer's total, the ship and cancel dates, the ship-to address, and any items that are out of stock or discontinued.