Creating a digital purchase order in Shopify is simple. You can use Shopify's native purchase order features or an app like Prediko to select suppliers, add products, set quantities and costs, and share POs digitally.
AI-powered tools take it further by recommending what to order, when, and how much based on demand forecasts, supplier lead times, and inventory levels.
But creating a PO is only part of the process. When orders get buried in inboxes, supplier confirmations are delayed, or teams lose track of incoming stock, even small mistakes can lead to stockouts and lost sales.
This guide covers how to create and manage digital purchase orders in Shopify, the best tools to use, and how AI can make purchasing faster and more accurate.
What is a Digital Purchase Order?
A digital purchase order (DPO) is an electronic version of a standard purchase order. It lists what you're ordering from a supplier, how much it costs and when it's due. It's created, shared and stored entirely online.
With digital POs, teams create, approve and send orders instantly. All the data sits in one place, so it's easier to track status, manage supplier communication and avoid errors or duplicates.
They're especially useful for Shopify stores managing many SKUs, frequent supplier orders or seasonal demand swings.
How do Paper, Digital and AI-Generated Purchase Orders Compare?
What are the Benefits of Digital Purchase Orders for Shopify Brands?
1. Faster, more efficient ordering
Manual POs mean filling out forms, chasing approvals and tracking email threads. Digital POs use pre-set templates, route to the right approver and track in real time from one place.
Working with several vendors? Send POs in batches. Reordering often? Reuse saved drafts. Tie it to your inventory purchasing workflow so the right products are ordered at the right time.
💡 Free purchase order templates for Shopify inventory management
2. Fewer errors
One wrong SKU, quantity or outdated price can mean a missed delivery or overstock, especially in fashion, where POs carry many sizes and colours.
Digital POs pull product, pricing and vendor data from saved records, so there's nothing to type twice. If supplier terms change, they update everywhere.
3. Better tracking
Every digital PO has a status: drafted, submitted, approved, received or paid, and an activity log.
Anyone can check where an order stands without pinging suppliers or other teams.
4. Cost control
When POs are manual, spending often goes unseen until it reaches accounting. Digital POs tie each order to a forecast or budget, flag over-limit orders automatically and catch duplicates before they're approved.
How Do You Set Up Digital Purchase Orders in Shopify?
Shopify now has native purchase orders in the admin. Here's how to create one:
- In your Shopify admin, go to Products → Purchase orders and click Create purchase order.
- Choose a supplier, or create one with contact details, currency and payment terms, then pick the destination location.
- Add products by search, barcode scan or CSV, and enter the quantity and cost per item.
- Add payment terms, a reference number, the estimated arrival date and any supplier notes.
- Click Save as draft, then Mark as ordered once the supplier confirms. Export the PO as a PDF to send to your supplier.
- When the stock ships, create a transfer from the PO to track the shipment and receive inventory.
A dedicated PO app takes this a step further. Instead of manually checking what needs to be reordered, you get automatically updated buying recommendations based on demand forecasts, supplier lead times, and minimum order quantities (MOQs), even across hundreds of SKUs and multiple suppliers.
With Prediko, for example, you can create purchase orders directly from the Buying Tab or Orders page, or import existing POs to manage everything in one place.
What to look for in a digital PO system
- Direct Shopify integration - product, inventory and vendor data pulled straight from Shopify, so POs match real-time stock.
- Customizable PO templates - your logo, payment terms, warehouse addresses and currencies, for suppliers with strict requirements.
- Automated reorder logic - POs triggered by stock thresholds or forecast demand, to avoid overordering and stockouts.
- Multi-supplier support - one SKU from several vendors, each with its own lead time and cost.
- Receiving and reconciliation - ordered vs received, partial deliveries and backorders, with mismatches flagged.
- Clean data to start from - audit your SKU and supplier data before you automate; inconsistent SKU formats or outdated supplier details lead to wrong POs.
- A pilot option - start with a few suppliers or SKUs, check the POs are right, then expand.
What are the best digital PO apps for Shopify?
1. Prediko
Prediko connects to your store and combines PO management with demand forecasting and restock alerts, so every PO is backed by data.
- 1-click PO creation from AI demand plans and real-time stock levels
- Restock alerts based on sales trends and lead times
- Edit quantities, suppliers and costs before sending
- Multi-supplier SKUs and warehouse-level planning
- Barcode scanning for stocktakes
- Agentic workflows for PO creation and management (Pia)
2. Auto Purchase Orders
Creates and emails POs automatically when inventory hits minimum levels.
- Custom reorder points per SKU
- Automatic PO generation and emailing
- PO status tracking: open, sent, received
- CSV and PDF export
3. Ultimate Purchase Orders
For teams that prefer building POs manually, with full control over content and branding.
- Manual POs with product and vendor info
- Custom terms, delivery notes and due dates
- Branded PDF export or email
- Received quantities recorded by item
4. Mimoran Purchase Orders
For B2B or wholesale flows with several suppliers.
- Auto-split orders by supplier
- PO layout customized per vendor
- Internal SKUs mapped to supplier codes
- Audit logs for PO activity
5. Full Shelf Purchase Orders
For fast-growing stores reordering often across large catalogs.
- Bulk PO creation from the product grid
- Preferred vendors assigned to SKUs
- Reorder suggestions from sales trends
- Products auto-grouped by supplier
Want to dig deeper? Here's our comparison of the best purchase order management apps for Shopify.
How Do You Create a Digital Purchase Order in Prediko, Step by Step?
There are three ways: from the Buy Tab, from the Orders page, or by importing POs.
1. Open the Buy Tab dashboard. You’ll see every SKU with its stock level, days left, supplier and lead time.
2. Select the SKUs to reorder with the checkboxes, then click “Create draft order”.
3. Edit PO details. Adjust “Units to Order” or keep the recommendation. If you’ve set MOQs, Prediko flags items below the minimum and lets you scale them up.
4. Customize columns. Use “Columns” to show fields like landed cost, estimated delivery or SKU notes.
5. Add notes and warehouses. Add internal notes and tracking info, or split the order with “Distribute by Warehouse”, then click “Create Draft Order”. The draft appears under Orders, where you can edit landed costs and add shipping, tax or other costs.
6. Share the PO. Click “Share” to download it as a PDF or Excel file, or email it to your supplier.
From the Orders page
Go to Orders, click “Create Draft Order” and search for the SKUs or products you need. From there, it’s the same as steps 3–6 above.
By importing a PO
Go to Settings → Import → Purchase Orders and follow the on-screen instructions to upload your file.
How is AI Changing Digital Purchase Orders?
Digital POs speed up the paperwork. AI decides what goes on the paper.
An AI purchase order is a PO the system recommends and pre-fills for you: which SKUs, how many units and when, based on real-time stock, sales trends, supplier lead times and MOQs.
Here's what changes:
- From rules to recommendations. Rule-based automation fires when stock hits a threshold you set. AI looks at sales velocity, seasonality, incoming POs and lead times to decide what to order and how much, before a shortage or overstock happens.
- Built-in checks before anything is sent. SKUs, quantities, prices, MOQs and delivery timelines are validated automatically. Anything that looks off is surfaced for a quick human review instead of slipping through.
- Supplier-aware orders. The system knows each supplier's MOQs, case packs and lead times, so POs match how your supply chain actually works.
- You stay in control. Approve, adjust or regenerate a PO in one click. AI drafts; you decide.
In Prediko, AI-generated purchase orders come from live sales, stock levels, lead times and safety stock rules. You can create one in a click from the Buying Table, or ask Pia, Prediko's AI inventory agent, to draft it. The result is POs in seconds instead of hours, and fewer wrong orders reaching suppliers.
Want to go further? Here's how to automate purchase orders in Shopify end to end.
How Do You Measure ROI From Digital and AI Purchase Orders?
Break it into three parts: time saved, errors avoided and software cost.
ROI = (Hours Saved × Hourly Rate) + Error Costs Avoided − Software Cost
- Hours saved: minutes per PO today × POs per month × the share of that time automation removes.
- Error costs avoided: the average cost of a PO error (wrong SKUs, price mismatches, receiving delays, reconciliation time) × how many fewer errors you expect.
- Software cost: subscription, onboarding and training time.
Example: you raise 40 POs a month and save 45 minutes on each, that is, 30 hours. At $30 an hour, that's $900. Avoiding three $150 errors adds $450. Subtract a $199 subscription and you're $1,151 a month ahead. Swap in your own numbers.
Start Creating Digital Purchase Orders with Prediko
Manually tracking inventory, emailing suppliers and juggling spreadsheets leaves too much room for delays and stockouts. You need a PO workflow that moves as fast as your inventory does.
Prediko connects to your Shopify store, suggests what to order, when and how much, and lets you create the PO in one click - from the Buy Tab, the Orders page or an import. Its AI algorithm also handles demand forecasting, MOQ checks, lead time tracking and multi-supplier SKUs.
Start your 14-day free trial of Prediko and see it for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Shopify have purchase orders?
Yes. Shopify has native purchase orders in the admin for recording supplier orders and receiving stock. Its Sidekick assistant can assist when you ask. Brands with many SKUs add a PO app for continuous, forecast-based recommendations.
How can I automate the creation of purchase orders?
Use a digital PO system like Prediko that triggers purchase orders from stock levels, sales data and forecasts, or lets you import existing POs.
What does AI do in a purchase order process?
AI recommends which SKUs to reorder, how many units and when, based on real-time stock, demand patterns, lead times and MOQs. It pre-fills the PO and flags anything that looks wrong for review.
What are the benefits of digital purchase order software?
It speeds up procurement, reduces errors and gives your team real-time visibility into every order.
How long does it take to set up AI purchase orders?
With a Shopify-native tool like Prediko, most brands are up and running within a few hours, because product, stock and supplier data sync from your store.
Are there templates for digital purchase orders?
Yes. Most tools offer customizable PO templates, and Prediko has free purchase order templates you can download.
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