Create a Purchase Order
Purchase orders are how you restock inventory. Alfred offers several paths to creating a PO, each suited to different situations. Algorithmic plans (Meet Forecasted Demand, OTB margin / coverage, Min/Max) calculate recommended quantities. Simple Purchase Order gives you a structured table with sales, stock, supplier, and cost data per row — you set the quantities. All paths converge on the same staging step that groups by supplier and creates one draft PO per supplier.
Option 1: Build an algorithmic Purchase Plan (recommended for routine restocking)
RecommendedGo to Purchase Order Planner from the left navigation.
Click 'New Plan' and choose a plan type: Meet Forecasted Demand (unconstrained), Maximize Margin ROI (budget-constrained), Maximize Coverage (budget-constrained), or Min/Max Replenishment (threshold-based, runs per-location).
Set your coverage goal (e.g., 60 days), lead time, and velocity lookback period.
Apply filters to scope the plan — by product type, vendor, collection, or tags.
Review the recommended quantities. Override any product's quantity if needed.
Save the plan with a descriptive name (e.g., 'Summer Restock - June 2026'). Plans are reusable — duplicate them next cycle and Alfred recalculates with fresh sales data.
Click 'Start Purchase Order' to move to the supplier-assignment staging page.
Assign suppliers to each product (auto-assigned if primary suppliers are set up).
Click 'Generate Purchase Orders' to create POs grouped by supplier.
Option 2: Build a Simple Purchase Order (when you know what to order)
Go to Purchase Order Planner and click the 'Simple Purchase Order' card (the first plan type).
The plan opens to an empty table. Click 'Add products' to launch the catalog picker — search by product, vendor, type, collection, or tag. Add quantities directly in the picker or leave blank to set them in the table.
For each added product Alfred surfaces: on-hand inventory, inbound units, units sold in the last 7/14/30/60 days (with days-in-stock context on hover), supplier-specific lead time, MOQ, pack size, and unit cost from your chosen source.
Use the 'Default cost source' dropdown to pick whether the Unit Cost column populates from Supplier catalog → Recent PO → Shopify default (cascading fallback). Source dots next to each value show where the displayed cost came from.
Use the 'Weeks of Supply velocity' dropdown to set the sales window (Last 7/14/30/60 days) driving the Est. WoS column. WoS = On Hand ÷ daily velocity; inbound is not factored in.
Type quantities per row, or click 'Bulk update' to apply the same PO quantity (and/or unit cost) across selected rows. The red 'Remove' button in bulk mode drops selected products.
Override unit cost per row by typing into the cell; a reset icon reverts to the default-source value.
Save the plan with a descriptive name when ready — Simple PO plans persist your product list, every per-row override, and the dropdown settings.
Click 'Start Purchase Order'. Alfred takes you to the staging step where you assign a supplier per row and creates one draft PO per supplier.
Option 3: Direct entry from Orders & Credits
Go to Orders & Suppliers from the left navigation.
Click 'Create PO' and choose 'Manual Entry'.
Search for products by name, SKU, or barcode and add them to the PO.
Enter quantities and unit costs for each line item.
Set the supplier, PO number, and expected delivery date.
Save the PO as draft or submit it.
Pro Tips
- 💡Use algorithmic Purchase Plans for routine restocking — they're reusable, so duplicate a plan next month and Alfred recalculates quantities based on fresh sales data.
- 💡Use Simple Purchase Order when Alfred's algorithms don't fit the decision — promotional buys, new-product launches, supplier minimum top-ups, or working from a buyer's spreadsheet. You get every supporting data point without Alfred recommending a quantity.
- 💡Set up primary suppliers for your products in Orders & Suppliers so that PO staging auto-assigns the right supplier and cost.
- 💡Use the CSV or AI Smart Import to upload an existing PO from your supplier's invoice — Alfred matches SKUs to your catalog automatically.