Products are often obtained from more than 1 supplier - but Supplier Shipments and Purchase Orders limit you to adding products from the supplier designated in the Shipment or Purchase Order header.

I purchase products at wholesale from multiple suppliers how do I set that up?


Important to Note



  • There is no limit to the number of additional supplier you can assign to a product.
  • Configurable Products - simple variants must have their alternate suppliers designated for each simple variant.



To designate suppliers in addition to the main supplier:



  • Make sure the alternate supplier has already been created in Manage Suppliers.
  • Edit the Configurable product >> Associated Items tab and select one of the Simple variants
  • Edit the Simple product and go to the Alternate ID's Tab
  • Click Add on the Alternate Supplier ID







  • Under Alternate Supplier enter a valid supplier - if you start typing auto-suggest will help you locate it.
  • The Item ID will default to the SKU but you can change it if this supplier uses a different ID for this product (this ID will show up on the Purchase Order and Supplier Shipments for the alternate supplier)
  • Cost - enter the wholesale cost charged by the alternate supplier (NOTE - this is for information purposes only and not actually changing the products cost in Supplier Shipment or Purchase Order)
  • Minimum Purchase Quantity - enter the minimum purchase quantity for this item if there is one.
  • Save
  • If you need to edit these values you can select the Alternate Supplier and click edit





I use a distributor to purchase products from multiple manufacturers*


Setting the Distributor flag on a supplier means Supplier Shipments and Purchase Orders for that supplier can contain any inventory product in your system.




If you have suppliers that sell you products from a variety of manufacturers - or even have 2 or 3 such suppliers you can create supplier shipments and purchase orders using the 'Distributor' setting in Edit Supplier. Distributor indicates that this supplier sells products at wholesale from a variety of manufacturers. 

To Designate a Supplier as a Distributor



  • Edit the Supplier in Catalog >> Manage Suppliers
  • Check the box next to This Supplier is a Distributor
  • Save