Stockroom vs Shopify’s built-in purchase orders
Shopify’s purchase orders come with your plan and Stockroom is free on any plan, so price is not the difference. Shopify’s PO records the order. Stockroom emails it, receives against it, works out what the goods cost you landed, updates your costs and prices, and tells you what to order next.
Creating purchase orders
Both let you build a PO from products in your catalog. The difference is where a PO can start and what it can hold.
| Feature | Shopify purchase orders | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Draft and ordered statuses | Yes | Yes |
| Line costs, tax and supplier currency | Yes | Yes |
| Import lines into a PO from CSV | Yes | Yes |
| Import a whole PO from CSV | No | Yes |
| Start a PO from a customer order | No | From the order page, or add to an open draft |
| Start a PO from reorder suggestions | Ask Sidekick | A buy plan grouped by supplier |
| Create at POS by scanning | No | Yes |
| Create from an AI assistant | Sidekick, in the admin | Claude, ChatGPT and others over MCP |
| Freight, fees and discounts on the PO | No | Per line or per order |
| Ship one PO to several locations | One destination per PO | Yes |
| Approval before ordering | No | Optional |
| Your own PO number format | No | Yes |
| Notes per line | No | Supplier-visible or internal |
| Attach files to the PO | No | Yes |
| Your product metafields as PO columns | No | Up to 20, two on the PDF |
| Create a new product from the PO | Existing products only | Yes |
| Team comments and @mentions on a PO | No | Yes |
Suppliers
Shopify saves a supplier as a contact. Stockroom saves what you buy from them and on what terms.
| Feature | Shopify purchase orders | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier contact and address | Yes | Yes |
| Payment terms and currency saved on the supplier | Set per PO | Yes |
| Lead time per supplier | No | Yes |
| Several suppliers for one product | One Vendor field | With cost comparison |
| Supplier part numbers, pack sizes and minimums | No | Yes |
| Price lists with quantity breaks | No | Yes |
| Free-shipping threshold and minimum order value | No | Yes |
| Several email recipients per supplier | No | Up to 11 |
| Import and export suppliers as CSV | No | Yes |
Sending the PO to the supplier
Shopify exports a PDF for you to attach to your own email. Stockroom sends it and tells you what happened next.
| Feature | Shopify purchase orders | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| PDF of the PO | Yes | With your logo and per-supplier format |
| Email the PO from the app | No | Yes |
| Email templates and Cc list | No | Yes |
| Send from your own domain | No | Early access |
| Know when it was sent, and opened | No | Yes |
| Supplier confirms and adds tracking on a link | No | No login for them |
| PO lands in the supplier’s own Shopify store | No | Stockroom Network |
Receiving the delivery
Shopify turns an ordered PO into an inventory transfer and receives on that. Stockroom receives on the PO itself.
| Feature | Shopify purchase orders | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Receive on the PO itself | Becomes a transfer | Yes |
| Incoming quantity on the product | Through the linked transfer | On mark ordered |
| Partial deliveries | Yes | Yes |
| Accept or reject units | Yes | Yes |
| Receive in Shopify POS | Yes | Yes |
| Receive by barcode scan | In POS | Admin, POS and a phone camera |
| Receive more than was ordered | No | Yes |
| Invoice number and total on the delivery | No | Yes |
| Read the invoice photo to fill in the counts | No | Stockroom AI |
| Emailed supplier documents filed onto the PO | No | Yes |
| Receive from an AI assistant | No | Over MCP, with a preview first |
| Undo a receive | No | Yes |
| Print barcode labels for what arrived | Separate app | Yes |
| Return goods to the supplier | No | With a credit note |
What the goods cost you
Shopify keeps one fixed cost per item that receiving does not change. Stockroom works out the landed cost and can update Shopify with it.
| Feature | Shopify purchase orders | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Freight and duties allocated into unit cost | No | By value, quantity or weight |
| Cost per item updated on receive | Stays fixed | Weighted average or latest, you confirm |
| Update the product’s cost and price from the PO | No | You confirm each push |
| Selling prices reviewed after a cost change | No | Price review report |
| Landed cost on every delivery | No | Snapshotted per receipt |
| Payment status on the PO | No | Unpaid, partial, paid |
| Cost history per product | No | Yes |
| Owed to suppliers report | No | Yes |
Reordering and reports
Shopify answers reorder questions through Sidekick and custom explorations. Stockroom runs the numbers nightly.
| Feature | Shopify purchase orders | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Reorder points from your sales | Ask Sidekick | Yes |
| Low stock alerts | With a Flow workflow | Email and Slack |
| Spend by supplier | Custom exploration | Vendor purchase history |
| Supplier on-time and lead-time report | No | Yes |
| Landed cost report | No | Yes |
| Bills into QuickBooks | No | With MyWorks Sync, paid |
What Stockroom adds
What a PO in Stockroom does that a PO in Shopify leaves to you.
- The PO goes out from the app. Email it with your template and Cc list, see when it was opened, and let the supplier confirm and add tracking on a link with no login.
- Receiving happens on the PO. Scan or type what arrived, reject what is damaged, record the invoice, and the stock lands in Shopify at that location. Undo it if the count was wrong.
- You learn what the goods cost you. Freight, duties and fees are spread across the units, and you choose whether Shopify’s cost per item takes the new figure.
- Prices keep up with costs. The price review report shows where a cost rise ate your margin and suggests a new price you can push to Shopify.
- Suppliers hold their terms. Lead times, currency, payment terms, part numbers, pack sizes, minimums and price lists live on the supplier, so a new PO comes in filled.
- It tells you what to order. Reorder points from your sales, a buy plan grouped by supplier, and the cheaper supplier flagged when you have more than one.
- It works from your AI assistant. Connect Claude, ChatGPT or another assistant over MCP and ask it to draft a PO or receive a delivery. Stockroom shows a preview before anything moves.
- Everything else in the app is free too. Stocktakes, transfers, supplier returns, labels, 23 reports, alerts, and bills of materials for the things you make.
- Your inventory stays in Shopify. Stockroom writes incoming and received stock to Shopify and shows up in the inventory history. Shopify stays the record of what you have.
Moving over takes one order
Keep every purchase order in one place, so incoming stock, costs, history and reports all agree.
- Finish what is open in Shopify. Shopify gives apps no access to its purchase orders, so Stockroom cannot bring them across. Receive the ones in flight where they are.
- Start the next one in Stockroom. Your suppliers are already there, created from the vendors on your products, and costs pre-fill from your catalog. There is nothing to set up first.
- Then stop using Shopify’s. A PO that lives outside Stockroom is invisible to its reorder suggestions, its landed cost, its supplier history and its reports. Splitting orders between the two means none of those numbers are complete.
Questions we get
Can I use Stockroom and Shopify purchase orders at the same time?
You can, but there is no reason to. Shopify gives apps no access to its purchase orders, so a PO kept there is invisible to Stockroom: it is missing from your reorder suggestions, your supplier history, your landed costs and your reports. Finish whatever is open in Shopify and put every new order in Stockroom.
Does Stockroom replace the purchase orders page in my Shopify admin?
It takes its place. Your purchase orders live in Stockroom, and Shopify’s own page stays empty. What Stockroom writes to Shopify is inventory: incoming quantities when you mark a PO ordered, and stock at the destination when you receive. Both show in Shopify’s inventory history, attributed to Stockroom.
Can I move my Shopify purchase orders into Stockroom?
No. Shopify offers no export and no API for its purchase orders, so no app can read them. Stocky exports are different: Stockroom imports those with full history.
Does Stockroom change my cost per item in Shopify?
Only when you confirm it. After a receive, Stockroom shows the new landed cost per unit, as a weighted average with what you already hold or as the latest cost, and asks before it writes anything to Shopify. Receiving at POS can update cost automatically if you leave that setting on.
Do I need Shopify POS Pro?
No. Stockroom works on any Shopify plan, and there is no limit on purchase orders, suppliers or SKUs. The POS receiving tile is there if you use Shopify POS, and nothing depends on it.
What does Stockroom cost?
Purchase orders and receiving are free, and they stay free. That is the core of the app. As Stockroom grows into deeper inventory management, the advanced end of that will be paid, along with hands-on onboarding and priority support. Pushing your POs and bills into QuickBooks is a paid MyWorks Sync subscription.
Try it on your next order
Install free, create one PO, email it, and receive it when it lands. Your Shopify purchase orders are not touched.