Supplier Management

Supplier management overview

When to use suppliers vs. warehouses, and how ShipWave models dropship, wholesale, and hybrid fulfillment.

Suppliers vs. warehouses

A warehouse is a location you own or operate—it has a ship-from address, your printers, and inventory you physically control. A supplier is a third party who either holds your inventory, drop-ships on your behalf, or sells you stock to receive into your own warehouses. Both can appear on labels and packing slips, but only suppliers have contacts, payment terms, lead times, and a purchase-order ledger attached to them.

Three fulfillment models

ShipWave supports three patterns out of the box. Dropship: the supplier holds inventory and ships directly to your customer—you never touch the product. Wholesale (stocking): you buy from the supplier via purchase orders, receive the stock into your warehouse, and ship from your own location. Hybrid: the same SKU has multiple sources—maybe you stock the fast movers and dropship the long-tail items. Each model uses the same supplier record; what changes is how orders route and how inventory gets counted.

The supplier portal

Every supplier you add gets a self-serve portal at /supplier/[slug] that you can email them. They sign in with a magic link and see only the data scoped to their account: pending fulfillment requests, open POs to acknowledge, shipping options, and the SKU mapping you've agreed on. No CSV exports, no shared spreadsheets, no copying tracking numbers back and forth—everything happens inside the portal and writes back to ShipWave automatically.

When to add a supplier

Add a supplier any time inventory or fulfillment flows through someone other than your own warehouse staff. That includes manufacturers, 3PLs, brand partners, marketplace fulfillers, and contract assemblers. If you only need an alternate ship-from address (for example, a satellite office that uses your own labels and printers), use a warehouse instead. You can always upgrade a warehouse to a supplier later, but the data model is cleaner if you start with the right one.

What's next

Once you understand the model, the rest of the setup is straightforward: add a supplier and map your SKUs, then create purchase orders manually or let auto-PO handle reorders. If you plan to dropship, also review the supplier portal and dropshipping flow.

FAQs

Can a supplier also be a warehouse?
They're separate records, but a supplier can have one or more warehouse addresses attached for ship-from purposes. The distinction is conceptual: warehouses are locations, suppliers are relationships.
Do I need suppliers if I only stock my own inventory?
Not strictly, but you'll still want them for purchase-order tracking, reorder automation, and lead-time visibility. Even one-supplier shops benefit from the PO ledger.
How many suppliers can I add?
Unlimited. There are no per-supplier fees on any ShipWave plan.
Can I restrict which staff see which suppliers?
Yes. Supplier records respect the same role-based access controls as warehouses. Limit-scoped staff only see suppliers they're assigned to.

More in Supplier Management

  • Adding suppliers and mapping SKUs

    Create a supplier record, attach contacts and ship-from addresses, and map your internal SKUs to the supplier's codes and UPCs.

  • Purchase orders: manual and auto-PO

    Create POs by hand or let the daily auto-PO engine draft them for you based on reorder points, lead times, and sales velocity.

  • Receiving purchase orders

    How to receive POs in part or in full, how received quantities flow into inventory, and how the receipt audit trail works.

  • The supplier portal and dropshipping

    Send suppliers a portal link, see what they see, and route dropship orders with three flexible ship options.

  • Supplier delivery formats

    Five ways to deliver orders to a supplier: portal login, CSV email digest, SFTP file drop, signed webhook, or pull API.

  • Supplier feeds and live inventory

    Pull live inventory from suppliers via SFTP, HTTPS, or API. Map fields with drag-and-drop. Drift detection blocks bad data from hitting marketplaces.

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