How can I automate supplier fulfillment for my ecommerce site?

[cjadmarket]

I have a number of suppliers that I work with, from whom I buy products wholesale. I would like to add their products to my site and automate the notification and fulfillment of those products, so that I can take away the manual process of collecting the product and delivering it to customers.

I have read many articles and blogs about dropshipping, but nothing really explains how I can do this if most of my suppliers are not signed up to a dropshipping service. I am wondering if there is a way to have the fulfillment managed by the supplier after the product is ordered on my Shopify website? Or do I need to get them to register their product on a dropshipping services and then I can connect to them that way... Im sure there is a way but after many googling and search online I can't find what Im specifically looking for - please help.

[Moira]

Hey @cjadmarket,

Great question!

An option is to use third-party fulfillment services, such as ShipBob, ShipStation, or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). These services allow you to store your inventory in their warehouses, and they handle the fulfillment process for you. Here's how it could work:

- You can bulk ship the products from your suppliers to the fulfillment service's warehouse.
- Integrate your Shopify store with the chosen fulfillment service.
- When a customer places an order on your site, the order details are automatically sent to the fulfillment service.
- The fulfillment service picks, packs, and ships the product directly to the customer.
- You can track the order status and provide updates to your customers.

It's important to establish clear communication and agreements with your suppliers to ensure a smooth fulfillment process. Please note that while this option can help automate the fulfillment process, you may still need to manually update product availability and pricing on your Shopify site based on your suppliers' inventory and pricing changes.

[cjadmarket]

Thanks Moira - this is good to know but not exactly what I'm looking for.

Is there a way for an order to be placed on my site, the order be sent to the supplier (via email, app or other process) so that the supplier can fulfill the order?

I'm aware of stocksync to help manage the stock availability but want help automating the order notification to the supplier.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[JoesIdeas]

@cjadmarket people with your same setup use Order Automator to do this.

You create rules that then trigger actions. For example, you can create a rule so that if an order contains products from Vendor A, then send an email to that supplier with the order details. You can also include a tracking link so they can update the tracking remotely, rather than sending you the tracking information and you updating in your store.

The app is customizable so if you get in there and find that it doesn't 100% suit your needs, just reach out to support and make a request.

[cjadmarket]

Thanks JoesIdeas, I'll give that a whirl.