This is well written and expresses what I feel as well!
This new Purchase Order feature is the first BAD feature update I’ve ever seen since I started (2020). I fear there’s more bad new features coming because Shopify seems to have hired B-grade product managers and engineers!
It would be great to have both forewarning and training when they make such a significant change. They forget that a lot of the stores running Shopify aren’t software engineers and have really busy roles with a lot of other demands. There isn’t always the time to sit and learn new features, so learning happens by making mistakes, getting frustrated and trying to puzzle out how to do the exact same thing that you used to be able to do easily. It’s hardly a service for small businesses where that is the attitude.
One practical way to make this less painful is to treat Shopify’s PO/Transfer flow as the receiving/inventory layer only, and keep the operational/AP fields outside it.
For stores that used Stocky, I would track expected receive date, vendor invoice due date, paid/unpaid, received/partial received, and reconciliation status in a small PO tracker, then use Transfers only when inventory actually needs to move into stock.
That will not restore the old Stocky workflow, but it gives staff a sortable view of what is due, late, received, and unpaid.
I can understand why this change is frustrating, especially if you only operate from a single location. What was previously a straightforward “receive purchase order” workflow now includes an additional transfer step that doesn’t add much value for merchants without multiple inventory locations.
Unfortunately, Shopify has been moving more inventory features toward a unified workflow that supports multi-location inventory, but that can make simple processes feel more complicated for businesses with less complex operations.
It would have been helpful if Shopify had provided advance notice or an in-app explanation before rolling out the change. Even a short migration guide could have saved merchants a lot of confusion and time.
If this new workflow significantly impacts your day-to-day operations, I’d recommend submitting feedback through Shopify Support or the Shopify Community. When enough merchants share similar concerns, Shopify is more likely to reconsider the user experience or introduce options that better support single-location businesses.