The Purchase Orders feature in Tightly streamlines how you request, track, and manage supplier orders — ensuring you always know what inventory is on the way.
Overview
Tightly’s Purchase Order (PO) system allows you to create, organize, and monitor supplier orders directly inside the platform.
It connects your replenishment decisions to supplier execution, reducing manual work and improving visibility over incoming inventory.
Purchase Orders in Tightly are tightly integrated with Smart Replenishment, budget tracking, and supplier communication to keep your operations running smoothly.
With Purchase Orders, you can:
Instantly create POs based on Smart Replenishment or manual selections.
Track every PO status: Drafted, Requested, Confirmed, Shipped, and Received.
Manage supplier relationships and order confirmations directly from Tightly.
Keep your inventory and cash flow records accurate and up to date.
How It Works
What are Purchase Orders?
A Purchase Order (PO) is a formal request to a supplier that specifies what products you are buying, the quantities, the price, and the delivery terms.
In Tightly, POs act as the official record of inventory you are expecting. They also link to your budgets and automatically update stock levels once goods are received.
1. Creating and Managing POs
POs can be generated automatically from replenishment baskets or manually created.
When using Smart Replenishment, you can instantly add recommended products into a PO with a few clicks.
Each PO contains detailed information: Supplier, Products, Quantities, Unit Costs, Expected Delivery Dates, and Order Status.
Once created, you can:
Save as Draft to review later.
Send a Request to the supplier via email through Tightly.
Update the PO as suppliers Confirm shipments, or mark orders as Shipped or Received.
2. PO Status Tracking
Every Purchase Order moves through a structured status workflow:
Drafted: PO created but not yet sent to the supplier.
Requested: PO sent to the supplier, awaiting confirmation.
Confirmed: Supplier has confirmed receipt and details of the PO.
Shipped: Supplier has dispatched the goods.
Received: Inventory has been received and automatically updated in Shopify and Tightly.
You can easily filter, search, and monitor all your POs by their current status, helping you manage lead times and avoid surprises.
3. Supplier Communication & Attachments
Tightly centralizes communication with suppliers for every PO:
Automatically email POs from within the platform.
Attach invoices, packing lists, or other documents to the PO record.
Track supplier responses and confirmations in one place.
This reduces miscommunication and provides a full history of your orders.
4. Budget Visibility and Spend Management
Each PO ties back into your budgeting system:
Orders are tagged against either your Continuity Budget (for stable SKUs) or your Open-To-Buy Budget (for seasonal/new inventory).
Tightly tracks total committed spend so you always know how much budget remains even before inventory is received.
This helps avoid budget overruns and improves cash flow forecasting.
Using Purchase Orders
Access Purchase Orders
Log into Tightly.
In the left-hand menu, click on Purchase Orders.
Step 1: Creating a New PO
You can start a new PO by:
Adding items from a replenishment basket.
Clicking New PO and selecting products manually.
Choose the supplier, add products, and fill in order quantities and unit costs.
Step 2: Managing PO Status
While working on a PO:
Save as Draft if you are not ready to send it yet.
Click Request when ready to send to the supplier.
Update to Confirmed once the supplier accepts the order.
Move to Shipped when the supplier dispatches goods.
Mark as Received once the inventory physically arrives.
Each status change can be done inside the PO view.
Step 3: Reviewing and Filtering POs
In the Purchase Orders page:
Filter by Status (Drafted, Requested, Confirmed, etc.).
Search by Supplier, PO Number, SKU, or Order Date.
Export PO data if needed for accounting or inventory audits.
Step 4: Communicating with Suppliers
Inside each PO:
Send the PO to the supplier using Send PO.
Attach invoices, shipping documents, or custom notes.
Track all conversations and updates tied to the specific PO.