Suppliers Tab

Overview

The suppliers tab is where you enter your suppliers information such as their business name and various emails, so that our system can send them formatted purchase orders, or if they’re a LineNow (platform) supplier, directly through our system. Here you can also browse our growing list of LineNow (platform) suppliers and add them to your supplier list. 

In general there are three types of suppliers:

1. External (email/Whatsapp)
2. External (portal)
3. Platform

1) External (email/Whatsapp): An external supplier is a supplier that is not integrated with the LineNow supplier system but accepts orders via email or through Whatsapp.  With these suppliers, orders will be sent by us via a formatted email or Whatsapp messages. 

2) External (portal): Some suppliers only accept orders through their third party website such as a Shopify store. For these suppliers we still have a great workflow for you. The URL and login credentials are stored in our system. Anyone on your team can click on the link, log in, place an order on their website, and then our system will watch for the order confirmation email and bring it in automatically into the LineNow Order Tab. 

3) Platform: With a platform supplier, orders will be communicated to them directly into their LineNow suppliers portal. You may also choose to order via their storefront as well, and all order information will immediately appear in your Order Tab. You can browse our list of platform suppliers and add them to your supplier list. In most cases, you are automatically approved to start ordering from these suppliers. 

Here’s a summary:

Adding New Suppliers

Adding a New External Supplier

To add a new external supplier, click the button on the top right of the screen. Make sure you’re on the External Supplier sub tab. Enter their business name (or trade name) and primary email that will be used to send out purchase orders to. Make sure to add in any additional email accounts that might come from this supplier so that our system can watch out for them, include them in the Communication Tab, and automatically update orders appropriately based on the content of the email. 

For sending PO's or receiving order confirmations over Whatsapp, include the supplier's cell phone number connected to their Whatsapp account. Click here for detailed instructions on the Whatsapp Integration. 

Adding a New Platform Supplier

Here, in the sub tab, you can also add a LineNow platform supplier in a single click, allowing you to start placing orders with them right away. These are suppliers with LineNow supplier accounts, and often will accept orders from LineNow buyers right away. 

Adding a New Web Portal Supplier

These are suppliers who will only accept orders through their own website. In addition to making the order process as smooth as possible, we also monitor any (confirmation) emails from this supplier, so the orders still automatically come into the LineNow system. No need to make a “dummy order”.

To add a new Web Portal Supplier, use the Web Portal sub tab. Enter their website information as well as the user name and password needed to make orders with their website. You can also add notes about how to use the service, and where to find any ordering lists on their platform. Ordering then becomes clicking the link to the suppliers URL, copying and pasting the credentials (if not already saved in the browser) and then making the orders.