The primary functionality that Duoplane provides is allowing retailers to easily route orders to multiple vendors or suppliers using different formats and different communication methods. Below is a complete guide on the different ways that a Duoplane user can configure the way that Duoplane sends orders to specific vendors.
It is important to note that no matter how a supplier gets setup to receive orders, they will always be able to access the Duoplane portal to view and process purchase orders.
Prior to configuring any of the settings below you will need to make sure that your vendor has been added in Duoplane. Most of the time this happens automatically when a product is added in your shopping platform and the vendor is indicated on the item record there. To confirm that a vendor has been added in Duoplane you can search for them within your vendor directory. If they do not exist you can add them as a vendor manually; you can also add contacts to existing vendor records.
Step 1 – Determine how frequently the orders will be sent
Purchase order send frequency can be established at a global level or at the vendor level. To set the purchase order send frequency at a global level you can go to Settings –> Order Processing and update the send frequency using the first options at the top of the screen. Unless overridden within the vendor settings page this will apply to all vendors.
To set the purchase order send frequency at a vendor level you can navigate to your vendor’s account page in Duoplane. Click on the vendor tab to the left, then search for your vendor in the vendor directory. Once you are on your vendors page you can scroll down to Purchase order preferences and click Edit.
From here you can update the purchase order send schedule to be custom for this vendor.
Step 2 – Determine the communication method used to transmit orders to vendors
To edit the communication method you will again navigate to your vendor’s account page in Duoplane, then scroll down to Purchase order preferences and click Edit.
Duoplane Portal
All suppliers have the ability to access their orders via the Duoplane portal. Even if they are setup to receive orders using another method they can additionally log into the Duoplane portal to access orders.
Once they login they can navigate to the orders tab and view New, Open, and Shipped Purchase Orders.
Email is one of the more popular ways to transmit orders to vendors. You can transmit the orders in any format to as many email addresses as needed. Each contact on the vendor record can receive an email notification if they have the “Purchase Order Alerts” notification preference activated.
FTP or SFTP
To set a supplier up to receive orders via FTP / SFTP you can select the Delivery method drop down and select the appropriate FTP option for that supplier.
Once that has been selected you can enter in the Host address, port, path to directory, login name, and password.
JSON / SOAP API
To setup a vendor to receive purchase orders through their API you can update the delivery method to use whichever format is needed. Duoplane provides a default JSON template, but you can customize that using Duoplane’s purchase order objects if needed.
API Connection
Duoplane provides a REST API to allow both retailers and vendors to programmatically interact with orders. The API can be used to connect Duoplane to outside systems, support custom automations, and generate reports.
For more information on how to connect to Duoplane via API you can reference the links below.
Prebuilt Integration
Duoplane supports several prebuilt integrations that allow vendors to connect their system to Duoplane quickly and easily. Below are the prebuilt integrations that Duoplane supports:
Vendor’s Shopify Store
If your vendor uses Shopify and would like to receive orders directly to their Shopify store, that is something that the vendor can setup on their end. Instructions on how to setup the vendor Shopify integration can be found here.
Step 3 – Select and configure the Purchase Order format
The most simple format that Duoplane offers is sending orders via PDF. When an order is sent via PDF it will also include the packing slip unless otherwise specified.
To setup orders to transmit in PDF format you can hit the PO file format dropdown, and select PDF. You can also customize the PO file name.
CSV or Excel
Duoplane offers completely customizable CSV or Excel PO exports. To configure this you can select CSV or Excel from the PO file formats. This will then trigger additional customization options in the CSV preferences fields as well as the file columns fields. The file columns can be completely customized; for additional assistance on how to set these up you can contact us.
XML
Duoplane offers completely customizable XML PO templates. To configure this you can select XML from the PO file format dropdown. You will then be able to customize the XML formatting in the XML template text box.
JSON
Duoplane offers completely customizable JSON PO templates. To configure this you can select JSON from the PO file format dropdown. You will then be able to customize the JSON formatting in the JSON template text box.
For any questions on the information in this article or other ways Duoplane might be able to assist you please do not hesitate to contact us.