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A supplier is a business you buy stock from. Spree keeps each one as a record holding a name, who you deal with there, how to reach them, and where they are. That record is all a supplier is, and it does nothing on its own. Its only purpose is to be named on a purchase order. Name a supplier once when you raise the order, and its contact details and address travel with it, so whoever sends the order knows where it is going and who to chase when it is late. A supplier has no effect on your stock figures, your pricing or your storefront. How useful this is depends on the size of your operation. A merchant buying from one or two regular suppliers may find it is little more than somewhere to keep an address. Once several staff members are raising orders against dozens of suppliers, a shared supplier record ensures everyone is working from the same details, and that a change of address or contact only has to be made in one place. To manage suppliers, navigate to Suppliers in the admin dashboard. The Suppliers list showing each supplier's contact details and how many purchase orders have been placed with them The list shows one row per supplier:
  • Name - How the supplier appears on purchase orders.
  • Contact, Email and Phone - Who you deal with there and how to reach them.
  • Purchase orders - How many orders have been placed with this supplier.
Use the search box to find a supplier by name, contact or email. The list is sorted by name rather than by newest first, so it reads as an address book.
Set your suppliers up before raising your first purchase order. The Supplier box on a purchase order only offers suppliers already on record.

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How to Create a Supplier

Click New supplier in the top-right corner. A panel opens over the list with the following fields:
  • Name - How the supplier appears on purchase orders. This has to be unique, and Spree refuses a blank one.
  • Contact name - Who you deal with there.
  • Email and Phone - How to reach them.
  • Address, Address line 2, City, Postal code, Country - Where they are.
  • Notes - Anything your team should know, such as account numbers, lead times, or who to ask for.
Click Save when you are done.

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How to Edit a Supplier

Open the row menu on any supplier and choose Edit. The panel is the same one you filled in to create it. Renaming a supplier is safe. Every purchase order pointing at it follows the new name.

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How to Delete a Supplier

A supplier can only be deleted if nothing has been ordered from them. Once a purchase order names a supplier, the record of that supplier must be kept in the system. The Purchase orders column on the list tells you at a glance which suppliers can still be removed. To delete a supplier with no purchase orders, open the row menu and choose the delete action.
To retire a supplier you can no longer delete, rename it to something obvious such as “Do not use” so nobody picks it by mistake.

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Further Reading