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Finding products and connecting with suppliers in the Shopify Collective app

You can connect with new suppliers and find products to sell on your store in the following ways through the Shopify Collective app:

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Discovering suppliers and products

You can browse suppliers and products by category, and view personalized recommendations for your store, from the Discovery page. You can view only Collective suppliers that are in the same country as you.

Suppliers and products are displayed in the following ways on your Discovery page:

The supplier and product cards in your Discovery page might also display a Verified tracking badge. This means that the supplier provides carrier-verified tracking on 90% or above of orders on their Shopify store.

Viewing supplier details

To get more information about a supplier, you can view a supplier's profile page. You can visit the supplier's online store, and view the following details if a supplier makes them available:

  • Links to the supplier's social media profiles
  • The supplier's typical margin for sales that are made through retailers in Shopify Collective
  • The countries and regions that the supplier ships from
  • The supplier's average product reviews rating, and the number of verified reviews that the rating is based on
  • A brand description about the supplier
  • Links to the supplier's best-selling products

Instantly import products to sell

Suppliers that use Shopify Collective can set up public price lists that give retailers open access to their products.

If a supplier creates a public price list, then you can instantly import products from their list to your store, without having to connect with or be approved by the supplier. These products are displayed with an Instant import label on the Discovery page.

Before you choose any supplier products for instant import, review the following considerations:

  • When you instantly import products from a supplier's public price list, you're automatically connected with the supplier, and you're assigned as a retailer on the supplier's relevant price list.
  • When you instantly import a product, the supplier of that product is automatically added as a connection on your default policies that you have with Shopify Collective. Therefore, if you have your product import method set as Automatic in your product policy, then all products on the supplier's public price list are automatically imported to your store.
  • If a product that's in a public price list is also part of another price list that the same supplier shared with you separately, then the highest margin from the two price lists applies.
  • If you connect with a supplier by instantly importing products from their public price list, but the supplier later decides to delete your connection, then you can't reconnect automatically through product instant import again. You can still invite the supplier to connect.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Discovery.

  3. Browse or search for specific suppliers or any product types that you're interested in selling, and then take any of the following steps:

    • To instantly import a number of products from a single supplier:
      1. Click the relevant supplier card that displays an Instant import label.
      2. Select the supplier's products that you want to import.
      3. Click Import products.
    • To instantly import a single product:
      1. Click the relevant product card that displays an Instant import label.
      2. Click Import product.

  4. Optional: To view a product after you import it, click Manage product.

After you import a product, you can edit the product details, and then confirm that the product is available for purchase from your store.

Request pricing from a Collective supplier

To request a supplier's pricing, you can send a message and invite them to connect with you on Shopify Collective. A supplier receives your invitation by email, and they can accept your invitation, or continue the conversation by email. Some suppliers might respond faster than others.

After a supplier accepts your invitation, you receive an email confirming that you're connected. The supplier can then share their price lists with you.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Discovery.

  3. Browse or search for specific suppliers or any product types that you're interested in selling.

  4. Take one of the following steps from the supplier and product options that are displayed:

    • Click a Margin on request supplier that you want to view, or to view any further suppliers that fit your search criteria, click View more.
    • Click a Margin on request product that you want to view.

  5. Review the supplier or product details, and then click Request access.

  6. Use the templated message to introduce yourself, or customize a message with your own text, and then click Send.

Inviting suppliers to connect on Shopify Collective

You can invite suppliers that use Shopify to connect with you so that you can sell their products on your store. When you invite a supplier to connect with your business, they receive an invitation email to install the Shopify Collective sales channel in their Shopify admin. After a supplier accepts your invitation to connect, you receive an email notification.

To connect with a supplier, both of your stores need to be in the same supported country and using the same supported currency.

Suppliers that already use Shopify Collective and have your contact details can also invite you to connect.

Invite a supplier using their email address

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Suppliers.

  3. Click Invite supplier.

  4. In the Email address field, enter the supplier's email address.

  5. Optional: In the Your message field, enter a personalized message for the supplier that you're inviting.

  6. Click Send invitation.

Invite a supplier using the Discovery page

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Discovery.

  3. Find and click a supplier that has Invite to Collective displayed.

  4. On the supplier details page, click Invite to Collective.

  5. Optional: In the Message field, enter a personalized message for the supplier that you're inviting.

  6. Click Send.

You can also invite suppliers to connect by sharing a unique signup link in emails and marketing materials. Suppliers using this link are automatically connected, allowing them to share products with you instantly.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Settings.

  3. In the Signup link section, confirm that the feature is activated.

  4. Click the Copy icon to copy the link that you can share.

Getting discovered by suppliers in Shopify Collective

Eligible suppliers that use Shopify Collective can search for retailers to work with, and invite you to sell their products on your store.

To help suppliers find your store, ensure that your retailer profile page that suppliers can view is accurate and up-to-date.

You can manage your store's brand settings from the Brand page in your Shopify admin. You can add a logo, your brand colors, a cover image, a slogan and short description, and your store's social media links.

Suppliers can also view your store's average product reviews rating, based on verified customer reviews collected on Shop, and reviews from the third-party apps Loox, Okendo, Judge.me, Yotpo, and Stamped.io.

When a supplier reviews your profile page, your online store, and the products that you sell, they can choose to send you an invitation to sell their products on your store.

You can turn off supplier emails with invitations to sell, or deactivate your supplier discoverability entirely.

Turn off supplier invitation emails

If you want to be discoverable by suppliers, but you don't want to receive emails with invitations to sell their products, then you can turn off these notifications. You still receive invitations to sell and connect in Suppliers > To review.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Settings.

  3. In the Discovery section, deselect Receive invitations from suppliers (recommended).

Deactivate your supplier discoverability

If you no longer want to be discoverable by suppliers on Shopify Collective, then you can deactivate the feature.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Settings.

  3. In the Discovery section, deactivate the feature by turning the toggle button off.

Accept an invitation from a supplier

If you have supplier discoverability activated for your store, then suppliers that use Shopify Collective can find your retailer profile page and invite you to sell their products. Suppliers that have your email address can also send you a direct invite to connect on Collective.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Suppliers.

  3. Go to the To review tab.

  4. Click Accept invitation for the supplier that you want to connect with.

After you accept an invitation to connect with a supplier, you can import their products to your store, edit the product details, and then confirm that the product is available for purchase from your store.

View your supplier connections

After a supplier accepts your invitation or you accept their invitation, or you instantly import a supplier's products, that supplier becomes one of your connections in Shopify Collective. You can view their available and imported products, and the supplier's shipping information. You can also view the following information for each connection:

  • the date when you became connected
  • whether automatic payments are active with the supplier
  • details of the policies that you use for the supplier
  • total order count
  • average order value
  • total sales

You can search for individual suppliers by name when you view your connections. You can also sort the order in which your connections are displayed in the following ways:

  • By date connected:
    • Oldest to newest
    • Newest to oldest
  • By supplier name:
    • A-Z
    • Z-A

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Collective.

  2. Click Suppliers.

  3. In the Connected tab, click the supplier that you want to view.