SupplyMaster order sync supports dropshipping to customers, shipping to a merchant location, and combining multiple Shopify orders into a single supplier purchase order (PO).

This article explains how to choose a workflow, configure Combine Orders and Ship To Address, manage the Orders tab, and use batches, skip, and minimum order value. For supplier-specific setup (S&S warehouse and payment, PromoStandards credentials), see Syncing Orders with Suppliers.

Choose Your Workflow

The first setting on Edit Supplier > Order Settings is Combine Orders. It controls how Shopify orders become supplier purchase orders (POs). Ship To Address on the same row defines where the supplier ships the PO.

Goal	Combine Orders	Ship To Address	Typical Use
Supplier ships each order directly to the Shopify customer	No	Ship to customer	Classic dropshipping with no decoration step in between
Supplier ships each order to a merchant location without combining orders	No	A saved merchant address	Dropship-style order creation, but shipped to a shop or warehouse for decoration
Supplier ships many Shopify orders together in fewer POs	Yes	A saved merchant address (required)	Batch decorators who accumulate orders until a dollar threshold or schedule

Dropship Orders (Combine Orders = No)

In dropship mode, each paid Shopify order that includes this supplier's products becomes one separate supplier PO.

Most dropship orders ship directly to the Shopify customer. You can also choose a saved merchant address if the supplier should send each order to a shop, warehouse, or decorator instead. In that case, SupplyMaster still creates one PO per Shopify order; only the destination changes.

Dropship orders are best when:

Orders should ship straight to the customer with no stop at a shop or warehouse.
Each Shopify order needs its own PO number, such as PO = Shopify order number.
Decoration or fulfillment happens after the customer receives the goods, or not at all for that product line.

Ship To Address options:

Ship to customer — the supplier uses the Shopify shipping address.
A merchant address — the supplier ships each order to a saved shop, warehouse, or decorator address instead of the customer.

Shopify Fulfillment is shown only for dropship orders. Choose When Supplier PO is placed to mark the Shopify order fulfilled when the PO is sent, or Manual if the Shopify order should stay unfulfilled until fulfillment is handled separately.

Combined Orders (Combine Orders = Yes)

Combined orders group multiple Shopify orders into open batches and send one supplier PO per batch. Combined orders always ship to a merchant address — Ship to customer is not available in this mode.

Combined orders are best when:

Blanks should arrive at one location, such as a shop or warehouse, on a schedule or when a minimum order value is reached.
Freight or supplier minimums make one larger PO preferable to many small POs.
Underlying Shopify orders do not need to be auto-fulfilled when the supplier PO is placed. Tracking applies to the batch, not each Shopify order.

How sending works:

New orders are added to an open batch automatically, grouped by ship-to address.
With Automatically Submit Purchase Orders, a batch is placed at most every 3 hours when pending value meets Minimum Order Value, if set.
With Submit Purchase Orders at Scheduled Time, the batch is placed at the chosen time only if the minimum is met.
With Manually Submit Purchase Orders in App, batches are submitted with Submit Batch on the Orders tab.

Minimum order value is based on supplier cost (the field mapped to Cost per item in Match Fields), not Shopify selling price or order total.

Quick Examples by Business Model

Screen printer / embroiderer (blanks to the shop, one PO per customer order): Combine Orders = No, Ship To Address = merchant address, Shopify Fulfillment = Manual, Order Sync = automatic, scheduled, or manual as preferred.
Batch decorator (accumulate orders, one PO when the batch is big enough): Combine Orders = Yes, Ship To Address = merchant address, set Minimum Order Value, Order Sync = automatic or scheduled.
Pure dropshipper (supplier ships to the end customer): Combine Orders = No, Ship To Address = Ship to customer, Shopify Fulfillment = When Supplier PO is placed, Order Sync = automatic or scheduled.
Hybrid store (some lines dropship, some to the shop): use two supplier connections in SupplyMaster (for example, “S&S — Dropship” and “S&S — Blanks”), each with its own Combine Orders and Ship To Address settings. Per-line routing on a single connection is not supported.

Merchant Address Book

Merchant warehouse and shop addresses are shared across all suppliers. Manage them from Ship To Address > Add or Edit Address on Order Settings, or from the Ship to column on the Orders tab for individual orders.

Each address needs a label (shown in the Orders tab), contact and street fields, and a phone number (required).
When Combine Orders is Yes, only merchant addresses are available — ship to customer is not offered.
Changing the supplier default does not update orders already captured. Per-order ship-to can be edited while status is Queued, Pending, or On Hold.

Order Settings (Shared Fields)

Order placement is configured on the Order Settings tab, not under Automatic Sync (that tab controls product import only).

Setting	What It Does
Combine Orders	No — dropship mode. Each Shopify order becomes one supplier PO and can ship to the customer or a merchant address. Yes — multiple Shopify orders are grouped into batches and sent as one PO per batch.
Ship To Address	Ship to customer or a saved merchant address. Combined orders require a merchant address.
Shopify Fulfillment	Shown when Combine Orders is No. When Supplier PO is placed marks the Shopify order fulfilled on successful PO submit. Manual leaves the Shopify order unfulfilled for in-house decoration.
Order Sync — Automatically Submit Purchase Orders	Dropship (Combine = No): eligible orders placed about every 10 minutes. Combined (Combine = Yes): open batches placed at most every 3 hours when minimum order value is met (if set).
Order Sync — Submit Purchase Orders at Scheduled Time	Placement once per day after the chosen Order Placement Time (local timezone). Combined batches submit only if minimum order value is met at that time.
Order Sync — Manually Submit Purchase Orders in App	Orders appear on the Orders tab. Use Submit Now (dropship) or Submit Batch (combined).
Order Sync — Disabled	No capture or placement through SupplyMaster.
Supplier PO Number	Liquid template for the PO number. When Combine = No, default is `{{ shopifyOrderNumber }}`. When Combine = Yes, defaults include `{{ startOrderNumber }}-{{ lastOrderNumber }}` and date/time variables.
Minimum Order Value	Shown when Combine Orders is Yes. Gates automatic and scheduled batch placement. Based on supplier cost (the field mapped to Cost per item), not Shopify selling price or order total.

Minimum order value is based on supplier cost (the field mapped to Cost per item), not your Shopify selling price or order total.

Dropship Orders Workspace (Combine Orders = No)

On the supplier page, open the Orders tab (Supplier Purchase Orders). Each row is one Shopify order moving toward one supplier PO.

Ship to column shows Ship to customer or the merchant address label. Click to change destination on editable rows.
Hold / Release Hold pauses or resumes placement.
Skip permanently excludes an order from placement (cannot be reversed).
Submit Now places a single order immediately when status is Queued or Pending (not while on hold).
Status values include Queued, Pending, On Hold, Skipped, Submitted, and Failed.

Combined Orders Workspace (Combine Orders = Yes)

The Orders tab shows open batches at the top (one tab per ship-to address) and a unified order list below.

Batch card shows order count, item count, estimated value, and progress toward Minimum Order Value when set.
Submit Batch places all orders in the open batch as one supplier PO.
View Batch or the batch link in the PO # column opens batch details: merged SKU totals and the underlying Shopify orders.
New paid orders are added to the open batch automatically (grouped by ship-to address).
Submit Now is not available for orders in an open batch — use Submit Batch.
Hold and Skip remove an order from the open batch. Release from hold returns it to the batch when Combine Orders is Yes.

Skip vs Hold

Action	Meaning
Hold	Pause review; order may still be sent later via the app. Removed from any open combined batch while held.
Skip	Order will not be sent via SupplyMaster (for example, in stock, PO placed elsewhere, decoration only). Permanent — cannot be reversed. Removed from any open batch.

When skipping, choose an optional reason: In stock, PO placed, Decoration only, or Other.

Timing & Minimum Order Value

Dropship automatic: each eligible order is placed about every 10 minutes.
Combined automatic: each open batch is placed at most every 3 hours, and only when pending supplier cost in that batch meets Minimum Order Value (if set).
Scheduled: placement runs once per day after Order Placement Time. Combined batches wait until the minimum is met at that scheduled run.
Manual: use Submit Now or Submit Batch; minimum order value is ignored for manual batch submit.

Tracking & Shopify Fulfillment

Dropship (Combine = No): tracking syncs back to SupplyMaster. Shopify fulfillment follows the Shopify Fulfillment setting.
Combined (Combine = Yes): tracking applies to the batch PO. Underlying Shopify orders are not auto-fulfilled when the batch is placed.

Settings Changes & Orders in the Queue

Changing Combine Orders or Ship To Address on a supplier applies to new Shopify orders only. Orders already captured keep the settings from when they were captured. In-flight combined batches complete under the rules they started with.