Setting Up Your Products

Before diving into OrderDay, taking a few minutes to ensure your Shopify products are configured correctly will save you hours of manual work later.

Why This Matters

OrderDay syncs your products from Shopify and uses this data to:

• Match products to distributors automatically via the vendor field
• Calculate optimal order quantities based on inventory levels
• Look up products by barcode/UPC for quick identification
• Track inventory across variants for accurate reorder points

Time Investment

15-30 minutes of product setup now = hours saved on every ordering session

Required Fields

1. Vendor (Critical)

The vendor field is how OrderDay matches products to distributors. This is the most important field to get right.

In Shopify: Products → [Product] → Organization → Vendor

Best Practices:

• Use your primary distributor's name exactly as you'll set it up in OrderDay
• Be consistent: "Sysco" not "SYSCO" or "Sysco Foods"
• For products available from multiple distributors, use your preferred/primary distributor

Common Mistake

Leaving vendor blank or using the manufacturer instead of distributor.

If you buy Orijen pet food from Freedom Pet Supplies, set vendor to "Freedom" not "Orijen".

The brand/manufacturer can go in the product title or a separate tag.

Example:

Product	Correct Vendor	Wrong Vendor
Orijen Six Fish Cat Food	Freedom Pet Supplies	Orijen
Blue Buffalo Chicken	US Foods	Blue Buffalo
Kong Classic Toy	Manchester Pet	Kong

2. SKU (Important)

SKUs help OrderDay track products across orders and identify them uniquely.

In Shopify: Products → [Product] → Variants → SKU

Best Practices:

• Use your internal SKU or the distributor's item number
• Keep SKUs unique across all variants
• Avoid special characters (stick to letters, numbers, dashes)
• Fill in SKUs for all variants, not just the parent product

Good SKU Examples:

• ORI-6FISH-15LB
• KONG-CLASSIC-LG
• 12345-001 (distributor item number)

3. Barcode/UPC (Recommended)

Barcodes enable quick product lookup and future mobile receiving features.

In Shopify: Products → [Product] → Variants → Barcode (ISBN, UPC, GTIN)

Best Practices:

• Use the manufacturer's UPC when available (found on product packaging)
• Store at the variant level, not product level
• Use standard formats:
  • UPC-A: 12 digits (common in North America)
  • EAN-13: 13 digits (international)
  • GTIN-14: 14 digits (case-level barcodes)

Where to Find UPCs

• Scan the product's barcode with your phone
• Check the manufacturer's website or catalog
• Look up the product on UPC databases like barcodelookup.com

4. Inventory Tracking (Required)

OrderDay needs inventory tracking enabled to calculate reorder points and suggest order quantities.

In Shopify: Products → [Product] → Variants → Track quantity ✓

Ensure this checkbox is enabled for all products you want OrderDay to manage.

Recommended Fields

While not required, these fields help with organization and filtering:

Field	Purpose	Example
Product type	Filter by category	"Dog Food", "Cat Toys", "Treats"
Tags	Additional categorization	"grain-free", "senior", "sale"
Collections	Logical groupings	"Frozen Foods", "New Arrivals"
Cost per item	Margin calculations	$12.50

TIP

OrderDay maintains its own cost tracking per distributor, so the Shopify "Cost per item" field is optional. You'll set costs in OrderDay when configuring your distributors.

Variant Structure

When to Use Variants

Use variants for the same product in different configurations:

Good uses of variants:

• ✅ Same food, different bag sizes (5lb, 15lb, 30lb)
• ✅ Same toy, different sizes (Small, Medium, Large)
• ✅ Same treat, different flavors (Chicken, Beef, Salmon)

Don't use variants for:

• ❌ Different products that are similar
• ❌ Products from different brands
• ❌ Items that don't share a common base product

Naming Conventions

Use clear, consistent option names:

Option Type	Good Names	Avoid
Size	"5 lb", "15 lb", "30 lb"	"Small", "5", "5lbs"
Flavor	"Chicken", "Beef", "Salmon"	"CHICKEN", "chkn"
Color	"Red", "Blue", "Green"	"R", "BLU"

Case Sizes and Variants

A common question: Should I create variants for cases vs. individual units?

The answer: No. Set up products as individual selling units.

OrderDay handles case size conversion automatically. You'll configure case sizes per distributor in OrderDay:

• Sysco sells Dog Food 30lb in cases of 4 bags
• US Foods sells the same product in cases of 6 bags

You set up ONE product in Shopify (the individual bag), then configure the different case sizes in OrderDay for each distributor.

TIP

This approach keeps your Shopify catalog clean and lets OrderDay handle the math when generating purchase orders.

Metafields (Coming in v2.0)

Coming Soon

OrderDay v2.0 will auto-discover and sync your existing Shopify metafields. If you're already using custom metafields, you'll be able to leverage them.

Supported metafields in v2.0:

Metafield	Purpose
custom.target_quantity	Target stock level for reordering
Distributor metafields	Preferred distributor assignments
Ordering rules	Minimum order quantities, etc.

If you're already using metafields to track inventory targets or distributor preferences, OrderDay will be able to import this data automatically.

Quick Checklist

Before your first order in OrderDay, verify:

• [ ] Products have vendor set to your distributor name
• [ ] SKUs are filled in for all products/variants
• [ ] Barcodes added where available
• [ ] Inventory tracking is enabled
• [ ] Variant structure makes sense for how you sell

Bulk Updates

For stores with many products, use Shopify's bulk tools:

Option 1: Bulk Editor

1. Go to Products in Shopify Admin
2. Select the products you want to edit
3. Click Edit products
4. Modify vendor, SKU, or other fields in bulk
5. Save changes

Option 2: CSV Export/Import

1. Go to Products → Export
2. Choose "All products" or selected products
3. Edit the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets
4. Go to Products → Import
5. Upload your modified CSV

CSV columns that matter:

• Vendor - Distributor name
• Variant SKU - Product identifier
• Variant Barcode - UPC/EAN
• Variant Inventory Tracker - Should be "shopify"

Option 3: Third-Party Apps

For complex migrations:

• Matrixify (formerly Excelify) - Advanced bulk editing
• Shopify Flow - Automation for ongoing maintenance

Troubleshooting

"Products not showing in OrderDay"

Check	Solution
Product is archived	Unarchive in Shopify
Inventory tracking disabled	Enable "Track quantity"
Product is draft status	Publish the product
Recently added	Wait 5-10 minutes or trigger manual sync

To trigger a manual sync: Settings → Integrations → Sync Products

"Wrong distributor showing"

Check	Solution
Vendor field blank	Add vendor in Shopify
Vendor doesn't match	Ensure exact spelling match with OrderDay distributor
Typo in vendor	Fix in Shopify, then sync

"Barcode lookup not working"

Check	Solution
Barcode on product, not variant	Move to variant level
Non-standard format	Use 12-digit UPC or 13-digit EAN
Contains letters	Remove letters, use numbers only
Leading zeros missing	Ensure full 12/13 digits

Next Steps

Once your products are configured:

1. Connect Shopify to OrderDay - Complete the OAuth setup
2. Set up your distributors - Configure vendors, schedules, and costs
3. Create your first order - See AI recommendations in action

Need Help?

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Contact Support