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Supplier Catalog Integrations

Import product lists and pricing from your suppliers so unit costs are always current and pre-fill automatically when you create purchase orders.

What it does​

Supplier catalog integration matches your supplier's SKUs to your Shopify variants and stores the associated unit costs, MOQs, and lead times in Synplex. Once matched, those costs populate automatically whenever you create a PO for that supplier — no manual price lookups needed.

When supplier prices change, you update them by re-uploading a file or letting a recurring API sync pull the latest prices on schedule.

Prerequisites​

  • Shopify connected and products synced
  • A supplier with a product catalog available as a CSV, Excel file, or API feed
  • Variants in Shopify with barcodes or SKUs set — these are used for automatic matching

Two setup methods​

Method 1: Manual CSV or Excel upload​

Best for small catalogs, one-time setups, or suppliers without an API. Upload a file whenever prices change.

Steps:

  1. Contact your supplier and request a product list in CSV or Excel format. Ask them to include at minimum: supplier SKU, product name, unit cost, MOQ, and lead time in days.
  2. In Synplex, go to Integrations and click Add Supplier Catalog
  3. Choose Upload file and select the supplier (or create a new one)
  4. Upload your CSV or Excel file — a preview of the data will appear
  5. Map the file columns to Synplex fields:
Your file columnMaps to
Supplier SKUSupplier SKU (used for matching)
Unit costUnit Cost
MOQMinimum Order Quantity
Lead daysLead Time (days)
Product nameReference only — not used for matching
  1. Click Save — Synplex will attempt to auto-match supplier SKUs to your variants

Method 2: API or recurring sync​

Best for large catalogs, frequently changing prices, or suppliers that provide an API or data feed. Synplex pulls updated pricing on your chosen schedule automatically.

Steps:

  1. Confirm your supplier provides an API or data feed — examples include Faire, EDI feeds, or a supplier portal export
  2. In Synplex, go to Integrations and click Add Supplier Catalog
  3. Choose API / Recurring Sync and select your supplier type (or custom)
  4. Enter the API credentials provided by your supplier and test the connection
  5. Set a sync schedule — daily or weekly depending on how often prices change
  6. Map the fields the same way as Method 1 — Synplex remembers the mapping for all future syncs
  7. Enable the integration — Synplex will pull data on the next scheduled run and on every run after that

Product matching​

After uploading or connecting, Synplex attempts to match each supplier SKU to one of your Shopify variants. Matching works best when your variants have barcodes or external IDs set in Shopify, as these are compared directly against the supplier SKU.

Match results​

  • Matched — the supplier SKU was found on a variant. Unit cost, MOQ, and lead time are now linked to that variant.
  • Unmatched — no variant was found automatically. These need manual review.
  • Not in store — the supplier sells this product but you don't carry it. Safe to ignore or delete from the integration.

Resolving unmatched items​

  1. Open the integration and find the list of unmatched supplier products
  2. Click an unmatched item and search for the correct variant by name or SKU
  3. Select the correct variant and confirm the match
  4. Synplex remembers the match for all future syncs — you only need to do this once per product

Aim to match 90% or more of the products you actually sell. Products you don't carry can be left unmatched or deleted from the integration.

Cost updates​

Once matched, costs stay current based on your setup method:

  • Manual upload — costs update each time you upload a new file. Synplex compares the new file against the previous one and updates any prices that changed.
  • API recurring sync — costs update automatically on your configured schedule. Price history is tracked over time, so you can see when a supplier raised prices and by how much.

Best practices​

Set a default lead time on each supplier — go to Integrations, find the supplier, click Edit, and set a default lead time. This is used for any products where the catalog does not specify a per-product lead time, and it directly affects when Synplex recommends placing orders.

Review unmatched products after the first sync — open the integration page and check the match count. Manually match anything you sell that wasn't caught automatically. The more complete your matching, the more accurate your PO costs will be.

Monitor price changes if using API sync — check the integration page periodically for cost updates. A significant price increase from a supplier will affect your margin calculations across all related products.

Use multiple suppliers for the same product — you can link more than one supplier to the same variant. When creating a PO you choose which supplier to order from, and the correct costs for that supplier are used.

Troubleshooting​

Costs aren't updating Check the integration status — a green indicator means the connection is active. If using API sync, check whether the scheduled sync has run recently. If the connection looks fine but costs are still stale, trigger a manual sync from the integration page or re-upload the file if the supplier changed their data format.

SKU matching failed for most products The most common cause is that your Shopify variants do not have barcodes or external IDs set. Add these in Shopify first, then re-run the integration. Alternatively, use manual matching to link products one by one.

Some products matched, some didn't This is normal — your supplier may sell products you don't carry. Match the ones you sell and ignore or delete the rest. If a product you do sell is unmatched, use manual matching to link it.

I need to update the supplier's contact details or payment terms Go to Integrations, find the supplier in the list, and click Edit Supplier. You can update name, contact details, payment terms, and default lead time from there.