Shopify’s latest merchant‑focused update adds powerful purchase‑order reporting to the Analytics suite. For the first time, store owners can view detailed cost data, track transfers, and monitor open purchase orders—all from within the native dashboard. This post breaks down exactly what’s new, who should care, and the steps you need to take to start leveraging these insights for smarter inventory and cash‑flow management.
What’s New: Three Purchase Order Reports
Shopify Analytics now ships with three dedicated reports:
Additionally, the Purchase Orders page aggregates key metrics such as total items ordered, acceptance rate, and shipments due soon, giving you a high‑level health check at a glance.
Who’s Affected: Merchants vs. Developers
Merchants – The primary audience. Store owners and inventory managers can now make data‑driven decisions without exporting data to spreadsheets. The new reports are built into the Analytics UI, so no extra apps or custom code are required.
Developers – While the feature is merchant‑centric, developers should be aware of two indirect impacts:
cost, estimated_tax). If you’ve built custom dashboards or integrations that pull purchase‑order data, you’ll want to update your queries to include these attributes.How to Access the New Reports
All reports respect your existing permission settings, so only users with Analytics or Reports access can view or export the data.
Exporting Purchase Order Data via the API
If you prefer automated exports, the Admin GraphQL API now includes the fields shown in the UI. Below is a sample query that pulls the same columns you see in the Purchase order costs report:
graphql
query PurchaseOrderCosts($first: Int = 50, $after: String) {
purchaseOrders(first: $first, after: $after) {
edges {
node {
id
name
createdAt
lineItems {
edges {
node {
title
quantity
cost {
amount
currencyCode
}
estimatedTax {
amount
currencyCode
}
}
}
}
totalCost {
amount
currencyCode
}
}
}
}
}
Replace $first and $after for pagination. The response can be piped into a CSV generator or your BI pipeline. Remember to request the read_purchase_orders scope when generating an access token.
Action Checklist for Merchants
Conclusion & Next Steps
Shopify’s addition of purchase‑order analytics turns a traditionally manual, spreadsheet‑heavy process into a native, real‑time insight engine. By reviewing the new reports, exporting data, and (if needed) extending your API integrations, you can tighten inventory controls, improve cash‑flow forecasting, and reduce costly stock‑outs.
Ready to dive in? Open your Shopify admin today, explore the Purchase Orders analytics, and schedule a quick team walkthrough. If you need help automating exports or building custom visualizations, reach out to a Shopify Plus partner or your development team. Happy analyzing!
