What is the Supplier Portal?
The supplier portal is all about simplifying communication between traders and suppliers. It allows suppliers to login to the Explorate app, and easily access approved purchase order details like item names, SKU numbers, quantities etc.
When you enable the supplier portal, you also unlock our upgraded purchase order management tool!
👉 Want to learn more about purchase order management? Click here
👉 Curious about the Supplier Portal? Email us at support@explorate.co for a free trial.
Quick Terms to Know
Before we dive into the details, there are a couple of roles to understand:
Trader: If you're an importer using the Explorate app, this is you.
Supplier: If you supply goods to a trader, you’re a supplier.
How to Navigate This Article
We recommend that you give this article a read from start to finish, but if you belong to only one of the above roles feel free to jump into your sections from here:
For Traders
Here’s What You Can Do
Invite suppliers to the portal and manage their access.
Adjust how much visibility they have over your purchase orders.
Invite as many suppliers as you need and give each of them customised access.
Suppliers you invite will only have access to the information you choose to share. You maintain full control over their permission levels and can revoke access at any time.
Connect a Supplier Company
Go to the directory tab.
Choose an existing supplier or add a new one.
Click on the 🔑 icon (showing which parties are eligible for connections).
If the supplier already exists:
Select it from the drop down.
Select module
Assign permissions.
If the supplier doesn’t exist:
Enter a name and press enter to create it.
Add their contact info (email, phone, first and last name).
Assign permissions.
Once linked, the directory tab will show the updated connection status.
💡 Here's how permissions work:
You can assign permission levels to specific modules (i.e. purchase orders):
Creator: Full access, including the ability to read, update, create, and delete.
Collaborator: Limited access, with permissions to read and update only.
Viewer: Read-only access.
Manage Connections
As a trader, the connections tab is your hub for managing all outgoing connections.
What You Can Do
View Access: Check out who has access and what level.
Delete Connections: Remove connections you no longer need.
For Suppliers
Manage Connections
The connections tab serves as a central hub for suppliers to manage incoming connections. Here, suppliers can accept, decline, or delegate permissions granted by traders.
Accepting a connection: Accepting a connection is only the first step. Then, you must delegate permission to specific users within your supplier company.
Delegating permissions: Until permissions are delegated, no users in the supplier company, including yourself, will have access to the features granted by the trader.
Delegate Permissions
Invite Users
This section allows you to select and invite existing users from your supplier company using a drop-down menu.
Once invited, these users will appear in the users with permissions section.
Managers have the flexibility to remove individual users or all users at any time.
General Permissions
General permissions can be set to create default permission levels for all users within a supplier company. This is useful for suppliers with many users or those looking to assign standardised permission levels for all users.
Permission levels can be updated at any time, and changes here will automatically apply to all users.
💡Tip
Want to know more? Send us a message now or email us at support@explorate.co