Supplier marketplace

Switching it on

Open Modules and switch on Supplier marketplace; the same switch is on its Back-office money tab. It needs a plan that includes stock. The page then appears in the menu under Menu & stock.

Your suppliers on the portal

The Your suppliers tab lists the suppliers you added on the stock page. A supplier on the portal receives your purchase orders there; any other supplier keeps getting them by email.

• Invite to the portal sends them a link to sign up. It works for 14 days and once only. When they join, they serve you on the portal and can publish their catalogue.
• Find suppliers lists the suppliers BookNDish has listed for everyone, in your currency. Order from this supplier adds them to your suppliers at once.

You can stop ordering from a supplier on the portal at any time. Your past orders and prices stay.

Linking products to your ingredients

Open a supplier's catalogue. For each product, choose which of your ingredients it is, and how many of your stock units one pack holds: a 25 kg sack of flour is 25 for flour counted in kilos, a case of 24 bottles is 24 for a drink counted in pieces. When a product's name matches one of your ingredients, a suggestion is shown.

Linking does two things:

• the Compare prices tab lines up the same ingredient across suppliers, per kilo, litre or piece, with the cheapest marked and the gap to the dearest;
• Suggest order on the purchase orders page now uses the supplier's own pack sizes, prices and delivery days. When the supplier changes a price in the portal, your suggestions follow.

Ordering

Pick the number of packs on the catalogue page and choose Draft purchase order. The order waits on the purchase orders page, expected on the supplier's next delivery day, for you to check and send like any other. If the total is below the supplier's minimum order, the page says so.

When you send a purchase order to a supplier on the portal, it appears there in packs, as the supplier sells them. The Orders tab shows where each one stands: waiting, confirmed with a delivery date, refused with a reason, delivered or invoiced. A confirmed delivery date becomes the order's expected date.

Invoices

The supplier invoices the order from the portal, changing a quantity or a price where the delivery differed. The invoice arrives on your invoices page already read, one line per ingredient, and Match invoice sets it beside the order and what you received. Lines where the price or quantity moved more than your threshold are flagged, as for any invoice you photograph.

For suppliers

Suppliers sign in at /supplier. They see only their own catalogue, the venues they serve and those venues' orders. A supplier that signs up on its own is listed in the directory once BookNDish has checked it; venues that invite it can order straight away.