From a supplier’s spreadsheet to a reseller’s store, step by step
There is one catalog and three ways through it. The supplier imports a file and shares a catalog. The reseller takes that catalog to Shopify from the reseller portal and orders from it. A brand that sells its own line does both.
Nothing moves into a store on its own: every change to Shopify is an action a reseller takes in the portal.
Which side of the catalog are you on?
Each path is the real sequence of screens, in the order you will use them.
Import once. Share on your terms.
Manufacturers, brands and distributors work in the supplier app. The file you already have becomes catalogs you control, reseller by reseller.
-
Upload the file you have
CSV, XLS or XLSX, with whatever columns it already has. Headers and sample rows are read on upload, and every upload keeps its history.
-
Map columns, with AI suggestions you approve
AI proposes a catalog field for each column. You review and confirm. Column Patterns remember the mapping, so the next file from that brand arrives pre-mapped.
-
Import rules check the products
Field roles, replacements, validations, exclusions and defaults run on import. Products, prices, inventory and discontinued flags then live on one record you can edit.
-
Build catalogs with rules
One file plus one rule set is a catalog. Include, exclude and price-adjustment rules shape it; rebuild, check images and preview the JSON. Health is worked out live.
-
Share with resellers or on the marketplace
Invite resellers by email or spreadsheet and tick the catalogs each one sees, or list a catalog on the marketplace and approve or deny each access request.
Prices, inventory and discontinued items change later without a re-import: upload a sheet with only the SKUs that changed, and catalogs rebuild.
The supplier side in detailApproved data in.
A current Shopify store out.
Retailers and ecommerce teams work in the reseller portal, with one login for every supplier that approved them.
-
Get access
A supplier invites you, with a magic-link login, or you request a listed catalog on the marketplace and the supplier approves. Every approved catalog appears in one portal.
-
Connect Shopify
Connect a store with a Dev Dashboard app, following guided scopes with a copy button, or with an existing custom-app token. More than one store is fine.
-
Send products
Tick products, paste SKUs, or send a whole catalog that keeps up with new items. Match my store first, so existing listings are updated rather than duplicated. Products arrive active or as drafts.
-
Maintain with Update attributes and Update images
Refresh only the fields you choose, such as price, compare-at, cost or description, on products you already have. Replace all images, add what is missing, or swap only the images InventaCloud added.
-
Order and message
Search every orderable catalog, build a purchase order and submit it. The supplier acknowledges, fulfils or denies with a reason, with a thread per order and one per supplier.
Supplier changes show up as Updated and Discontinued badges in the portal. Your store changes only when you run a send or an update.
The reseller side in detailSelling your own line? Be both sides.
Sending to Shopify is always a reseller-portal action, so a brand that sells its own products uses the supplier app and the portal in turn.
-
Upload your spreadsheet in the supplier app
The same upload, mapping and import rules as any supplier. Your products, prices and images end up on one record each.
-
Build a catalog
One file plus one rule set. Keep the rules simple if the catalog is only for you, or add price rules if you also share it with dealers.
-
Invite yourself as a reseller
Invite your own email as a reseller and tick the catalog. That account opens the reseller portal with your catalog in it.
-
Use the portal’s Shopify tools
Connect your store, send products, and later run Update attributes or Update images when your catalog changes.
One workspace, two roles. The supplier app keeps the catalog; the portal keeps the store.
How the Shopify workflow worksSuggestions you approve. Rules you can read. An assistant that only answers.
- Mapping suggestions. AI reads your headers and proposes a catalog field for each column. Nothing is imported until you confirm the mapping.
- Reusable mappings. Column Patterns and AI mapping rules are saved per brand, so the first upload teaches and later uploads arrive pre-mapped, with aliases you can edit.
- Import rules. Field roles, replacements, validations, exclusions and defaults run on every import, per brand or account-wide, and you can see what they changed.
- AI File Builder. Turns any spreadsheet into a file ready to import. The AI writes a plan you check against a preview of the first rows, and writes only the columns that need writing, such as titles and descriptions, from the facts in each row. How it works
- Ask Inventa. A read-only assistant that answers questions about your catalogs and products, by SKU, and explains the screens. It never changes data.
Prefer to watch? Start with the dashboard.
Short tutorials recorded on the real product, one screen per video. The player loads only when you press play.
Related written guides
Before you start
Do I need to reformat my spreadsheet before uploading it?
No. Upload the CSV, XLS or XLSX file with the columns it already has. Headers and sample rows are read on upload, AI suggests a catalog field for each column, and you approve the mapping. Column Patterns remember it, so the next file from that brand arrives pre-mapped.
Does the supplier publish products to Shopify?
No. Sending products to a Shopify store is done in the reseller portal by the reseller who owns the store. A supplier that sells its own line invites itself as a reseller, shares the catalog with that account, and uses the portal’s Shopify tools.
What happens in a reseller’s store when the supplier changes the catalog?
Nothing changes in Shopify on its own. The reseller portal shows Updated and Discontinued badges read live from the supplier. The reseller then runs Update attributes or Update images on the products they choose, or sends new products. Discontinued items always arrive as drafts.
How does a reseller get access to a catalog?
Either the supplier invites the reseller by email or spreadsheet, with a magic-link login and a checklist of catalogs the reseller may see, or the reseller requests a catalog from the supplier’s marketplace listing and the supplier approves or denies the request.
See the supplier app module by module
Catalog files, mapping and import rules, product data, images, resellers and the marketplace, in the order the app presents them.
The Shopify workflow in detail
Connecting a store, matching by brand and SKU, sending, updating attributes and images, and what Store activity and Send history show.
Walk the supplier path on your own file
In a demo we map your file, build one catalog with one rule, share it, and show what a reseller sees in the portal. Or start a 14-day free trial and try the same steps yourself.