The fashion industry moves quickly, and handling purchase orders manually can lead to delays, overproduction, or missed chances. By automating this process, brands can respond swiftly to demand, cut down on waste, and keep everything organized across suppliers, collections, and channels.

This blog will introduce and review the best purchase order automation software in the market. You then have an overview of how each solution works, what makes them unique, and which one fits your business type.

Nūl

Nūl is an AI-powered platform for managing inventory and procurement for fashion and retail brands. It links data from sales, inventory, and suppliers to make the whole purchase order process automatic.

Key strengths:

• AI-led forecasting: Predicts demand at the SKU level, by style, color, and size, to create purchase orders that match real customer needs.

• Smart PO automation: Based on sales trends, lead times, and stock levels, it automatically creates and sends purchase orders to the right vendors.

• End-to-end visibility: Tracks every stage of the purchasing process, from order creation, approval, to delivery. Brands can see everything that happens with their suppliers and channels.

• Sustainability focus: Aligning buying decisions with real-time data and demand forecasts helps cut down on overproduction and waste in inventory.

Best for: Fashion and retail brands that need smarter, data-driven purchasing — especially those managing large collections, multiple channels, or global suppliers.

Nūl is an AI-powered platform for managing inventory.

Prediko

Prediko is a tool built for Shopify-based and omnichannel management brands. It has a PO management system that closely connects with demand forecasting, inventory, and supplier workflows to make buying easier.

Key strengths:

• AI recommendations: Propose how many items to buy based on real-time sales data, stock levels and lead-times, so you get the correct amount at the right time. 

• Unified PO workflow and tracking: Draft and place POs, check their statuses (Created → Ordered → Received), and keep track of them between warehouses and suppliers via the "Buying Table." 

• Supplier communication & integrations: Export or email POs to suppliers, and sync inventory receipts to Shopify (and integrated WMS like ShipHero). Your stock is so always up-to-date.

• Fashion/variant-friendly features: Accommodates SKU variants, size/colour splits, raw materials (for production brands) and supports multi-warehouse setups.

Best for: Medium-to-large D2C brands, fashion/retail brands with many SKUs and variants, or e-commerce businesses on Shopify that need more than basic inventory replenishment.

Prediko is a tool built for Shopify-based brands. (Source: Prediko)

Fabrikatör

Fabrikatör is designed to help online and direct-to-consumer brands simplify purchase orders without manual implementation. It also links the workflows for forecasting, inventory, and suppliers so you can place orders that are smarter, faster, and more accurate.

Key strengths:

• Fast PO creation & sharing: Create purchase orders in seconds, email them to your suppliers, and keep track of incoming inventory, costs, and future stock levels.

• Forecast-driven purchasing: Use sales trends, forecasts for each SKU, and reorder planning to determine when and how much to buy.

• Backorder & replenishment support: Allow customers to buy out-of-stock items while stock is en route, reducing lost sales.

• Advanced PO control & tracking: Tracking landed costs (shipping and import fees), minimum order quantity (MOQ) warnings, supplier-specific SKUs, and updates on the status of your purchase order.

• E-commerce ecosystem integrations: Integrations with Shopify/Shopify Plus, Amazon, and accounting/warehousing solutions to link POs with sales and inventory.

Best for: Brands that sell online (DTC/e-commerce), have a lot of SKUs or variations, and need to keep a closer eye on PO costs, contact with suppliers, and replenishment timing.

Fabrikatör is designed to help online and direct-to-consumer brands. (Source: Fabrikatör)

Katana MRP

Katana MRP simplifies how to buy materials and manage supplies for inventory, production and multi-channel sales. Purchasing is directly connected to real-time inventory, production needs, and sales demand.

Key strengths:

• Demand-led purchasing: Use live data from sales, inventory and production to make smart reorder suggestions. 

• Supplier & PO workflows: Set up workflows that let you create, track, and manage purchase orders (POs) with lead times, partial receiving, notifications for what's coming and what's late.

• Traceability & control: Follow each purchased item from supplier, receipt, to production and sale; track batches/serial numbers, and support audits or recalls.

• Multi-currency & multi-location support: This feature is for businesses having warehouses, storefronts, or factories in more than one place (including global suppliers).

• Integration & visibility: A unified view for inventory and production to get what’s committed, what’s arriving, what you need to order without manual effort. 

Best for: Manufacturers, firms who have a lot of inventory, or hybrid makers/resellers, especially those who sell through more than one channel (e-commerce, wholesale, and retail).

Katana MRP simplifies how to buy materials and manage supplies for inventory. (Source: Katana)

ApparelMagic

ApparelMagic is a cloud-based ERP for fashion brands, retailers, and manufacturers. Along with its core modules for design, inventory, sales, and fulfillment, it also offers powerful purchase order automation that simplifies sourcing, vendor communication, and overall purchasing workflows.

Key strengths:

• PO generation: Based on low stock, sales orders, or production demands, purchase orders are made automatically. 

• Vendor portal integration: Suppliers can log into the system, view issued POs, acknowledge orders, update shipment status, and send delivery information. 

• Trigger Logic: When stock falls below a threshold, or when sales hit a certain level, the system initiates POs, approvals, and notifies suppliers without manual tasks. 

• Multi-location, multi-channel support: Works across multiple warehouses, sales channels (wholesale, retail, e-commerce).

• Integration ecosystem: Connect with e-commerce platforms like Shopify, logistics providers, and accounting systems.

Best for: Apparel, footwear and accessory brands with variant complexity (size, colour, style) and multi-channel sales models (wholesale, DTC, retail).

ApparelMagic is a cloud-based ERP for fashion brands. (Source: ApparelMagic)

inFlow Inventory

inFlow Inventory is a full-feature platform that lets businesses keep track of their inventory, orders, sales, and purchases all in one tool. For buy order features, it makes it easier for firms to reorder items, monitor deliveries from suppliers, and control costs.

Key strengths:

• Smart restocking rules: You set “low stock” thresholds per product and location; inFlow reminds you when it’s time to reorder so you’re less likely to run out.

• Flexible ordering, location-aware: Define reorder points by location, decide whether items are direct PO orders or stock transfers between sites, which is flexible for multi-warehouse setups. 

• Purchase order approvals: Set user limits on approval workflows so that big or expensive orders get the right review before they are sent out.

• Automated cost tracking & accounting integration: Item costs update automatically (moving average, FIFO, LIFO), and you can send purchase order data straight to accounting systems like QuickBooks Online or Xero. 

Best for: Businesses that manage many SKUs and locations but want a simple PO solution instead of dealing with a complex enterprise-procurement setup.

inFlow Inventory is a full-feature platform. (Source: inFlow Inventory)

Fishbowl Inventory

Fishbowl Inventory is a comprehensive system for businesses to manage inventory, warehouses, manufacturing and purchasing workflows. Its PO automation capabilities are outstanding for controlling spend and keeping procurement aligned with real demand. 

Key strengths:

• Automatic reordering: You set reorder points, stock limits, and lead times so it can automatically create new purchase orders whenever inventory runs low.

• Connected workflows: Purchasing is fully linked with inventory, manufacturing, and sales, meaning every PO reflects real production needs and customer orders.

• Easy supplier management: Handle multiple currencies, drop-ship orders, and track vendors all in one place. You can also monitor spending and supplier performance over time.

• Smooth accounting sync: Fishbowl integrates with QuickBooks and Xero, keeping purchase orders, received goods, and costs perfectly aligned with your financial records.

Best for: Businesses with inventory and manufacturing complexity and want procurement tightly linked to operations.

Fishbowl Inventory is a comprehensive system for businesses to manage inventory. (Source: Fabrikatör)

Conclusion

Automating purchase orders isn’t just about saving time, it’s about giving fashion and retail brands better control over inventory, cash flow, and supplier performance. Each tool on this list offers a different edge, the right choice depends on your size, structure, and workflow.

The right purchase order automation software will help you buy smarter, reduce waste, and keep your operations running smoothly from sourcing to delivery. So, consider carefully before picking one.