From sales order to
supplier purchase order
Zero clicks, with brakes built in: merchantCENTRAL Trading compares the offers of every connected supplier connector for each sales order, buys from the supplier with the lowest total cost and drop-ships straight to your customer – secured by safety gates, approvals and an emergency stop.
How does automated sourcing work in Business Central?
merchantCENTRAL Trading is a module for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Cloud) built on the merchantCENTRAL hub. For every sales order – for example from a marketplace import – it compares the offers of all connected supplier connectors (ITscope, Jarltech, Ingram Micro, BlueStar and more) across the whole order and picks the source of supply by total landed cost: goods + freight + insurance − discount. The linked drop-shipment purchase order goes to the supplier, who delivers directly to your customer. Trading calls no external services – it works with the offer data your supplier connectors already maintain in Business Central.
The complete drop-shipment process – from order to invoice
Source-of-supply selection, purchase order creation, transmission, feedback channel and invoice matching – one module covers the entire dropshipping cycle.
Zero clicks to the purchase order
The manual routine – opening portals, comparing prices, retyping orders – disappears entirely. From marketplace order to finished supplier purchase order, not a single click is required.
The lowest total cost
Trading compares landed cost across the whole order: goods + freight + insurance − discount. The cheapest supplier wins – not the familiar one.
Drop shipment built in
The purchase order is linked to the sales order and the supplier delivers directly to your customer – posting the goods receipt posts the customer shipment along with it.
The complete feedback channel
Order confirmation, tracking, goods receipt and serial numbers flow back from the supplier into the document automatically – you always know where the shipment stands.
Automatic invoice matching
Three-way match: supplier invoices are checked against the ordered value. If everything adds up, they pass through – only overruns are reported.
Approval folder as a worklist
Whatever a gate holds back collects in one place: oldest first, with waiting time and current price drift. You are notified only about blocked runs – no e-mail spam.
Automation is a ladder, not a switch
Each level does everything the one below it does, plus one step more – you only climb once the log shows the decisions are right. The gates apply on every level, and the emergency stop blocks any transmission instantly.
| Level | Decides & logs | Creates purchase order | Transmits to supplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off | – | – | – |
| Simulate | Yes | – | – |
| Create order | Yes | Yes | – |
| Transmit after approval | Yes | Yes | after your approval |
| Fully automatic | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Five purchasing gates. Plus one risk gate.
Each gate checks one limit, each can be enabled individually – and each leaves its own readable result in the log. No blanket “rejected”.
Minimum margin
No sale below your minimum margin: if an order falls under the required margin, the run stops – with the calculated value in the log.
Price deviation on transmit
If the price at transmission time deviates from the simulated offer, the run is held – instead of silently buying at a higher price.
Offer age
Stale offer data – for example after a failed import – never leads to blind orders at yesterday’s prices.
Order value limit
Unusually large orders always wait for a person – no matter how good the margin looks.
Daily limit per supplier
Caps the ordering volume per vendor and day – the insurance against faulty data draining a budget before anyone reads a notification.
Risk gate against order fraud
New customers buying on account without a trust signal – a trusted payment method such as PayPal or prepayment, a marketplace guarantee, or a history of paid invoices – are held instead of supplied: the built-in prepayment workflow. Plus a blocklist for e-mail domains, e-mail addresses and ship-to addresses from real fraud cases.
Every decision comes with a log
For every run you see which suppliers were checked, who won – and why the others did not. Every order that was not placed is in the sourcing log too, with its reason.
Automated supplier purchase orders – FAQ
How does Trading pick the supplier?
By the landed cost of the whole order: goods + freight + insurance − discount. The lowest total across all connected supplier connectors wins – not the familiar supplier and not the lowest unit price of a single line.
Do I have to go fully automatic right away?
No. Automation is a ladder: Simulate → Create order → Transmit after approval → Fully automatic. Each level can be enabled individually, the safety gates apply on every level, and an emergency stop blocks any transmission instantly.
How does Trading protect against order fraud?
The risk gate holds new customers buying on account without a trust signal instead of supplying them – the built-in prepayment workflow. Trust signals are a trusted payment method such as PayPal or prepayment, a marketplace guarantee, or a history of paid invoices. On top of that there is a blocklist for e-mail domains, e-mail addresses and ship-to addresses from real fraud cases.
What happens after the order is placed?
The feedback channel takes over: order confirmation, tracking, goods receipt and serial numbers flow back into the document automatically. The supplier invoice is checked against the ordered value with a three-way match – only overruns are reported.
How do I keep track of held orders?
In the approval folder: a worklist with the oldest runs first, the time they have been waiting, and the current price drift. You are notified only about blocked runs – no e-mail for every successful one.
Does Trading require the Price Engine?
No. Both evaluate supplier offers, but for different purposes: the Price Engine calculates sales prices in advance, Trading picks the source of supply at the moment of the sales order. They complement each other but neither requires the other.
What are the requirements?
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Cloud (version 28 or later), the free merchantCENTRAL hub, and at least one supplier connector with offer import – for example ITscope, Jarltech, Ingram Micro or BlueStar. Licensing is per company, a demo is available.
Is Trading already available on Microsoft AppSource?
Not yet – the Microsoft AppSource release is in preparation. Until then we are happy to show you Trading in person: get in touch and request a demo.
Manual & online help
The complete user manual as a PDF – from initial setup through automation levels and safety gates to invoice matching. The online help is always up to date and available right from Business Central.
User manual (PDF)
Initial setup, automation levels, safety gates, approval folder, sourcing log, feedback channel and invoice matching – explained step by step.
Online help
Help pages for every page of the module – available in Business Central via the question-mark menu, always up to date.
Get to know Trading – before it lands on AppSource
The Microsoft AppSource release is in preparation. Request a demo – we will show you Trading with your suppliers and guide the setup from simulation to full automation.