Overview
The Bulk Order by Variant page lets you build, review, and create purchase orders for up to 30 master SKUs in a single session. Shared order details are set once and copied onto every PO the session creates — each master still becomes its own purchase order.
Prerequisites: Your account must have both Grid Templates and the Bulk Order by Variant feature enabled. Contact your Luminous administrator if you do not see the Bulk order by variant button on the Purchase Orders list.
Step 1 — Order details and master SKUs
Set order details
- On the Purchase Orders list, click Bulk order by variant.
- In the Order details panel, fill in:
- Supplier (required)
- Order date (required)
- Payment terms (required)
- Incoterm (required)
- Destination Warehouse, Requested Ship date, Arrival due date, and separate Public Notes/Private Notes (both optional)
- Click Done. The panel collapses to a summary to give the buy sheet more screen space. Click Edit any time to reopen it.
Supplier defaults: if a supplier has a default payment term, warehouse, or logistics code configured, those fields are pre-filled when you select it.
Add master SKUs
You can seed master SKUs three ways — mix and match as needed:
| Method | How |
|---|---|
| Search | Type a SKU or product name in the search box and click a result. |
| Paste | Paste a list of SKUs (separated by newlines, commas, semicolons, or tabs) into the paste box and click Add these. |
| CSV upload | Click Download template to get a CSV shaped to your current buy, fill in quantities, and upload it. |
Each master is resolved immediately after it is added. Rejected SKUs are listed with the reason (for example, "Already in this buy" or "SKU not found").
Enter quantities
For each master you can:
- Type a total in the Total quantity field. Luminous spreads it across variants automatically using the master's size curve (largest-remainder integer arithmetic — the grid always sums exactly to your total).
- Edit cells directly in the matrix. Any hand-edit switches that master to manual mode; the typed total becomes a comparison target rather than an instruction.
Size curve selection:
- If a template is pinned to the master, that template is used.
- If not, the account default template is used (when its axes match the SKU).
- You can override the curve per master using the dropdown on each master panel — only curves compatible with that master's variant axes appear.
- If no curve matches at all, the master falls back to an even split across its children.
- Click New size curve on a master panel to create a curve without leaving the page. The new curve is immediately offered on every other compatible master in the buy.
Two-axis masters (e.g. color × size) each show their own grid matrix. Single-axis masters (e.g. size only) appear together in a shared flat buy sheet.
Session limit: A buy holds at most 30 master SKUs. The session is held in the browser only — a page refresh loses it. Split very large buys across two sessions.
Advance to Review
The Review N purchase orders button becomes active once:
- All required order details are filled in.
- At least one master has a quantity greater than zero.
- The session is within the cell budget.
A plain-language message below the button explains exactly what is still missing if it is disabled.
Step 2 — Review
The review screen shows every master with its line count, total units, and estimated value (based on each child SKU's supplier price, falling back to any unit cost you entered in the CSV).
Warnings shown here:
- Unpriced lines — the child SKU has no supplier price and no CSV cost hint. You can still proceed and enter prices on the PO afterwards.
- Non-inventory-tracked SKUs — those lines will be silently dropped when the PO saves. Remove them or address them before committing.
- Total mismatch — a master's typed total no longer matches its grid (only possible if you edited cells manually). This is a warning, not a block.
Click Back to return to the build step and make changes.
Step 3 — Create
Click Create purchase orders. Luminous creates one purchase order per master, reporting status for each:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Creating | In progress |
| Created | PO created successfully — click the row to open it |
| Queued | PO is being created in the background (large line-item count) — check back shortly |
| Failed | Creation failed — a message explains why |
If any masters fail, click Retry failed to re-run only those. Masters already marked Created are never re-sent.
Click Done when finished to return to the Purchase Orders list.
CSV upload format
Download the template from the build step — it is generated from the masters already on the sheet, so the quantity columns match each master's own variant values.
| Column | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Master SKU | Yes | The master/style SKU |
| Total Quantity | No | Spread across the curve; ignored if cell columns are present |
| Grid Template | No | Name of a curve to prefer for this master |
| Unit Cost | No | Fallback price when the child SKU has no supplier price |
| Qty[S], Qty[M], … | No | Per-variant quantities (single axis) |
| Qty[Navy][S], … | No | Per-variant quantities (two axes: row then column) |
Bare axis values (S, M) are also accepted as column headers — no Qty[…] wrapper required.