A proposal is a list of items that a supplier submits directly to a retailer partner through the fabric Dropship Platform.

When one of your connected suppliers submits a proposal, you receive an email notification that a new list of items are submitted. You can then review the items before accepting and approving.

Proposal statuses

The status of a newly submitted proposal shows as Proposed. The following table describes the various proposal statuses.

StatusDescription
Requires ApprovalIndicates the supplier has submitted the proposal for the retailer’s review and approval.
Waiting for SupplierIndicates the proposal is sent back to the supplier for additional revisions to product data.
Needs Pricing ApprovalIndicates that the proposal requires an approval for pricing or product data.
Pricing ApprovedIndicates that the proposal requires a second approval before it’s ready for publishing.
Ready to PublishIndicates the proposal is approved and is ready for publishing.
CompletedIndicates that the proposal is complete.
DeclinedIndicates the proposal is declined, along with a reason. However,the reasons for declining may vary.

Proposal types

There are three types of proposals:

  • New item proposals: These proposals contain new items that aren’t currently available on your site.
  • Cost update proposals: Suppliers submit these proposals to update the previously approved wholesale cost of items.
  • Attribute update proposals: Suppliers submit these proposals to change product details, including images and descriptions, of already approved items.

All proposals are reviewed and approved with the same process outlined below.

Managing proposals

To manage new item proposals, cost update proposals, and attribute update proposals, navigate to the Products page and select Proposals, located in the Curate section of the Products page.

On the Assortment Proposals page, Click Requires Approval to pull up a list of all recently submitted proposals.

The Requires Approval page lists all submitted proposals awaiting action. On this page, you can view the following details:

  • Proposal ID.
  • The name of the supplier who submitted the proposal.
  • The name of the proposal, which includes the department name.
  • The total items added to the proposal.
  • The date when the proposal was submitted.
  • The status of the proposal.

To review a proposal from the list, click the blue link in the proposal ID column to access the individual Proposal Detail page.

Using the Proposal Menu on the Proposal Detail page, you can review the items on the proposal at both the product level and the item level.

  • To view items on the product level, click products under the Proposal Menu.
  • To view items on the item level, click pricing under the Proposal Menu.

Removing Items

To reject items or entire products from a proposal that aren’t relevant to the agreed upon assortment, you can remove by:

  • Select the items or products under the designated view (pricing or products).
  • Click Actions.
  • Select Remove Products.

Sending Items Back to a Supplier

If a supplier needs to revise a proposal, create an issue for each item, detailing the reason for sending it back and setting the expectation for the required changes.

Creating an issue

Select an item or product under the designated view (pricing or products).

Click Actions.

Click Create Issue.

  • Add an Issue Title. For example, Images.
  • Add an Issue explanation. For example, images provided are broken, please provide new ones.

Once all issues have been created on the proposal, return to the summary screen using the proposal menu and click Return.

Approving Proposals

  1. When you are ready to approve the reviewed items, return to the summary screen using the proposal menu and click Approve.

  2. Once the proposal is approved, it’s moved to the Ready to Publish section of the Assortment Proposals page.

  3. Click on the Ready to Publish section to pull up a list of approved proposals containing the items that are ready to be published on your site.

  4. To pull up a proposal from the list, click the blue link in the proposal ID column to access the Proposal Detail page.

  5. Click Approve Products.

    When approving, a new window opens, asking the following:

    • Do you also want to publish the products on this proposal to an external platform.
  6. Select one of the following:

    • Yes. Continue the steps below.
    • No, just mark this proposal as approved. Skip to step 10.
  7. Using the Platform field, select the platform where you want to publish the product.

  8. Using the Template field, select the preferred template for publishing products.

  9. To complete the process and remove the proposal from the Ready to Publish section, click Mark as Complete!.

Marking the proposal as complete moves the proposal to the Completed section on the main Proposals page.

Once the items from the proposal are added to your site you can begin receiving orders for those items.