You import from overseas factories. You sell on Shopify and to wholesale accounts. The goods live in your warehouse, or a 3PL's. If that sentence describes your company, this page describes your system: AIMS360 runs the factory purchase orders, the landed cost, the receiving, and one inventory number that Shopify and wholesale both sell from, with EDI and QuickBooks in the same platform.
An apparel importer needs software that starts working before the goods exist. Inventory tools start counting when stock hits the shelf; an importer's money is committed months earlier, on a factory PO for goods that still have an ocean to cross. AIMS360 covers the whole span: vendor purchase orders with the full style, color and size breakdown, visibility into what is on the water, true landed cost per unit, receiving against the PO, and then one inventory that Shopify, wholesale and EDI retailers all sell from.
Brands land on this page saying some version of these sentences. Two or three is enough.
A vendor purchase order with the full style, color and size breakdown, costs, terms and ship dates. Purchasing can even start itself, from demand forecasts or customer pre-orders.
Work in process and import tracking: what is in production, what is on the water, ship notices, expected dates.
Freight, duty, brokerage and fees roll into landed cost per unit, so the $8 blouse that really costs $11 gets priced like an $11 blouse.
The warehouse checks cartons in against what was ordered, so shortages surface on day one, not at the season's end.
Shopify, wholesale and EDI retailers all draw from the same pool, and orders can reserve goods that have not landed yet.
Invoices, vendor PO billing and commissions sync two ways with QuickBooks, so accounting sees what operations did without re-keying.
Most importers start by searching for inventory management, because inventory is where the pain shows up: counts that disagree, channels overselling each other, spreadsheets that drift. And an inventory tool does help with that part. But look at where an importer's problems actually begin: months before the goods exist. The money is committed on a factory PO. The cost is not final until freight and duty land. The selling season starts while the goods are still on the water. Inventory software cannot see any of that, because there is no inventory yet to manage.
That is the honest difference. Inventory management tracks what you have. An ERP tracks what you committed to, what it will really cost, when it arrives, and what you have, in one system. For a brand that buys domestically and sells one channel, an inventory tool can be enough. For an importer selling Shopify plus wholesale, the purchasing side is not optional, and bolting an inventory app to a spreadsheet of POs is how margins quietly leak.
The practical test: if freight, tariffs, factory deposits or goods on the water affect your decisions, you have ERP problems, whatever software category you have been searching in.
The importer who sells Shopify plus wholesale lives with a specific fear: one channel overselling the other. AIMS360 removes the reason it happens. Shopify inventory and orders sync in real time, wholesale and B2B orders work from the same pool, and because purchase orders and work in process are visible with dates, orders can reserve stock or incoming production. Shopify stays your storefront; AIMS360 is the operations layer feeding it one trustworthy number.
When a department store or big box chain shows up, the same system speaks EDI, with 350+ retailer connections, chargeback management and compliant labels, no second EDI vendor. And if wholesale reps or platforms like JOOR or Shopify B2B write your orders, they order against live availability.
An importer's real unit cost is the factory price plus everything the ocean adds: freight, duty, brokerage, insurance, fees. AIMS360 calculates the true landed cost of every import, per unit, per shipment, so pricing and margin reports by style, customer and channel are built on what goods actually cost. The deeper explanation lives on the vendor purchase orders page.
On the accounting side, invoices, vendor PO billing and sales rep commissions sync two ways with QuickBooks Online, Desktop and Enterprise, so your accountant keeps the ledger they know. And if you factor receivables to fund production, order approvals and invoice assignments flow to factoring partners from the same system.
With your own building, AIMS360 is the warehouse system: receiving against the PO, bin locations, barcodes and scanning, pick tickets and counts. With a 3PL, AIMS360 stays the system of record and exchanges the warehouse documents with your provider. Run both at once and inventory stays one pool with visibility per location, which is what keeps the Shopify number honest while cartons move.
One system that covers the full arc: factory purchase orders with style, color and size detail, visibility into goods on the water, landed cost per unit, receiving into your warehouse or 3PL, one inventory across Shopify and wholesale, and accounting sync. Splitting that across an inventory app, spreadsheets and a separate EDI vendor is where importers lose margin and sleep.
Usually not, and the reason is timing. Inventory tools start working when goods hit the shelf. An importer's money is committed months earlier on factory POs, and the real cost is not known until freight and duty land. If purchase orders, landed cost and goods on the water matter to your decisions, you need an ERP; inventory tracking comes included in it.
Freight, duty, brokerage, insurance and fees are rolled into the true per-unit cost of every import, per shipment. Margin reports by style, customer and channel then build on actual cost instead of the factory quote.
Yes. Purchase orders and work in process make incoming goods visible with expected dates, and orders can reserve stock or incoming production. That is how importers fill pre-orders and early wholesale bookings without overselling.
Both sell from the same inventory pool inside AIMS360. Shopify inventory and orders sync in real time, wholesale and B2B orders draw from the same number, and incoming production is visible to both, so neither channel oversells the other.
Not until a retailer requires it, and then immediately. Department stores and big box chains transact by EDI, and their first purchase order usually comes with a compliance deadline. AIMS360 has EDI built in with 350+ retailer connections, so saying yes to that retailer does not mean buying a second system.
Yes, two-way sync with QuickBooks Online, Desktop and Enterprise: invoices, vendor PO billing and sales rep commissions. Operations run in the ERP, your accountant keeps QuickBooks.
The workflow stays the same; the receiving dock changes. AIMS360 remains the system of record for POs, landed cost, inventory and orders, and exchanges warehouse documents with your 3PL. Brands that run a warehouse plus a 3PL keep one inventory pool with visibility per location.
Yes, and it is common. Vendor purchase orders cover finished goods and raw materials, and they link to cut tickets for domestic production, so imported and made-here styles share one purchasing flow, one inventory and one set of books.
AIMS360 implementation is guided by an in-house team, typically three to sixteen weeks depending on your data and channels, with a named implementation manager who configures the system around how your brand runs and stays on your account after go-live.
Last reviewed 9 August 2026 by the AIMS360 product team.
Reviewed against the published AIMS360 purchasing, inventory, Shopify, EDI and QuickBooks documentation linked above. The importer profile describes a common operating pattern; your own configuration is set during implementation.
Even if your purchase orders live in a spreadsheet today. We will walk one real PO from entry to the water to landed cost to received, and show you what your Shopify store and wholesale team would see at every step.
