Managing Inbounds through the Merchant Admin Portal | Portless Help Center
Managing Inbounds through the Merchant Admin Portal
Date: May 18, 2026
The Merchant Admin Portal lets you create and manage inbound shipments on your own. No need to email or coordinate with the operations team. Once an inbound is created, you can track its status and monitor inventory receiving directly in the portal.
Things to keep in mind
Automatic status updates depend on your facility. At launch, only the China non-bonded facility has full integration for automatic syncing and updates.
If your shipment is going to a different facility, you can still use the inbound creation workflow; however, the internal team will need to manually pull the data from the portal on their end.
Access to this feature is currently in beta, but there are no merchant restrictions. All merchants will eventually have full access.
This flow is applicable to you if you’re submitting your own inbounds (not for supplier-submitted inbounds). If you want your supplier to submit on your behalf, you have two options:
Submit the inbound yourself on their behalf.
Wait for a future version of the portal, which will support supplier submission directly.
How to create an inbound
Log in to the Merchant Admin Portal.
Navigate to the Inbounds section and select the New Inbound button.
Fill in the required shipment details. Watch this video for reference:
- Review the information and click the Submit Inbound button.
Once submitted, your inbound will appear in your inbound list, where you can monitor its status as it moves through the receiving process.
How to track your inbound status
Go to the Inbounds section in the portal.
Select the inbound you want to check.
View the current status and any updates on inventory receiving.
Status updates are synced automatically if your facility supports full integration.
Inbound statuses
Here's what each status means and when your inbound moves from one to the next:
| Status | What it means | When it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Pending | Your inbound has been submitted and is waiting to be processed. | Moves to Expected once the shipment is acknowledged by the Inbound Team. |
| Expected | Portless has acknowledged your inbound request | Moves to In Transit once the shipment is confirmed as on its way. |
| In Transit | Your shipment is on its way to the facility. | Moves to Received once the facility confirms it has been received. |
| Received | The facility has received your shipment and is preparing to process it. | Moves to Processing once the facility begins counting and logging inventory. |
| Processing | The facility is actively receiving and recording your inventory. | Moves to Completed once all items have been counted and logged. |
| Completed | Receiving is done. Your inventory has been recorded in the system. | Final inbound status. |
📦 Completed inbounds: For inbounds with a Completed status, you can view a per-SKU breakdown of expected vs. received quantities, including any discrepancies. Use this to quickly spot and flag receiving gaps.
Understanding discrepancies
A discrepancy appears when the quantity received by the facility does not match what you declared in your inbound. This can happen for a number of reasons:
- Items were damaged or lost in transit.
- The shipment was packed incorrectly before it left your manufacturer.
- Counting or scanning errors occurred during facility receiving.
- Some items arrived in a separate shipment.
Discrepancies don't automatically mean something went wrong on the facility's end. It's worth reviewing your shipment records before raising a concern.
What to do if you have a concern or issue
If you notice a discrepancy or have a concern about your inbound, here's what to do:
- Go to the Completed inbound in question.
- Review the per-SKU breakdown and note the specific items and quantities affected.
- Gather any supporting documents like packing lists, shipping confirmations, or photos if available.
- Reach out to the Inbounding Team through inbounding@portless.com and include the inbound reference number and details of the discrepancy. Don’t forget to loop your Customer Success Manager in.
The more detail you provide upfront, the faster the team can investigate and resolve the issue.