Drop Shipping in Odoo Sales and Inventory#
Drop shipping lets you sell products without holding inventory - your supplier ships directly to your customer. You purchase from the supplier and sell to the customer, but the goods never pass through your warehouse.
Enabling Drop Shipping#
Inventory → Configuration → Settings → enable Dropshipping.
This creates a "Dropship" route in Odoo's routing system.
Configuring a Product for Drop Shipping#
Product → Inventory tab → Routes:
- Enable Dropship
- Vendor: select the drop-ship supplier
When a sale order includes this product, Odoo automatically creates a purchase order to the vendor - with the customer's delivery address as the shipping destination.
Sale Order → Auto PO Flow#
- Confirm the sale order
- Odoo creates a Purchase Order to the vendor:
- Quantity = sale order quantity
- Delivery address = customer address (not your warehouse)
- Vendor receives the PO and ships to the customer
- You confirm receipt in Odoo (optional - or auto-confirm when vendor validates)
- Customer delivery is auto-confirmed when the vendor shipment is validated
Confirming Drop-Ship Delivery#
When the vendor ships:
- Vendor sends shipping confirmation (or you receive a tracking number)
- Purchase → [PO] → Receipts → Validate (with quantity = shipped quantity)
- Odoo marks the customer delivery as done simultaneously
Alternatively, the vendor can confirm directly via a vendor portal (if enabled).
Invoicing in Drop Shipping#
- Invoice the customer: normally, from the confirmed sale order
- Vendor bill: received from the vendor for the drop-ship quantity
The margin = your customer price − your vendor cost.
Mixed Orders (Some Drop-Ship, Some Stocked)#
A single sale order can have:
- Product A: drop-ship (shipped by vendor)
- Product B: from your warehouse stock
Odoo handles both routes simultaneously:
- Product A → creates a PO to the vendor with customer delivery address
- Product B → creates a delivery order from your warehouse
Two separate deliveries reach the customer.
Tracking Drop-Ship Orders#
Purchase → Orders → Orders → filter by Destination Address: customer addresses (not your warehouse) → these are all active drop-ship POs.
Or tag drop-ship orders with an analytic account for margin analysis by fulfillment method.