Email orders#

Email is often the safest first channel because customers can keep sending purchase orders the same way. StackCube turns the message body and attachments into review candidates.

How Email Intake Works#

Email intake receives messages sent to a workspace order address, records the raw event in intake history, matches the customer, and creates a pending order candidate in the order list.

Basic flow:

1. Confirm the workspace order receiving address in Channels.
2. The customer or operations team sends an order email to that address.
3. StackCube checks recipient fields, copied recipients, forwarding traces, subject, body, and attachments to route the email to the right workspace.
4. The raw event is saved in intake history.
5. StackCube matches the customer from sender or customer data.
6. StackCube analyzes body text and attachments, then creates a review candidate in the order list.

Approval is not automatic. Email intake creates candidates; reviewers still confirm customer, items, quantity, pricing, and duplicates before approval.

What StackCube reads#

StackCube can process:

• Plain email body text
• PDF purchase orders
• Excel order forms
• Attached spreadsheets with line items
• Buyer notes in the email thread

Ways to Add the Order Address#

Customers do not have to start a brand-new email directly to StackCube. Use the pattern that best fits your current workflow.

For rollout, CC or automatic forwarding is often the lowest-friction option. Customers can keep the same recipient while StackCube receives the same message for review.

Manual forwarding also works, but the visible sender may become the internal forwarder. If customer matching is not automatic, confirm the customer in intake history or the order list and add recurring sender addresses to the customer profile.

When using automatic forwarding, test that the original subject, body, and attachments are preserved. Mail systems leave forwarding traces differently, so review intake history for the first few days.

To keep your current order mailbox during rollout, start with the email forwarding guide.

Setup steps#

1. Choose the inbox or forwarding address that receives purchase orders.
2. Choose direct send, CC, manual forwarding, automatic forwarding, or mailbox integration as the starting path.
3. Decide whether to forward all orders or only selected customers.
4. Add customer email addresses and aliases.
5. Upload or confirm the item catalog.
6. Send test purchase orders and compare intake history and order extraction results.

If StackCube should read an existing mailbox directly, configure provider, email address, username, app password, IMAP host, port, folder, and sync interval in Channels. After connecting, run Sync and confirm the test email appears in intake history.

See channel settings and intake history for the full list of connection fields.

Customer Matching#

Email intake usually matches the customer from the sender email address. Keep buyer emails current in customer records so matching stays reliable.

Review is needed when:

• A customer orders from a new buyer address.
• An operations teammate forwards the message and appears as the sender.
• Multiple customers are forwarded from one shared inbox.
• The subject and attachment are present but the body has little customer context.

Do not treat unknown senders as approved orders. Confirm the customer in intake history or the order list, then add recurring valid senders to the customer profile.

Manual Intake for Existing Mail#

For already received mail or test messages, use Manual registration in the order list and choose the Manual email tab. Paste the email body and add attachments so the source stays with the candidate in the same review queue.

Review rules#

Email orders should require review when the sender is unknown, the attachment format is new, the same email appears duplicated, or pricing does not match the item default or customer tier rule.

Good rollout pattern#

Begin by adding StackCube as CC or setting automatic forwarding while the current process stays unchanged. After reviewers trust the queue, use StackCube as the primary intake screen.

During the first week, review intake history daily for missing sender mappings, incorrect customer matches, and recurring attachment formats. Email intake avoids customer process change, but it becomes reliable faster when sender and catalog data are cleaned up early.