The approval workflow is what your admins use day-to-day to process vendor applications. Designing it well keeps throughput high while maintaining quality.
The Queue View
The pending applications page is a sortable, filterable list. Useful filters:
- By status (pending, in review, needs info).
- By age (longer than 5 days is a service-level risk).
- By assigned reviewer.
- By application source (organic, referred, ad campaign).
Per-Application View
Click an application to see all submitted data, attached documents, KYC results (if integrated), sample listings, and a notes field. Buttons: Approve, Decline, Request more info, Reassign.
Approval Side-Effects
When you click Approve:
- A new vendor account is provisioned.
- The applicant's user is added to the Vendor security group.
- Welcome email with login link is sent.
- Stripe Connect onboarding link generated (if payouts via Connect).
- Audit log records who approved and when.
Decline Reasons and Reapplication
Define common decline reasons in Site Settings → eCommerce → Vendor Applications → Reasons. Each reason can be linked to a template paragraph in the decline email. Optionally allow reapplication after N days for less-severe reasons.
Worked Examples
- Same-day approvals: Automate where KYC passes and product samples score above threshold; manual queue only for edge cases.
- Curated marketplace: Editorial reviews each application in a 30-minute slot; tags applications with brand-fit notes.
- High-volume B2B: Tier-based — small applications auto-approved, larger ones routed to senior reviewers.
- Compliance-heavy: Two-stage — compliance officer approves, then commercial team approves.