Buyer quick start

This guide covers everything you need to get started as a buyer on LinkXG. By the end, you will have an active account, invited your first suppliers, and understand how to access supplier data and trace your supply chain.

​

What buyers use LinkXG for

Buyers use LinkXG to answer questions that are otherwise difficult or time-consuming:

• What is the provenance of the inputs to this product?
• Where are we exposed to a particular region, commodity, or supplier?
• Can we substantiate sustainability or origin claims at product level?
• Which suppliers have the certifications we require?

LinkXG consolidates supplier data into one place, structured consistently, with the ability to trace what goes into the products you buy — potentially through multiple tiers back to raw materials.

---

​

Create your account

Go to app.linkxg.com and select “Sign up”. You will be asked for:

• Your name
• Your work email
• A password

​

Verify your email

Check your inbox for a verification email and click the link to confirm your address.

​

Tell us your intent

Select “Buyer” when asked how you will use LinkXG. This routes you to the right starting point. If you are both a buyer from some companies and a supplier to others, you can select both. For now, we will focus on the buyer workflow.

​

Set up your company

Search for your company by name. If it already exists on LinkXG (perhaps a colleague joined first), you can request to join that existing account. If your company is new to LinkXG, you will create it by providing:

• Company legal name
• Country
• Website domain

---

​

Your first task: invite suppliers

LinkXG only becomes valuable once your suppliers are connected. Your first task is to invite them.

​

Go to Suppliers

From the main navigation, select Suppliers, then Invite suppliers.

​

Add suppliers

You can add suppliers in three ways: Manual entry — Add suppliers one at a time by entering their company name and a contact email address. CSV upload — Upload a spreadsheet with supplier names and contact emails. The platform will guide you through column mapping. API integration — Push supplier data from your internal systems via the API (for larger deployments). For each supplier, you provide:

• Supplier company name
• Contact email address
• Optional: a short note explaining why you are requesting them (this appears in their invitation)

​

Review and send

Before sending, you will see a preview showing:

• How many suppliers will be invited
• Any obvious errors (missing emails, duplicates)

Once you send, invitations go out immediately. You can track their status in the Invite tracker.

​

What suppliers see

Your suppliers receive an email explaining that you have requested them on LinkXG. The email includes:

• Your company name
• A brief explanation of what LinkXG is
• A clear statement that they are not required to upload data immediately
• A link to create their free supplier account

The tone is professional and neutral. We do not pressure suppliers or use aggressive language — this protects your relationship with them.

---

​

Track supplier activation

Once invitations are sent, you can monitor progress in the Invite tracker. Each supplier shows one of the following statuses: If a supplier has not responded, the platform will send gentle reminders at day 5 and day 14. After day 30, reminders stop and you are notified so you can follow up through other channels if needed.

---

​

View supplier data

Once a supplier connects and shares data with you, their products appear in your Suppliers section.

​

What you can see

The data you see depends on what your supplier has chosen to share. At minimum, you will typically see:

• Product names and SKUs
• Basic specifications
• Certification status

With fuller sharing, you may also see:

• Detailed specifications and compliance data
• Material composition and inputs
• Origin and manufacturing location
• Supporting documents

​

Data freshness

Each product shows when it was last updated. If data is stale, this is flagged so you know to request an update or investigate further.

---

​

Explore traceability

The real power of LinkXG emerges when you explore the supply chain behind your products.

​

Portfolio map

The Traceability section shows a visual map of your supply chain. Your products appear as the starting point, with suppliers and their upstream sources radiating outward. You can:

• See which suppliers contribute to each product
• Filter by supplier type, location, or certification
• Identify concentration risks (multiple products depending on the same upstream source)

​

Product graph

Select any product to see its composition in detail. The product graph shows:

• What materials and inputs go into the product
• Which suppliers provide each input
• What goes into those inputs (if available)

This creates a tree of provenance that can extend through multiple tiers.

​

Upstream visibility

By default, your suppliers’ own suppliers appear as anonymised references — “Upstream Supplier U-1842” rather than their company name. You can see that they exist, what they contribute, and broadly where they are located, but not who they are. If you need to know the identity of an upstream supplier, you can request this through your direct supplier. They decide whether to