# Turn Staples Business Advantage into an API

> Read your Purchase History, each order's tracking and proof of delivery, and your spend by user and location from Staples Business Advantage with one API call each. Or have a workflow check every morning which orders are still on their way.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/staples-business-advantage
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own Staples Business Advantage account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on Staples Advantage

### Get purchase history

Reads the Purchase History page, opened from the Account icon, with every order your account can see in the date range you give.

- Takes: From date, to date, PO number (optional)
- Returns: Order number, order date, PO number, cost center, ship-to, order total, delivery status

### Track an order

Opens one order's Order Details page and its Track these items link: the delivery timeline, carrier and tracking number, and who signed once delivered.

- Takes: Order number
- Returns: Order number, delivery timeline, carrier, tracking number, delivered on, signed by, proof of delivery image

### Get spend by user and location

Reads your account's online reporting for a period: spend by user, by location and by product.

- Takes: From date, to date, group by (user, location or product)
- Returns: Group, spend

### Place an order with Quick Order

Enters item numbers and quantities in Quick Order, reviews the cart at Review & Checkout and submits the order with your shipping and payment details.

- Takes: Item numbers and quantities (up to 10), PO number, packing slip note (optional)
- Returns: Order number, items, quantities, expected delivery dates, order total

## Automate Staples Advantage with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Recent orders still on their way

Starts: Every weekday at 8:00

1. Get the purchase history for the last two business days.
2. For each order, track it and keep the ones with no delivery date.
3. Email you the list with order number, PO number, carrier and tracking number.

### Proof of delivery for new deliveries, for receiving

Starts: Every weekday at 17:00

1. Get the last 7 days of purchase history and track each order.
2. Keep the orders delivered since the last run.
3. Post order number, PO number, cost center, delivered on, signed by and the proof of delivery link to your webhook.

### Monthly spend by location, for finance

Starts: On the 1st of every month at 7:00

1. Get last month's spend on staplesadvantage.com grouped by location.
2. Get the same month's spend grouped by user.
3. Summarize the biggest changes against the last run and email you both tables.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get purchase history” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "staplesadvantage.com/get_purchase_history",
    "input": {
      "from_date": "2026-11-02",
      "to_date": "2026-11-11"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "orders": [
      {
        "order_number": "7351048822",
        "order_date": "2026-11-10",
        "po_number": "NW-4471",
        "cost_center": "FAC-210",
        "ship_to": "Northwind, 2nd floor receiving",
        "order_total": 412.86,
        "delivery_status": "Shipped"
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## Staples Advantage’s own options

Staples connects organizations' purchasing systems to Staples Business Advantage: it says it is integrated with more than 170 eProcurement systems, with a Staples sales engineer who manages each integration from start to finish. Its public pages describe no self-serve developer API. Everything else happens on StaplesAdvantage.com or in the mobile app.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| eProcurement integration | Ordering from Staples inside your organization's procurement system, one of 170+ that Staples says it is integrated with. | A project with a Staples Sales Engineer Expert, who assesses your requirements and manages the integration. |
| AutoRestock | Subscriptions that reorder chosen items on a schedule from weekly to yearly, with notice before each order ships. | Eligible products. Items can be updated, paused, skipped or cancelled at any time. |
| StaplesAdvantage.com by hand | Quick Order, shopping lists, the Dashboard, Purchase History with order tracking, online returns and online spend reporting. | A User ID on your organization's account. Online enrollment accounts pay by credit card only. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Staples Business eProcurement integrations](https://www.staplesadvantage.com/learn/eprocurement-integrations), [Staples Business AutoRestock](https://www.staplesadvantage.com/lp/auto-restock), [A better way to manage your whole workplace (Staples)](https://marketingassets.staples.com/m/4f469c9a70d634e2/original/A-Better-Way-to-Manage-Your-Workplace.pdf).

## Signing in to Staples Advantage

Staples Advantage asks for your User ID first, then your password. A forgotten User ID or account number is emailed to you on request. With Fous you sign in once through the site's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, never returned by the API, and code and AI agents never see it.

## Worth knowing

- **Next-day delivery has a 3 PM cut-off**: Staples delivers in-stock items the next day when you order by 3 PM, excluding weekends and holidays. A check for undelivered orders is best run the morning after that cut-off.
- **Missing items are not back-ordered**: A buyer's ordering guide for Staples says items are not back-ordered: an item on your requisition that is missing from the packing slip has to be ordered again. Compare quantity ordered with quantity shipped.
- **Punchout users start in their procurement system**: Where your organization orders through an eProcurement integration, people reach Staples from that system, for example its supplier marketplace, so orders also carry that system's requisition or PO number.
- **Reporting depends on your program**: Staples lists online reporting of spend by user, location and product among its tools, and notes that features may apply only to select items and customers. A method sees what your account sees.

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## Frequently asked questions

### Does Staples Business Advantage have an API?

Not a published self-serve one. Staples connects organizations' purchasing systems through eProcurement integrations, more than 170 systems by its count, each managed by a Staples sales engineer. Without one, you use StaplesAdvantage.com or the mobile app.

### How do I get proof of delivery for a Staples order?

Open the Account icon, choose Purchase History and click the order number. On Order Details, the Track these items link shows the tracking number and carrier and, once delivered, the Signed by name or a proof of delivery image.

### Can I see what each department or location spends at Staples?

Yes, where your program includes online reporting. Staples describes snapshots and detailed reports of spend by user, location and product. With Fous, a workflow can read that report every month and email it to you or post it to your finance system by webhook.

### Can I reorder the same supplies automatically?

Yes, with AutoRestock, Staples' own subscription feature. You bundle eligible items, pick a frequency from weekly to yearly, and Staples notifies you before each order ships so you can skip, pause or change it.

### Is Fous affiliated with Staples?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own Staples Business Advantage account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of Staples Business Advantage (Staples). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.