Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was designed for the purpose of creating a common language of documents for interactions between businesses. There are many iterations of this code system used in a variety of settings today, not just for codifying interchange in the business sector.
EDI providers are software companies that use its codex as a means of making communication between companies (in the context of this eBook, for example, the relationship between a supplier and a retailer) as free and smooth as possible.
EDI documents contain a minimum quantity of required information, like a rubric of essential components. The failure of EDI is usually connected to inaccurate or incomplete information in the document. It is the work of EDI providers to minimize the instances of these miscommunications.
For a thorough glossary of common terms used in EDI, bookmark this article to keep it on hand for future reference.
EDI document types take the form of the letters “EDI” followed by a three-digit number between 100 and 999, but not every number is used regularly in the world of retail supply chains, even if each has a meaningful designation for most systems that use it. These numbers essentially signify the type of information being communicated in the document, but it will obviously not communicate all of what is contained within a given document.
What Are the Most Prevalent EDI Document Types for Retail Suppliers?
Some document types are more relevant to retail supply chains than others. The list below is composed of some of the most prevalent document types in the retail industry. Knowing what these are and how they function is fundamental to supplier success.
Retailers have unique subsets of documents that they use in their own receiving process. What makes EDI so important for the retail supply chain world is precisely that it is needed to facilitate clear communication between supplier and buyer. This process involves a careful understanding of each retailer’s inner workings.
EDI 810: Invoice
This transaction document is used for billing goods and services provided. The data in these documents varies widely depending on the goods/services being purchased. In the context of retail supply chains, however, they always include:
Invoice number
Date of the invoice
Services/items rendered
Date that the items shipped out on
Payment terms
More often than not, in the retail industry, the sender is the supplier, and the receiver is the retailer. The retailer is the one being invoiced by the supplier for the cost of goods.
EDI 846: Inventory Inquiry
EDI 846s are designed to communicate inventory information between parties, usually, in the case of retail supply chains, between manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers. A variety of quantities can be communicated through this transaction document: quantities on hand, committed quantities, on-order quantities, and back order quantities, to name just a few.
EDI 850: Purchase Order
This transaction document contains all of the materials requested by the buyer (in this context, usually the merchant at the retailer).
Purchase Orders (POs) contain important details within merely the items requested, namely, the item description, UPC item or case code, unit prices, payment terms, discounts, and requested delivery dates, all of which are important pieces of information to keep on hand for records.
This transaction set is not the same as an edit or change to a purchase order nor the acknowledgment of receipt of a purchase order (see EDI 855).
EDI 855: Purchase Order Acknowledgment
This transaction document communicates the seller’s acknowledgment of a buyer’s purchase order. In the case of vendor-generated orders, this document can also be used as a notification of an order creation.
Outbound Benefit: The customer is more likely to buy knowing they will receive the correct quantity on time.
Inbound Benefit: Knowing promptly about short/late shipments allows time to demand better performance or find another vendor.
EDI 856: Ship Notice/Manifest (a.k.a. “Advance Ship Notice” or ASN)
This transaction document is one of the more commonly used transactions in the retail industry, and it is therefore at the heart of compliance policies and protocols (see EDI 856: Ship Notice/Manifest–Explaining EDI or “ASN Not Downloaded” Defect for more context).
These are essential to successfully communicating the contents of a shipment to a buyer. They often include:
Carrier information
Description of products and their respective quantities
Tracking numbers
Purchase order numbers
Barcodes for each container/carton
Types of packaging used
Configuration of items in the shipping container/transportation equipment
EDI 875: Grocery Products Purchase Order
The grocery industry has its own form of POs with its own EDI code. This transaction set is used by grocery wholesalers and retailers. These are different from the EDI 850 general merchandise POs because grocery POs do not need the level of detail that EDI 850s need.
EDI 879: Price Information Advice
This document type communicates price information, especially price changes, between sellers and buyers. Pricing is a difficult and fraught factor in the retail industry, and it usually causes quite a bit of miscommunication.
EDI 879s are important for clarifying these issues in the compliance and/or dispute process surrounding pricing. Post audits that retailers send out due to pricing discrepancies will need to be disputed, at least in part, using these.
EDI 940: Warehouse Shipping Order
This transaction document functions as a means of communicating between the sellers/suppliers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) as a request for shipment of goods from a supplier’s warehouse to a buyer’s location (usually a DC).
These almost always include the following:
Warehouse order details (timing and quantities)
The PO number associated
The destination address (buyer’s location)
Contact information for the receivers
And more information related to the order
EDI 997: Functional Acknowledgment
EDI 997s function almost as a meta-transaction in data interchange, to acknowledge the acceptance of a group of or an individual EDI transaction.
For example, the “ASN Not Downloaded” defect in the Supplier Quality Excellence Program (SQEP) depends on the receipt of the ASN. If an EDI 997 has been sent from Walmart to the supplier confirming the receipt of the ASN (the EDI 856), it can be used to file a dispute of the fine.
EDI 997s are used for a variety of other transactions as well.
EDI Field Limitations
It is important to be aware of the EDI Field Limitations when filling out the various document types. These limitations are important for avoiding problems with EDI providers and miscommunication across retail supply chains.
Each retailer, however, has their own sets of valid codes and values, and a document that may be valid for one retailer may not be for another one. For example, Amazon has stopped accepting PODs/BOLs as legitimate proof documentation for disputing a shortage deduction, whereas, at most other retailers, such documents are essential for winning back invalid shortage deductions.
