EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange: companies exchange documents such as orders, despatch advice and invoices in a fixed, structured format, directly between their systems. No PDFs by email, no retyping. Large retailers almost always work with EDI, and they expect the same from their suppliers.
Why retailers ask for EDI
A large retailer works with hundreds of suppliers and receives thousands of deliveries every day. If all that information had to be processed manually, everything would grind to a halt. With EDI, an order arrives automatically at the supplier, and the distribution centre knows in advance exactly what's on its way.
The messages you'll come across most
- ORDERS: the retailer's purchase order.
- ORDRSP: the order response, in which you confirm what you can deliver.
- DESADV: the despatch advice or ASN (Advance Shipping Notice). It announces which pallets are on their way, with their SSCC code, the products, quantities and batch numbers.
- RECADV: the receiving advice, in which the retailer confirms what it actually received.
- INVOIC: the invoice.
In retail, these messages are usually based on the international EDIFACT standard, and more specifically on EANCOM, GS1's variant for trade. Each retailer does have its own rules about which messages and fields are mandatory.
Why the despatch advice matters so much
Of all the messages, the DESADV is where things go wrong most often in practice. The message must match exactly what's on the pallet, and the SSCC on the label. If the pallet arrives without a despatch advice, or the quantities don't match, the distribution centre can refuse the delivery or charge costs. That's why it's best to create the despatch advice based on what was actually picked and loaded, not on the order. You can read more about labels and SSCC in supplying supermarkets and retailers.
How to set up EDI as an SME
You don't need your own IT department. There are a few options:
- An EDI provider: an external service that translates the messages between your system and the retailer's. You usually pay a subscription and a price per message or per retailer.
- Web EDI: an online portal where you receive orders and fill in messages manually. Cheap to start with, but labour-intensive at higher volumes.
- Your ERP: some ERP packages have an EDI module or an integration with a provider.
- Your fulfilment partner: a partner handling your retail deliveries can create the logistics messages, such as the DESADV, based on what it actually ships.
EDI and Peppol: not the same thing
Since 1 January 2026, electronic invoicing via Peppol has been mandatory between Belgian companies. Peppol is a network for e-invoices and other documents. EDI with your retailer is a separate arrangement, covering much more than invoices. Check with your retailer and your accountant how the two fit together in your situation.
Sendwit builds your pallets to your retailer's requirements, applies GS1 labels with SSCC and sends the despatch advice. Read more about our e-commerce and retail fulfilment.