EDI Basics for Wholesale Suppliers
The documents a supplier and a retailer exchange, who carries them, and why a late or missing one can become a chargeback.
A supplier and a retailer trade a standard set of electronic documents. They are a purchase order, an acknowledgment, a ship notice, an invoice and a remittance advice.
The X12 standard defines them. Each retailer's own guide sets which ones it requires and when. A late or missing one can be charged.
Which EDI documents does a supplier exchange with a retailer?
Five documents move an order from purchase to payment, and a functional acknowledgment confirms each one.
X12 describes this sequence as simplified. Some documents can be sent at other points in the cycle. Retailers choose from the set and add others, such as the 860 purchase order change request and the 824 application advice.
Who are the trading partners, and what does a provider do?
The retailer and the supplier are the trading partners. A provider may carry the documents between them.
- Trading partners: X12 describes the relationship as sender and receiver, or buyer and seller. The retailer is the buyer and the supplier is the seller.
- Providers: X12 calls a provider of EDI services between partners an intermediary servicing party. Macy's names a preferred value-added network (VAN) and lists the networks it can connect to.
- Setup choices: Burlington starts new vendors on a web-based EDI system it runs. Vendors with their own or third-party EDI contact its EDI support team.
When a provider sits between partners, X12 says both sides need agreed procedures. Then neither is surprised by a missing or inaccurate document.
What is X12, and what do the numbers mean?
X12 is the standards body behind the numbers. Each EDI document is a transaction set with a numeric identifier and a name.
X12 is chartered by the American National Standards Institute. The identifier and name together tell you the document: 850 is Purchase Order.
The standard sets the content. The retailer adds its own rules. Burlington says it uses X12 v4010.
Macy's requires each document in the appropriate version, compliant with its mapping guides. Retailer guides change, so confirm the edition you're reading.
Why does a missing or late document become a chargeback?
Because the retailer's systems act on each document, and its own guide says what follows when one fails.
X12 says the 856 ties the order to the delivery process. When it is accurate, the buyer's receiving can match incoming product to open orders.
X12 also says the buyer checks an 810 against its open orders before payment is scheduled.
Retailers state the consequence in their own guides:
- Burlington's manual says failing its requirements may result in delayed receipt, possible refusal of the shipment, and expense offsets.
- Macy's says late, missing, unusable or non-compliant 856 transmissions are subject to expense offsets. It also says an offset may be assessed if an 856 can't be retransmitted and needs manual handling of cartons.
Which failures are charged differs by retailer. See EDI compliance chargebacks for retailer examples and how to check a charge against your own log.
Frequently asked questions
Is a purchase order acknowledgment required?
- Only where the retailer says so. X12 defines the 855 as a seller's acknowledgment of a buyer's purchase order. Macy's lists it for select vendors only. It requires a functional acknowledgment from all trading partners.
Do I need my own EDI software to trade with a retailer?
- Not always. Burlington sets up new vendors on a web-based EDI system it runs. It has a contact for vendors with their own or third-party EDI. Macy's requires vendors to be EDI capable.
Can I send a paper invoice instead of an EDI invoice?
- Check the retailer's guide. Macy's requires EDI invoices. It tells vendors that can't send EDI to send them to accounts payable, and says all non-EDI invoices are subject to expense offsets.
Where do your EDI charges stand?
A Chargeback Recovery Assessment reads your deduction data and shows what is disputable.
Sources
All public, first-party or standards-body documents. Fetched 2026-10-22.
- X12, Transaction Sets (set names and purposes). x12.org/products/transaction-sets
- X12, Supply Chain Transaction Flow (sequence, 997 role, trading-partner and intermediary wording, 856 and 810 mechanism). x12.org/flow/supply-chain
- X12, home page and About (charter by the American National Standards Institute). x12.org and x12.org/about
- Macy's 2023 Vendor Standards, printed pp. 7, 11, 15, 16. macysnet.com/mdocweb/documents.aspx?document=Vendor+Standards
- Burlington Stores, Inc. Domestic Vendor Partnership Manual, May 2026, printed pp. 2, 4. burlington.com/vendors/vendor-manual