The complete guide to EDI for ecommerce brands

This guide is for ecommerce brands that have just landed their first wholesale account with a big-box retailer, a department store, a club chain or a dropship program. The buyer says yes, and then an onboarding packet arrives asking for an EDI connection, an ASN, GS1-128 labels and a test cycle. If you have only sold through Shopify and Amazon Seller Central, most of that vocabulary is new.

By the end you should be able to decide which EDI documents you need, how they will travel, which kind of provider to buy from, and roughly what it costs per retailer. You should also know where brands lose money, which is rarely the software bill. If every order comes through your own storefront, you do not need EDI yet.

Summary

• EDI (electronic data interchange) is a fixed format for business documents such as purchase orders, ship notices and invoices, usually ANSI X12 in US retail.
• A brand selling to retailers usually needs five documents: 850 purchase order, 855 acknowledgment, 856 ship notice (ASN), 810 invoice and 997 functional acknowledgment. Dropship adds the 846 inventory feed. A 3PL adds the 940 and 945.
• The ASN and the GS1-128 carton label are one system. If they do not match, the retailer cannot receive your freight cleanly, and you pay for it.
• Chargebacks are the real cost of EDI. One published retailer schedule charges $7.50 per carton for a missing ASN, which turns a single bad shipment into years of per-partner software fees.
• Web EDI suits one or two low-volume retailers. Beyond that, integrate EDI with your store, ERP or WMS.
• Most providers price per trading partner, with setup fees on top. Kilocharacter and per-document billing still exist and are harder to forecast.
• Budget for a GS1 Company Prefix, label printing and a testing cycle per retailer, not only the monthly subscription.

1. What EDI is and why retailers require it

EDI is the exchange of business documents between two companies’ systems in a standard, machine-readable format. Instead of emailing a PDF purchase order, the retailer’s system sends a structured file that your system can read without anyone retyping it. Each company you exchange EDI with is a trading partner.

Retailers require it because their distribution centers run on scanners and automated receiving. An emailed PO, or a shipment with no electronic notice, has to be handled by a person, so the retailer pushes that work back to the supplier.

Retailer manuals are blunt about this. DSW’s Canadian vendor requirements say the company “requires all vendors to exchange business documents via EDI,” and that once a vendor is certified, it must ship using EDI-generated documents only. Vendors who keep using faxed or emailed copies after go-live face a per-document chargeback.¹1 Source: Designer Brands (DSW Canada / The Shoe Company), “10.0 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Requirements,” v2.0, accessed Oct 2026. Dated February 2023. Costco’s 2019 US standard terms for suppliers, which appear as an exhibit in an SEC filing, likewise require suppliers to send and receive purchase and sale data via EDI.²2 Source: U.S. SEC EDGAR, “Costco Wholesale Standard Terms (2019)” (exhibit EX-10.6), accessed Oct 2026. Section 2.2.

EDI is an entry ticket to the account, and the retailer decides the format, the documents and the deadlines.

2. The standards and the documents you will exchange

X12 and EDIFACT

Two standards dominate. ANSI X12 is maintained by X12, which describes itself as an ANSI-accredited, consensus-based nonprofit that has been chartered by the American National Standards Institute for more than 40 years and publishes more than 320 transaction standards.³3 Source: X12, “About X12”, accessed Oct 2026. The retailer documents cited in this guide all use X12 document numbers. UN/EDIFACT is the United Nations standard, maintained by UN/CEFACT under the UN Economic Commission for Europe, with syntax rules approved as ISO 9735 in 1987.⁴4 Source: Wikipedia, “EDIFACT”, accessed Oct 2026. UNECE’s own pages were not reachable during research. Both express the same business ideas with different codes, and your retailers choose which one you use.

Within X12, each document type is a numbered transaction set, and each retailer publishes an implementation guide that says which version it uses (for example 4010 or 5010) and which optional fields it requires. Two retailers can both ask for an 856 and still want quite different files.

The core documents for a brand selling to retailers

The table below uses X12’s own names for each transaction set.⁵5 Source: X12, “Transaction Sets”, accessed Oct 2026. Names and purposes for the 810, 846, 850, 852, 855, 856, 860, 940, 945 and 997.

Document	X12 name	Who sends it	What it does for you
850	Purchase Order	Retailer	The order. Your system of record should create a sales order from it.
860	Purchase Order Change Request, Buyer Initiated	Retailer	Changes to an order already sent.
855	Purchase Order Acknowledgment	Brand	Confirms, rejects or adjusts the PO lines.
856	Ship Notice/Manifest (the ASN)	Brand	Lists exactly what is in each carton and pallet before it arrives.
810	Invoice	Brand	Bills the retailer against the PO and ASN.
846	Inventory Inquiry/Advice	Brand	Tells the retailer what stock you have available.
852	Product Activity Data	Retailer	Sell-through and store inventory, where the retailer shares it.
940	Warehouse Shipping Order	Brand to 3PL	Tells your warehouse to ship an order.
945	Warehouse Shipping Advice	3PL to brand	Confirms what the warehouse actually shipped.
997	Functional Acknowledgment	Both	Confirms a file was received and was syntactically valid.

The 997 only confirms that a file arrived and parsed. X12 is explicit that it reports syntactical results and does not cover the meaning of the data.⁵ It does not mean the retailer accepted your prices. It is, however, the document you need when you dispute a late or missing ASN chargeback, because it proves when the retailer received your file.⁶6 Source: SPS Commerce, “Compliance Fine Defects & Dispute Documentation at Target”, accessed Oct 2026. A provider’s analysis; Target’s own fee schedule is behind its vendor portal.

The 940 and 945 matter if a 3PL (third-party logistics warehouse) ships for you. X12 describes the 945 as the warehouse’s advice that a shipment was made, reconciling ordered and shipped quantities.⁵ Build your ASN from it, not from what you hoped would ship.

3. How EDI files travel: AS2, SFTP and VANs

Format and transport are separate decisions. Once your 856 exists, it still has to reach the retailer.

AS2 (Applicability Statement 2) sends files directly between two companies over HTTP or HTTPS. It is defined in RFC 4130, published by the IETF in July 2005, which covers X12, EDIFACT and XML payloads, encryption and signing with S/MIME, and signed receipts called MDNs (message disposition notifications).⁷7 Source: RFC Editor, “RFC 4130: MIME-Based Secure Peer-to-Peer Business Data Interchange Using HTTP, Applicability Statement 2 (AS2)”, accessed Oct 2026. The signed MDN is the useful part for a brand: it is cryptographic proof that the retailer’s server received a specific file at a specific time.

Running AS2 yourself is real infrastructure work. Walmart asks suppliers for an X.509 certificate with at least a 2048-bit RSA key and SHA-256 signing, AS2 software on a high-availability server, and an externally reachable URL.⁸8 Source: Walmart, “Global Enterprise Mailbox (GEM) Support Guide v1.4”, accessed Oct 2026. Covers AS2 requirements, WebEDI limits, testing flow and Walmart’s preference for direct connections.

SFTP is a secure file drop; Amazon Vendor Central, for example, offers an Amazon-hosted SFTP option.⁹9 Source: CData, “How to Set Up EDI with Amazon Vendor Central”, accessed Oct 2026. A 2020 provider article; Amazon’s own guide is inside Vendor Central. It is simpler than AS2 but has no built-in signed receipt, so you rely on 997s and logs.

A VAN (value-added network) is a hosted mailbox service that sits between trading partners and passes files along. VANs grew up billing by the volume of data moved; one industry explainer notes that kilocharacter rates apply to every 1,000 characters, including delimiters and spaces.¹⁰10 Source: Data Interchange, “EDI VAN Costs”, accessed Oct 2026. Retailers differ on whether they want a VAN or a direct connection. Walmart says it prefers direct connections because there are fewer points of failure and less support complexity, while still accepting third-party SaaS and VAN-based setups.⁸

Most brands never touch this directly. Their provider holds the certificates or VAN mailbox; Orderful, for example, includes AS2, FTP and VAN channels in its web EDI plan.¹¹11 Source: Orderful, “Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. Check whether your provider already connects to each of your retailers. Edict Systems, for one, charges a $0.25 per-document interconnect fee for partners not connected directly to its network.¹²12 Source: Edict Systems, “WebEDI Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. The worked example in chapter 6 is our arithmetic from these list prices.

4. Retailer onboarding, labels and chargebacks

Onboarding and testing

Each retailer runs its own certification: you download its implementation guides, configure your system, and send test files until each document passes. Walmart runs this through a testing portal with a status for each transaction.⁸ One integration provider’s documentation says Walmart expects testing not to exceed six weeks for basic flows and lets suppliers pick a go-live date within a 15-day window after testing.¹³13 Source: Tradeshift, “Walmart EDI onboarding” knowledge base article, accessed Oct 2026. A provider’s description of Walmart’s process, not a Walmart document.

Retailer manuals also set response times. DSW requires vendors to send a 997 for each inbound file within 72 business hours and to send the ASN at least 72 hours before the merchandise is delivered. It also requires one ASN per PO, shipment and location, and it will refuse a delivery appointment for a shipment whose 856 has not arrived.¹

Some retailers offer their own web portal, with limits. Walmart’s WebEDI covers purchase orders, invoices in the US, Canada and Great Britain, and DC ASNs in the US only, and Walmart says it is not an option if you need a more integrated solution.⁸

GS1-128 labels and the SSCC

The ASN says what is in each carton; the label is how the scanner finds that record. The link is the SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code).

According to GS1 US, the SSCC is the GS1 identification key for a logistic unit such as a case, pallet or container. It is 18 digits long, built from an extension digit, your GS1 Company Prefix, a serial reference and a check digit, and printed most commonly in a GS1-128 barcode with the application identifier (00).¹⁴14 Source: GS1 US, “An Introduction to the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC),” Release 3.0, accessed Oct 2026. GS1 US also explains why it matters: one scan of the SSCC at a receiving bay can be linked to a pre-received ASN of the carton’s contents, which speeds receiving and reconciliation. The GTIN (product barcode) data lives in the ASN, not in the SSCC.¹⁴

To create SSCCs you need a GS1 Company Prefix. As of October 2026, GS1 US list prices range from a $250 initial fee and $50 annual renewal for a prefix covering 10 items up to $10,500 and $2,100 for 100,000 items. A single $30 GS1 US GTIN does not give you a prefix.¹⁵15 Source: GS1 US, “How to get a UPC barcode”, accessed Oct 2026. GS1 US says it may change pricing at its discretion. If you already license a prefix for your UPCs, GS1 US says you use the same prefix for SSCCs.¹⁴

What non-compliance costs

Retailers publish chargeback schedules (also called compliance fines or deductions) and apply them against your invoices.¹⁶16 Source: Foot Locker, “Vendor Standards Manual, Section 9: Vendor Compliance Program, Chargebacks and Policies”, accessed Oct 2026. July 2026 edition. Read them before you sign.

Foot Locker’s Vendor Standards Manual, Section 9 (July 2026 edition), lists a missing ASN, an incorrect ASN and a late EDI ASN at $7.50 per carton with a $500 minimum each. Missing, incorrect or unscannable UCC-128 labels (the older name for GS1-128) are charged at $7.50 per carton plus $250.¹⁶

Target’s structure is different but the logic is the same. An SPS Commerce analysis of Target’s compliance program lists “ASN Missing,” “ASN Late” and “ASN Not in a Status” as separate defects, and notes that the 997 is the key document for disputing a missing ASN fine.⁶

That arithmetic is ours, from the two published prices. Many schedules sit behind vendor portal logins, so ask your buyer for the current one before your first PO.

Retailer vendor agreements and routing guides are long contracts in their own right; our guide to AI contract review covers tools that help read them.

5. Deployment options: web EDI, managed, integrated and in-house

Web EDI is a browser portal. Orders arrive in an inbox; you key ASNs and invoices into web forms and print labels from the portal. SPS Commerce’s Web Fulfillment, for example, includes a shipping documentation subscription for certified barcode labels.¹⁷ It is cheap and fast to start, and a poor fit once you ship more than a handful of POs a week, because every ASN is keyed by hand.

Fully managed EDI means the provider builds and maintains the maps to each retailer, runs testing, and monitors failures for you. TrueCommerce says all of its packages include full implementation services and post-go-live support.¹⁸18 Source: TrueCommerce, “EDI software pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. Plan prices on this page were inconsistent, so only the included-services claim is used here. SPS describes its integrated trading partner implementation as covering connectivity testing, syntax compliance and map testing per partner.¹⁷ Orderful’s enterprise tier adds managed testing and integration services.¹¹

Integrated EDI connects the EDI provider to your system of record, so POs become orders automatically and ASNs and invoices are generated from shipment data. For ecommerce brands that is often Shopify, an ERP or a WMS. Crstl’s listing says it syncs EDI dropship and wholesale orders into Shopify and sends POs, ASNs and invoices.¹⁹19 Source: Shopify App Store, “Crstl: No-code EDI for Brands”, accessed Oct 2026. A localized version of the same listing showed a different starting price, so confirm with the vendor. SPS Commerce’s Shopify app offers automated document exchange including ASNs and lists NetSuite, QuickBooks, SAP and ShipStation as compatible.²⁰20 Source: Shopify App Store, “SPS Commerce”, accessed Oct 2026. The listing does not show prices.

In-house means running your own translator and AS2 software and writing your own maps. Open-source components exist; the mendelson AS2 community edition, for example, is published under GPLv2.²¹21 Source: SourceForge, “mendelson AS2”, accessed Oct 2026. The software is the easy part; you also own certificate renewals, map changes and failure monitoring. This suits only brands with an integration team and many partners.

Approach	Who keys data	Who builds and fixes maps	Good fit	Not for
Web EDI	You, in a portal	Provider	One or two retailers, low PO volume, testing a new account	Anyone shipping several POs a day or using a 3PL
Fully managed	Varies; often integrated	Provider	Lean teams with several retailers and no EDI specialist	Teams that want direct control of every map
Integrated (Shopify/ERP/WMS)	Nobody, if the data is clean	Provider, with your system data	Brands with three or more retailers, a 3PL, or dropship programs	Brands whose product and inventory data is still messy
In-house translator	Nobody	Your team	Large brands with integration engineers and many partners	Almost every ecommerce brand under that size

6. Pricing models, with list-price examples

Most offers combine a base subscription, a per-trading-partner fee and a setup fee per partner, sometimes with per-document or kilocharacter charges. All prices below are list prices as of October 2026; quotes will differ.

Per trading partner. SPS Commerce’s published definitions list an additional web fulfillment trading partner at $200 one-time plus $19 per month, and an additional integrated trading partner at $500 one-time plus $29 per month. The same page charges $59 per month for each additional user and does not list the base subscription.¹⁷ Orderful lists web EDI at $189 per month per trading partner and integrated plans from $399 per month.¹¹ UK-based XEDI charges £128 to £348 per partner per month.²²22 Source: XEDI, “Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. Prices in GBP.

Per document. Edict Systems’ WebEDI lists a $62 monthly subscription, $5 per trading partner per month for the first ten, a $150 activation fee and $75 setup per partner. Documents are tiered: the first five each month are free, the next 20 cost $2.10 each, sliding down to $0.35 each at high volume.¹² As a worked example from those list prices, a brand with three retailers sending 200 documents a month would pay about $380 a month before any interconnect fees, plus $375 in one-time setup.

Kilocharacter. You pay by the volume of data. XEDI meters usage in kilocharacters on top of its partner fees: the first 10 each month are free, the first paid band is £2.00 per kilocharacter, falling to £0.20 at its highest published band, and it estimates an average document at about 2 kilocharacters.²² A long 856 for a mixed pallet costs more than a short one, so bills are hard to forecast.

Bundles. Some providers sell plans with partner and transaction allowances. Zenbridge lists a Micro plan at $450 per month with 1,000 transactions and 3 trading partners, up to a Small plan at $850 with 10,000 transactions and 15 partners, $15 per month per extra partner, and no setup fees. It notes that VAN costs are extra if a partner requires one.²³23 Source: Zenbridge, “EDI Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. Crstl’s Shopify listing starts at $149 per month and advertises no document fees, with usage-based charges not defined on the listing.¹⁹

Pricing model	Example (list price, Oct 2026)	Predictable?	Watch for
Per trading partner	SPS: $19–$29/month per added partner plus $200–$500 setup17	High	Base subscription and per-user fees not shown on the same page
Per document, tiered	Edict: $2.10 down to $0.35 per document, plus $5/partner/month12	Medium	Interconnect fees for partners not on the provider’s network
Kilocharacter	XEDI: £2.00 down to £0.20 per kilocharacter after 10 free22	Low	Large ASNs and catalogs inflate the bill
Bundled allowance	Zenbridge: $450–$850/month with set partner and transaction caps23	High within caps	Overage fees and VAN charges

Add the costs outside the EDI bill: a GS1 Company Prefix,¹⁵ thermal label printers and stock, and the staff time spent in each retailer’s testing cycle.

7. How EDI fits with inventory, PIM and dropship programs

Inventory. In wholesale, the 846 is optional for many accounts. In dropship it is central. SPS Commerce says the 846 is required for dropship or direct-to-consumer fulfillment models and that it often must be sent every day or several times a day.²⁴24 Source: SPS Commerce, “EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice”, accessed Oct 2026. Feed it from the same available-to-sell figure your storefront or OMS uses, minus channel safety stock, or you will oversell and cancel orders.

Product data (PIM). Retailers need your items set up with correct GTINs and attributes before they can order. DSW, for instance, uses the 832 Price/Sales Catalog, will not send an 850 until it has received the UPCs for the PO items, and requires the 856 to carry the exact style, color and UPC data from the 850.¹ If you run a PIM (product information management system), make it the single source for that data.

Dropship and marketplaces. In a dropship program the retailer sells the item and you ship it straight to the consumer, so the documents carry consumer addresses and parcel tracking numbers instead of pallet data. First-party marketplace programs, where the marketplace buys from you, behave like any other retailer. Amazon Vendor Central, for example, sets up EDI through a self-service survey and lists the 810, 846, 850, 855 and 856 as required documents, according to one integration provider’s walkthrough.⁹

Your 3PL. If a 3PL ships for you, the flow is 850 in, 940 to the warehouse, 945 back, then 856 and 810 out to the retailer.⁵ The ASN should be built from the 945’s actual shipped quantities and carton SSCCs. Confirm before you sign that your 3PL can print GS1-128 labels with your company prefix and return the carton-level detail your ASN needs.

For where EDI sits among the CRM, billing and operations systems, see the complete guide to building a B2B revenue stack.

8. Implementation timeline and the most common mistakes

A realistic sequence

Timelines depend mostly on the retailer’s testing queue. Walmart’s testing is expected to take up to six weeks for basic flows, with a 15-day go-live window afterward, according to one integration provider’s documentation.¹³ DSW asks new vendors to contact its EDI provider within 10 days of the first merchandise transaction.¹ Plan the work in this order:

1. Collect requirements. Get each retailer’s implementation guides, routing guide, label specification and chargeback schedule. Note the X12 version and transport each one requires.
2. Get identifiers. License a GS1 Company Prefix if you do not have one,¹⁵ and confirm your GTINs are loaded with the retailer.
3. Choose the deployment model and provider. Ask whether the provider is already connected to each retailer and what the per-partner setup includes.
4. Connect your systems. Map POs into your order system, and ASNs and invoices out of your shipping data. Set up the 940/945 flow with your 3PL if you use one.
5. Test with the retailer. Send test 855s, 856s and 810s, print sample labels, and fix what the retailer rejects.
6. Go live carefully. Watch the first few POs end to end, including the 997s that come back, and reconcile the first deductions against your records.

Mistakes that cost money

• Treating the ASN as paperwork. Sending an 856 after the truck arrives, or without carton-level detail, triggers fines even when the goods are correct.¹⁶⁶
• Labels that do not match the ASN. Reprinting a label without updating the ASN, or packing differently from what the ASN says, breaks the SSCC link GS1 US describes.¹⁴
• Ignoring 997s. A rejected file sits silently unless someone checks the acknowledgment. DSW asks vendors to reconcile or research its 997 messages within 24 business hours.¹
• Choosing web EDI for volume it cannot handle. Manual ASN entry is where carton counts and quantities drift from reality.
• Building the 846 from the wrong stock number. Overselling in dropship programs hurts scorecards faster than any EDI error.
• Not reading the chargeback schedule. Brands often discover the fines only when the first deduction appears on a remittance.

Exception handling (mismatched orders, rejected ship notices) is the kind of rules-heavy back-office work discussed in the complete guide to AI agents in enterprise operations.

9. The verdict

For most ecommerce brands, EDI is a per-retailer cost to buy, not a system to build. Pick a provider that already connects to your retailers, prices per trading partner, and integrates with the system that actually holds your orders and stock. Then measure it on one thing: whether your ASNs and labels arrive on time and match the freight.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need EDI to sell on Amazon?

Only if Amazon buys inventory from you as a first-party vendor through Vendor Central, which is invitation-only. Vendors connect by AS2, Amazon-hosted SFTP or a VAN and exchange POs, acknowledgments, ASNs, inventory and invoices, according to one integration provider’s walkthrough.⁹ Check your own Vendor Central account for its current requirements.

What is the difference between an ASN and a packing slip?

A packing slip is paper inside the box for the person opening it. An ASN (the X12 856) is an electronic file sent before the shipment arrives, listing each carton’s contents and its SSCC so the retailer can receive by scanning.⁵¹⁴ Retailers that require ASNs fine you for missing ones even if the packing slip is perfect.

Can I start with web EDI and move to integrated later?

Yes. Web EDI is a reasonable way to pass testing with a first retailer at low volume. Move to integrated once manual ASN entry starts producing errors or eats several hours a week. Ask your provider whether your trading partner setups carry over, since some price web and integrated partners differently.¹⁷

Who pays for the GS1-128 labels?

You do. You need a GS1 Company Prefix to create SSCCs,¹⁵ plus a way to print compliant labels, which most EDI providers and many 3PLs offer. Orderful, for example, sells label generation as a separate plan from $99 per month.¹¹

How long does onboarding take with a new retailer?

It depends on the retailer’s testing process and how quickly you fix rejected test files. Walmart’s basic testing is expected to take up to six weeks, according to one provider’s documentation.¹³ Start as soon as the buyer confirms the account, not when the first PO is due.

Sources and notes

1. Source: Designer Brands (DSW Canada / The Shoe Company), “10.0 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Requirements,” v2.0, accessed Oct 2026. Dated February 2023. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Source: U.S. SEC EDGAR, “Costco Wholesale Standard Terms (2019)” (exhibit EX-10.6), accessed Oct 2026. Section 2.2. ↩

3. Source: X12, “About X12”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩

4. Source: Wikipedia, “EDIFACT”, accessed Oct 2026. UNECE’s own pages were not reachable during research. ↩

5. Source: X12, “Transaction Sets”, accessed Oct 2026. Names and purposes for the 810, 846, 850, 852, 855, 856, 860, 940, 945 and 997. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. Source: SPS Commerce, “Compliance Fine Defects & Dispute Documentation at Target”, accessed Oct 2026. A provider’s analysis; Target’s own fee schedule is behind its vendor portal. ↩ ↩² ↩³

7. Source: RFC Editor, “RFC 4130: MIME-Based Secure Peer-to-Peer Business Data Interchange Using HTTP, Applicability Statement 2 (AS2)”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩

8. Source: Walmart, “Global Enterprise Mailbox (GEM) Support Guide v1.4”, accessed Oct 2026. Covers AS2 requirements, WebEDI limits, testing flow and Walmart’s preference for direct connections. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

9. Source: CData, “How to Set Up EDI with Amazon Vendor Central”, accessed Oct 2026. A 2020 provider article; Amazon’s own guide is inside Vendor Central. ↩ ↩² ↩³

10. Source: Data Interchange, “EDI VAN Costs”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩

11. Source: Orderful, “Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

12. Source: Edict Systems, “WebEDI Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. The worked example in chapter 6 is our arithmetic from these list prices. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

13. Source: Tradeshift, “Walmart EDI onboarding” knowledge base article, accessed Oct 2026. A provider’s description of Walmart’s process, not a Walmart document. ↩ ↩² ↩³

14. Source: GS1 US, “An Introduction to the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC),” Release 3.0, accessed Oct 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

15. Source: GS1 US, “How to get a UPC barcode”, accessed Oct 2026. GS1 US says it may change pricing at its discretion. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

16. Source: Foot Locker, “Vendor Standards Manual, Section 9: Vendor Compliance Program, Chargebacks and Policies”, accessed Oct 2026. July 2026 edition. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

17. Source: SPS Commerce, “Definitions of key terms for SPS Fulfillment Services”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

18. Source: TrueCommerce, “EDI software pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. Plan prices on this page were inconsistent, so only the included-services claim is used here. ↩

19. Source: Shopify App Store, “Crstl: No-code EDI for Brands”, accessed Oct 2026. A localized version of the same listing showed a different starting price, so confirm with the vendor. ↩ ↩²

20. Source: Shopify App Store, “SPS Commerce”, accessed Oct 2026. The listing does not show prices. ↩

21. Source: SourceForge, “mendelson AS2”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩

22. Source: XEDI, “Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. Prices in GBP. ↩ ↩² ↩³

23. Source: Zenbridge, “EDI Pricing”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩ ↩² ↩³

24. Source: SPS Commerce, “EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice”, accessed Oct 2026. ↩