EDI: exchanging orders and invoices with large retailers

For a supplier to large retailers, EDI is not optional: it is how retailers place orders and receive invoices. Many companies connect at the bare minimum, then re-enter everything in their own tools. Here is how EDI works, based on GS1 France and GS1 publications consulted in October 2026, and how to link it properly to your systems.

EDI in brief

According to GS1 France, EDI means exchanging documents electronically in a structured, standardized language. The most widely used standard in retail is EANCOM, created by GS1 in 1990: a subset of about fifty messages out of the roughly two hundred in the United Nations’ UN/EDIFACT standard. GS1 France states that three messages, the order, the despatch advice and the invoice, account for more than 90% of transactions among the main retail players.

Implementation guides for these messages are published by GS1, for example the EANCOM documentation and the GS1 France publication on the EANCOM order message. Each retailer then sets out its own requirements.

Three ways to connect

GS1 France describes three options for companies getting started:

• WebEDI: an online portal where you view orders and enter despatch advices and invoices. Suited to small volumes, with manual entry.
• Shared EDI platform: a single connection to a provider, who then handles exchanges with each retailer.
• Integrated EDI: messages flow directly into your ERP or tools, with no manual entry, for large volumes.

In all three cases, the EDI provider handles the formats and the connections with retailers. My role is on the other side: making sure incoming orders feed your tools without re-entry, and that your despatch advices and invoices are generated from data you already have.

What integration changes in practice

• Orders: each EDI order becomes an order in your tool, ready for picking.
• Picking and shipping: the despatch advice is built from what was actually picked, with the expected logistics labels.
• Invoicing: the invoice reuses the order and delivery data, which reduces disputes and rejections.
• Tracking: a dashboard shows orders received, in progress, shipped and invoiced, retailer by retailer.

Budget and timeline

Amounts exclude VAT and cover a first version running in production. They do not include the EDI platform subscription, billed by the provider. The link to that platform matches the “connection to other tools” building block in my pricing ($2,300 (€2,000)excl. VAT).

For a tailored estimate, the estimator gives you a range in one minute.

The link with French e-invoicing

Since September 1, 2026, the French reform has set new rules for invoices between companies, which must go through an accredited platform on a phased timeline. EDI invoices exchanged with retailers are affected. Before starting a project, ask your EDI provider how it works with an accredited platform, or whether it is one. The timeline is detailed in mandatory e-invoicing in France.

When this is not the right approach

If you work with a single retailer and a few orders a week, the WebEDI portal supplied by your provider is enough. Building an integration makes no sense at that volume.

If your ERP already offers an EDI module supported by your provider, that is often the simplest route. Custom work makes sense when the ERP lacks that module, when several tools need to receive orders, or when picking and labeling need an interface tailored to your teams.

Where to start

1. List your retailers and the messages each one requires.
2. Identify your EDI provider, current or future, and what it supplies as files or APIs.
3. A 30-minute call to walk through an order’s journey, from receipt to invoice.
4. Scoping (1 to 2 weeks) with your EDI provider: formats, testing, fixed quote.
5. Development in batches, tested retailer by retailer.

For orders that also come in through other channels, see the online ordering portal for wholesalers and distributors, and the business apps page for my approach.