By our partner, Crstl
E-commerce brands, manufacturers, and suppliers are under growing pressure to meet the demands of retailers, distributors, and marketplaces. Many direct-to-consumer brands are now diversifying their sales strategies to include B2B (business-to-business) channels. However, manual data entry, order processing delays, and communication gaps with retail partners and fulfillment providers can hinder scalability. To address these challenges, having a scalable Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) partner is critical for maintaining operational efficiency, profitability, and strong customer relationships.
The EDI dilemma: Navigating complexity for growth
EDI is not a technology but a standardized data exchange language that simplifies communication between businesses. While many e-commerce brands view EDI as a complex requirement imposed by larger trading partners, it is essential for growth. Concerns about costs, setup times, and technical complexity often make EDI implementation seem overwhelming. However, avoiding EDI can restrict your growth potential and prevent access to valuable retail partnerships.
The good news is that modern EDI platforms exist to address these pain points. Platforms like Crstl offer EDI integration specifically designed for e-commerce brands of all sizes, making it easier than ever to harness the power of EDI without the traditional headaches.
Why consider EDI for your e-commerce brand?
Meeting Vendor Compliance Requirements: EDI is essential for meeting retailer vendor compliance requirements. Some retailers require EDI, others offer better net terms for using EDI, and some impose penalties for non-compliance.
Increased Efficiency: Automating order processing, invoicing, shipping notifications, and managing labels or packing slips will reduce manual data entry and errors. Manually processing a single order can take up to 2.5 hours, and requires multiple touch points including the retailer, the brand and the warehouse. Using integrated EDI will eliminate those inefficiencies.
Improved Accuracy: EDI helps to minimize costly mistakes and chargebacks through standardized document exchange. Manual entry is prone to human error as well as taking longer to process.
Faster Order Fulfillment: Streamline communication with trading partners and your warehouse, leading to quicker order processing.
Scalability: Easily onboard new retail partners and handle increased order volumes as your business grows.
Competitive Advantage: Meeting the requirements of major retailers and marketplaces, opens doors to new revenue sources.
Preparing for EDI: A step-by-step guide for e-commerce brands
Assess your current needs and future goals
Begin by evaluating your existing processes and identifying pain points in your order management workflow. Consider your growth projections and the types of retail partnerships you have now, and those you hope to pursue. Bring in operations, finance and sales in this analysis. This will help you determine the scope of your EDI implementation and the features you’ll need.
Understanding your trading partners’ requirements
Reach out to your current and prospective retail partners to gather their specific EDI requirements. Ask for vendor guides and comb through them in detail, highlighting anything that could result in a delay or a chargeback. There will be sections on orders, fulfillment and invoicing. Pull those sections apart and make sure you’re including all of your departments so everyone knows how to meet the requirements.
- For orders, the common documents you may need include purchase orders (850), advanced shipping notices (856) and invoices (810).
- For fulfillment they may have specific labeling requirements, package size, specific shipping carriers and SKU packing requirements.
- For invoicing there will be a time component on when you can invoice, also net terms and any negotiated discounts. Make sure your finance team is on board with these requirements.
Explore EDI solution options
Investigate EDI providers, paying attention to those that cater to e-commerce brands. Crstl, for example, offers a no-code EDI platform designed specifically for modern brands. Look for:
- Easy integration with existing e-commerce platforms and tools
- A user-friendly interface that doesn’t require extensive technical knowledge
- Scalability to accommodate growth
- Comprehensive trading partner support and compliance management
A critical piece to this is understanding what your options are. Note that you aren’t tied to one specific provider simply because your retailer mentions them. Some have specific requirements for testing but beyond that, you have the power of choice for the provider you want to work with.
Total cost of ownership
Consider the total cost, not just the initial setup fees. Factor in ongoing transaction costs, maintenance fees, and any charges for adding new trading partners or document types. Ask about the difference between transactions, documents or orders. Some providers will charge for every document vs charging for the entire order. A single EDI order can have an average of three to eight documents. This can cause your costs to skyrocket. Transparency in pricing allows your finance team to set budgets and preserve profit margins.
Customer support and onboarding
Choose an EDI provider that offers robust customer support and smooth onboarding processes. Look for guided setup and ongoing assistance. This support can be crucial, especially if you’re new to EDI or have limited in-house technical resources. Ask about the onboarding support vs the ongoing support so you can plan with your team on handling both.
Key steps for implementation
Once you’ve completed your research and selected an EDI solution, it’s time to begin the implementation process. Here’s a checklist to guide you through the initial stages:
Map Your Business Processes
Map your existing business processes to EDI workflows. This step ensures that the EDI solution integrates with your current operations and addresses your specific needs.
Set Up Trading Partner Connections
This typically involves setting up communication protocols and ensuring your system can send and receive the required EDI document types. The best partners will do the majority of setup with you, showing you where to find the information they need in order to get you connected.
Test and Validate
Your provider should be handling the majority of testing on your behalf. Thoroughly test your EDI setup with each trading partner before going live. This testing phase helps identify and resolve any issues in document formatting, transmission, or data mapping.
Train your Team
Provide comprehensive training to your staff on using the new EDI system. Even with user-friendly platforms like Crstl, it’s essential that your team understands how to manage EDI transactions and troubleshoot common issues.
Go Live and Monitor Performance
Once testing is complete and your team is trained, you can begin using EDI for live transactions. Closely monitor the system’s performance and be prepared to make adjustments as needed.
Plan for Growth
As your business expands, regularly reassess your EDI needs and capabilities. Look for opportunities to leverage your EDI system to support new sales channels or enhance existing partnerships.
Integrating EDI with your existing systems: The Cin7 advantage
As you implement EDI, it’s crucial to consider how it will integrate with your existing systems, particularly your inventory management or ERP solution. For many e-commerce brands, Cin7 serves as the backbone of their operations. The good news is that Cin7’s robust capabilities can significantly enhance your EDI implementation.
Seamless EDI integration with Cin7
Pairing Cin7 with a modern EDI platform like Crstl, creates a powerful, integrated ecosystem that drives efficiency and growth.
Unified Platform: Cin7 allows you to manage your inventory, orders, and EDI transactions all in one place. This eliminates the need for multiple systems, reducing complexity and the potential for errors.
Automated Workflows: With Cin7’s EDI integration, order processing becomes a breeze. The system can automatically pull in EDI orders, update inventory levels, and trigger fulfillment processes.
Real-Time Visibility: Cin7 provides instant insights into order status, inventory levels, and EDI compliance across all your sales channels. This real-time data is crucial for making decisions and maintaining strong relationships with your trading partners.
Scalability: Remember when we talked about the importance of planning for growth? Cin7 and Crstl combined shine in this area. As your business expands, you can easily add new trading partners and EDI document types without extensive reconfiguration. This scalability ensures that your EDI solution can grow with your business.
Leveraging Cin7 for EDI success
By integrating your EDI solution with Cin7, you’re not just implementing EDI. You’re creating a comprehensive system that can handle everything from inventory management to order fulfillment to financial reporting. This integration allows you to:
- Reduce manual processes and errors
- Improve order accuracy and processing speed
- Gain better visibility into your entire supply chain
- Scale your operations more efficiently
As you evaluate EDI, consider how well you can integrate with your existing systems, particularly if you’re using Cin7. A well-integrated solution can multiply the benefits of EDI, helping you achieve the efficiency, accuracy, and scalability you’ve planned for.
Remember, the goal isn’t just to implement EDI, it’s to create a streamlined, efficient operation that can handle your current needs and support your future growth. With the right EDI solution integrated with a powerful platform like Cin7, you’ll be well-positioned to take your e-commerce brand to new heights.
