Overview
The EDI integration method benefits you as a brand by automating order processing. This option requires the least overhead and is the most efficient. An EDI integration requires an existing EDI connection (SPS, TrueCommerce, etc.). EDI is a good option for brands with large order volumes that might not have the bandwidth to process orders manually.
*Note: While order processing will be automated, refunds/returns and order cancellations will still need to be manually processed using the ExpertVoice Admin portal.
What is EDI? (Electronic Data Interchange)
EDI describes the format of electronic documents and is commonly used for e-commerce solutions. EDI has been evolving with different versions, revisions, and sub-revisions. ExpertVoice currently supports EDI Versions 4010 (most commonly used) and 4030. EDI Integration
If you have questions about EDI, please contact your Customer Success partner.
Processing Details
How to process orders using EDI
Please reference the attached document for further guidance and instructions regarding processing orders via EDI.
Advanced Ship Notice (ASN) Handling
Fill & Kill ASN Handling
Expertvoice EDI integrations default to ‘Fill and Kill’ handling of the EDI 856 (ASN) document. Fill and Kill logic allows one ASN transaction per EDI 850 Purchase Order (PO); payment is collected for all items marked shipped on the ASN, and anything not marked shipped on the ASN is canceled. Fill and Kill logic provides an easy approach to order management. We understand that not all Distribution Centers can accommodate Fill and Kill order fulfillment; if this is the case, please let your EDI implementation manager at ExpertVoice know, and we can discuss Split Ship Handling.
Split Ship ASN Handling
If Fill and Kill isn't viable, Split Ship integration is set up to allow multiple EDI 856 (ASN) documents. This logic allows more than one ASN transaction per EDI 850 Purchase Order (PO); payment is collected for all items marked shipped on the ASN, and anything not marked shipped on the ASN is left open until fulfilled. This allows for shipments from different warehouses or large items requiring more than one package. Please keep in mind that anything not fulfilled within the 168-hour time frame (see below for more detail) will be at risk for payment decline as the credit card authorization expires at that point.
Combined Shipping Across Deals for EDI
Combining shipping costs
ExpertVoice is releasing a new feature that will allow orders made across multiple deals (or stores) from your brand to be combined into one order and, therefore, packaged and shipped as one shipment. This enhancement is expected to reduce the expense of shipping by decreasing the number of packages and the time to pack and ship orders separately. Experts will only need to pay one shipping fee for these orders, making it even easier for them to order more products from your brand.
Why does this matter?
As we continue to add more interesting ways for brands to target specific users with great deals through outlets and Flash Deals, we increase the likelihood that experts order multiple products from the same brand across multiple deals (or stores). In the past, this caused separate orders and order IDs to be sent to our brand partners, who then had to process, package, and ship products for each deal separately. This would also cause our experts to pay shipping for each one of those deals. All of the above lead to unnecessarily high shipping expenses for brands and prohibitive shipping costs for experts.
EDI and PID
Some special considerations apply to our clients who use electronic data interchange (EDI) to process orders from ExpertVoice.
Our default EDI configuration applies a Program ID (PID) to each order in a “REF*PID” segment. This PID defaults to BROFORM and RETAIL_EPP (broform being a historical term representing orders placed by a pro audience). A few brands have requested deeper customization of these REF*PID values. The ExpertVoice audience includes many experts who are dually affiliated with both retail credentials and pro access and who qualify for deals through both paths. When these dual retail and pro experts avail themselves of both a pro and retail deal in the same checkout, we will send a single EDI document with the “RETAIL_EPP” program ID. However, invoicing and commission calculations will remain unchanged, will still be based on shipped sub-orders, and will maintain fidelity to the deals being accessed.
We suspect many brands do nothing at all with the segment and that other brands can tolerate some variance in the Program reporting. But we need to confirm this with all of our clients using EDI.
Combined EDI PO vs Per-Deal EDI PO
As mentioned, the in-checkout calculation of shipping due for orders spanning multiple deals will be modified to show a single shipping amount. How this is reflected on purchase orders (PO) can vary based on brand setup.
Per-Deal EDI PO
For some brands, the order management software implementation is sufficiently robust to recognize and combine shipments to the same address and person. In these cases, no further changes will be required other than enrolling in the Shipping Across Deals checkout experience. The brand configuration will remain as “per-deal EDI POs, " meaning a PO will be sent for each deal.
The only change to current processing that will be encountered is that the shipping cost will now be allocated proportionally across multiple EDI POs. For example, if the expert buys from two deals with $10 flat rate shipping, we will now allocate a portion of the $10 shipping to each PO. Special surcharges are applied at an item level and will continue to show on the PO containing the item with the shipping surcharge.
Combined EDI PO
If your order fulfillment system is unable to recognize and combine shipments to the same address and the same person, ExpertVoice can support combining orders from the same checkout event into one PO.
In Summary, per-deal POs is the way to go if:
- Your order management implementation recognizes and combines shipments already
- Your shipment costing implementation is not going to be broken by splitting shipping amounts
If neither of those scenarios applies to you, we recommend the combined PO.
Combined EDI Non PID-Dependent processing
What do I need to do?
- Nothing. Unless your Order Management Software references the REF*PID segment (Program ID) to validate discounts or inventory allocation. If you suspect you are doing this, please let us know so we can discuss remediation and testing.
What will change?
- Experts eligible for more than one deal type (Retail and Pro or some team plus a promo store) will now be able to place orders that mix items from both deal types. Expertvoice EDI processing will default to allocating those orders to Retail in the EDI PO but will continue to break out the invoicing at the line item level. Previously, you would have seen two separate POs.
Combined EDI with Program ID Dependencies (PID)
What do I need to do?
- We have determined that your Order Management Software references the REF*PID segment in the 850 PO to validate discounts or inventory allocation. ExpertVoice will coordinate with your EDI contact to run some tests to ensure your system can handle the updated PO format.
What will change?
- Experts who are eligible for more than one deal type (Retail and Pro or either plus a promo store) will now be able to place orders that mix items from both deal types. This 850 PO update consists of combining multiple POs and removing the existing REF*PID segment, and adding TW*PID to the PO1 segment, as shown below:
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