EDI for Shopify: Solutions for Growth

Whether selling online, in store, on social media, or in a pop-up shop, Shopify delivers the eCommerce solution you need to run your business. However, as your brand grows and you explore introducing new products to your site things could get tricky. In the age of brand stores and competing with Amazon, many brands seek to open up a ‘brand marketplace’ to offer their customer a one-stop shop and greater variety of goods via drop ship. Vendor compliance, onboarding time, and manual data entry can complicate the attempt to open up a brand marketplace, but fortunately there are solutions available to remedy the technical hitches.

Leveraging the experience of an EDI provider is the cure-all for all of the previously mentioned woes. EDI facilitates communication between trading partners, making drop shipping both possible and painless. The flow of EDI documents ensures information sent between partners is accurate and flows much faster than email, fax, or phone calls. Drop shipping without EDI would be filled with headaches as the process would be slower and manual, which opens the door to human errors made while rekeying information.

Integrating your Shopify platform with an EDI provider facilitates the order process, as all necessary procurement documents are sent effortlessly. By connecting directly with your trading partners using EDI, XML, CSV or API orders flow automatically into Shopify, giving you the ability to send and receive POs (Purchase Orders, EDI 850), ASNs (Advance Shipment Notices, EDI 856), PO Acks (Purchase Order Acknowledgements, EDI 855) and Invoices (EDI 810) electronically with no manual entry. Once you receive the EDI 856, you can email your customer to let them know their item has shipped. EDI documents also simplify the ‘pick, pack, ship’ process, ensuring your product gets where it needs to go at a quicker rate.

EDI is also useful for companies looking to expand or engage in business-to-business trading. You can use Shopify Plus to do EDI with large retailers like Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, etc. through a user-friendly website. If you’re a growing company looking to work with big box companies, an EDI provider is a necessity as most Big-Box retailers require their vendors to be EDI compliant.

By electing to implement EDI for your Shopify store, you can seamlessly add new vendors to offer a wider product offering on your site. In addition, you can meet B2B mandates and work with a larger selection of retailers. In the digital commerce landscape of today, your best bet for success is making your brand accessible and giving customer a vast product offering on your site. EDI and Shopify are the perfect pairing to make that happen. Interested in learning more about getting set-up? View our helpful article. 

To learn more, check out our EDI for Shopify page or Contact Us to get started.