Dropship EDI: Keeping Inventory Feeds Accurate When Orders Arrive One at a Time

Dropship changes the rhythm of EDI. Instead of a few large orders, you receive many small ones, each going to a single customer. This guide covers the three areas where accuracy matters most: inventory, cancellations and shipment confirmation.

Inventory feeds

Retailers rely on the inventory you report to decide what they can promise a customer. The document commonly used is the 846 Inventory Advice, an electronic update of what you have available.

• Send it often enough. If you sell out between updates, orders will arrive for stock you no longer have.
• Report what is truly available. Count stock set aside for other orders or channels as unavailable.
• Handle zero cleanly. When an item runs out, report it as out of stock promptly, not by letting the feed go stale.

Retailers set their own rules for feed timing and format, so confirm them in your retailer’s guide. Some retailers also offer API options for inventory, as we discuss in EDI vs. API.

Cancellations

With one order per customer, a single cancellation is a single customer who is waiting. Plan how you will respond when:

• an item is found to be out of stock after an order arrives,
• a customer cancels before shipment, or
• an order needs a change, such as an address correction.

The 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment and the 860 Purchase Order Change are the documents commonly used. Reply quickly, and make sure your system shows the same status the retailer does.

Shipment confirmation

Once an order ships, the retailer needs to know. The 856 Advance Ship Notice commonly carries the carrier and tracking details. Send it as soon as the shipment is on its way. Late or missing confirmations can lead to customer service contacts for the retailer and may count against you.

Keeping it accurate

• Reconcile your inventory feed against your warehouse counts on a regular schedule.
• Review cancellations to find patterns, such as the same item going out of stock.
• Match every shipped order to a confirmation.

Every retailer sets its own dropship rules, so confirm yours before you build or change a feed.