Apparel wholesale and retail EDI fulfillment ships your clothing to department stores, boutiques and online retailers exactly the way each buyer's vendor guide demands. Retail compliance is detailed and unforgiving, so it is built into the process rather than bolted on.
How retail EDI works for apparel brands
Retail EDI is the electronic exchange of business documents between your brand and a retailer. For most apparel wholesale programs the core documents are the purchase order (EDI 850), the advance ship notice (EDI 856) and the invoice (EDI 810). Many retailers also use PO changes (860), PO acknowledgments (855) and inventory or product data documents.
When a retailer sends a purchase order, it flows into the fulfillment system and becomes a wholesale order. After cartons are packed, the ASN tells the retailer exactly which items, sizes and quantities are in each carton, linked to the carton label. The invoice follows. If the ASN does not match what physically arrives, the retailer's receiving process breaks, and deductions often follow.
GS1-128 labels, prepacks and carton rules
Every retail carton typically carries a GS1-128 shipping label, sometimes still called a UCC-128 label, with a unique SSCC that ties the physical carton to the ASN. Labels must be placed where the retailer specifies, and carton dimensions and weights often have limits.
Apparel orders also introduce prepacks: fixed size ratios packed together, such as one small, two mediums, two larges and one XL. Retailers may order by prepack, by single unit or by a mix, and may require cartons to contain only one SKU or one prepack. We configure these rules per retailer, pack to them and label accordingly, including hangtags, price tickets or retailer UPC stickers when your trading partner requires them.
Routing guides and avoiding chargebacks
A routing guide is the retailer's rulebook for how shipments must be prepared and delivered: carrier selection or booking portals, appointment scheduling, pallet height and labeling, packing list placement, ship windows and documentation. Violations generally trigger chargebacks, which are deductions taken from your invoice payment.
We document each trading partner's routing guide requirements during onboarding and build them into the wholesale workflow. Ship windows are tracked so orders are neither late nor early, freight is booked through the retailer's required process, and pallets are built and labeled to spec. When a retailer issues a deduction, shipment records and photos help you dispute it if the shipment was compliant.
Boutiques, marketplaces and mixed channels
Not every wholesale account uses EDI. Independent boutiques often order through wholesale marketplaces or by spreadsheet, and those orders can be imported and fulfilled as smaller carton shipments with packing slips and, if desired, your line sheet or care cards.
Because DTC, marketplace and wholesale orders all draw from one inventory pool, you can see total available stock by variant and decide how much to allocate to each channel. Allocation matters most before a large retail PO ships, when you may want to reserve sizes so your own website does not sell out of the stock promised to a retailer.
What's included
- EDI 850, 855, 856, 860 and 810 support
- GS1-128 carton labels with SSCC
- Prepack ratios and single-SKU carton rules
- Retailer hangtag, price ticket and UPC labeling
- Routing guide setup per trading partner
- Freight booking, appointments and pallet compliance
- Inventory allocation across DTC and wholesale
Frequently asked questions
Which EDI documents do apparel retailers require?
Most apparel retailers require at least the purchase order (850), advance ship notice (856) and invoice (810). Many also use PO acknowledgments (855) and PO changes (860), depending on the trading partner.
What is a GS1-128 label?
A GS1-128 label is a standardized carton shipping label with a unique Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) that links the physical carton to the ASN sent to the retailer.
What is an apparel prepack?
An apparel prepack is a fixed ratio of sizes packed together as one orderable unit, such as one small, two mediums, two larges and one XL, used by retailers to buy a balanced size run.
Can you help reduce retailer chargebacks?
Yes. Building each retailer's routing guide rules into fulfillment, sending accurate ASNs and labeling cartons correctly addresses the most common causes of chargebacks, and shipment records support disputes.