EDI & B2B Retail

Connecting a trading partner (Walmart, Target, etc.) to ShipWave

Onboard a new retailer through our SPS Commerce integration, with sandbox testing before going live.

What you need before starting

Gather these from the retailer's vendor onboarding packet:
  • Your vendor number (assigned by the retailer).
  • The retailer's SPS trading partner ID (sometimes called brokerTradingPartnerId).
  • Their routing guide (PDF or web link describing carton requirements, label specs, BOL rules, and chargebacks).
  • A SKU mapping if the retailer uses their own product IDs that differ from your SKUs.
If you don't have these yet, contact the retailer's vendor relations team—they'll send you a vendor packet on request. SPS Commerce can also help locate them.

Adding the trading partner

Go to Admin → EDI → Trading Partners and click Add partner. Pick the retailer from the dropdown (we pre-populate every retailer SPS supports—there are hundreds). Enter your vendor number and the brokerTradingPartnerId from your packet. Upload the routing guide PDF so the team has it on hand. Save.

Sandbox vs production

New trading partners always start in sandbox mode. In sandbox, SPS sends ShipWave fake 850s and accepts your 855/856/810 responses without forwarding them to the real retailer. This is where you and SPS verify the mapping is correct. Typical sandbox phase: 5–15 test transactions over 1–3 weeks. Once SPS approves, you flip a single switch in ShipWave's trading partner settings to promote to production. Real orders start flowing immediately.

Webhook setup

When an 850 hits SPS Commerce, SPS posts it to ShipWave's webhook endpoint and we import it as an order. The webhook is shared across your entire Organization—there's no per-partner endpoint to configure. ShipWave routes inbound documents to the right Brand and warehouse based on the trading partner ID and the ship-to address in the document. If routing is ambiguous, the order lands in an unrouted queue for you to review (rare).

After going live

Once you're in production, the trading partner's dashboard at Admin → EDI → Trading Partners → [Retailer] shows live activity: incoming POs, outgoing ASNs, invoice status, and compliance metrics. See Receiving purchase orders for what happens to inbound orders and Sending ASNs for outbound shipments. If a document is rejected by the retailer (rare in production—sandbox catches almost everything), it appears in the partner's error queue with a parseable reason.

FAQs

How long does sandbox testing take?
Most retailers complete in 1–3 weeks. Walmart and Target tend to be faster (well-documented maps). Smaller regional chains can drag on if their EDI team is small.
Can I connect a retailer SPS doesn't support?
In rare cases, yes—contact ShipWave support to discuss a direct AS2 connection. SPS supports every major retailer in North America, so this almost never comes up.
Can I run the same retailer for multiple Brands?
Yes. Add the trading partner once per Brand. Each Brand gets its own vendor number and orders are kept isolated, though they all flow through the same SPS connection.

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