Receiving EDI Purchase Orders | ShipWave Help Center

The flow at a glance

A retailer's system fires off an 850 to SPS Commerce. SPS validates the document and forwards it to ShipWave's webhook. ShipWave parses the 850, applies the trading partner's routing guide to pick a warehouse, maps the retailer's SKUs to your products via the SKU map, and creates a normal ShipWave order. From your perspective, it looks like any other order in the queue—just tagged with the retailer's name and PO number. From there, the standard ShipWave fulfillment flow takes over.

Routing guide auto-application

Every retailer has a routing guide that defines things like: which warehouse to ship from based on the destination region, which carriers and service levels are allowed, packaging requirements, BOL formatting rules, and delivery-window constraints. ShipWave encodes the routing guide as a set of rules under Admin → EDI → Trading Partners → [Retailer] → Routing. Inbound 850s are run through these rules automatically: shipments are pre-assigned to the right warehouse and carrier so pickers don't make routing mistakes.

SKU mapping (RetailerSkuMap)

Retailers reference your products by their own internal IDs—Walmart Item Numbers, Target DPCIs, Costco item numbers—not your SKUs. ShipWave keeps a RetailerSkuMap per trading partner that translates retailer IDs to your internal SKUs. When you first connect a partner, upload the SKU map as a CSV (or build it row by row from the UI). Each row: retailer ID, your SKU, and optional notes. If a 850 contains a retailer ID with no map entry, the order is marked Unknown SKU and waits for you to resolve before processing.

Resolving unknown SKUs

Open the order from the queue and click the unmapped line item. ShipWave shows the retailer's ID and description and a search field for your products. Pick the right product, save, and ShipWave both fixes this order and adds the entry to the SKU map so future POs auto-resolve. If the retailer added a brand-new item you don't carry yet, mark the line item as Cannot fulfill—ShipWave will include the rejection in the 855 acknowledgement so the retailer knows.

The 855 acknowledgement

Within minutes of importing an 850, ShipWave generates and sends an 855 PO acknowledgement back through SPS. The 855 confirms the PO number, accepts or rejects each line item, and signals your expected ship date. By default, lines with mapped SKUs and available inventory are accepted; lines with unknown SKUs or backorder status are flagged. You can override 855 behavior per partner in routing rules if a retailer prefers a manual review step before acknowledgement.

FAQs

What if the routing guide says ship from a warehouse I don't use?

Edit the routing rule under the trading partner settings to point at a warehouse you do use. ShipWave doesn't enforce the retailer's guide—it just applies what you configured.

Can I auto-reject lines below a minimum stock level?

Yes. In routing rules, set an inventory threshold per SKU. The 855 will reject any line that would push you below it.

How fast does the 855 need to go out?

Most retailers require 855 within 24 hours of receiving the 850. ShipWave sends within minutes, well inside the SLA.

Receiving purchase orders: how 850s become ShipWave orders