Pacejet

Retail Shipping Process Flow

Shipping to Retailers

Customers that ship to retailers have to follow complex shipping compliance guidelines. There is no standardization across retailers in terms of shipping requirements and each retailer has their own specific rules that manufacturers must follow. These retailers are called ‘Trading Partners’ and typically include big box stores such as Target and Walmart. As a result of the complex shipping compliance guidelines, the way Pacejet implements and supports these customers requires an understanding of the complexities of shipping to retailers.


Retail Shipping Process Flow

Manufacturers receive orders from their trading partners through their ‘EDI’ (Electronic Data Interchange) vendor. Once they are ready to fulfill an order, they need to produce both a shipping label (for carrier to complete the delivery) and a label for the receiving company (UCC-128 or GS1-128). Before the retailer receives the shipment, the manufacturer is required to send an ASN (Advanced Ship Notice), sometimes called an ASN 856, to the retailer through the EDI outlining the inventory being shipped and container details. Both the ASN and the UCC-128/GS1-128 include the SSCC (Serialized Shipping Container Code). Which is a unique number for each container in the shipment and includes the companies GS1 code (a code that identifies the manufacturer). This label also includes a barcode (in the symbology required by the trading partner) which allows the retailer to scan the container upon arrival to reconcile the shipment with their EDI system and add the items to inventory.



EDI vendors are vital to manufacturers and distributors to ensure compliance and successful shipment transmission to various retailers.


Manufacturer/Distributor to Retailer Shipping Process Flow

  1. Order is received through EDI and sent to ERP system.

  2. Order is processed in ERP system.

  3. Create SSCC for each container in the shipment.

  4. Create/print the GS1/UCC128 (which includes the SSCC) for each container in the shipment.

  5. Send ASN 856 to trading partner which includes the containers in the shipment with their SSCC.

  6. Send shipment via chosen carrier.

  7. Receiver scans SSCC and either accepts/rejects the shipment.

  8. If accepted, shipment is added to inventory.

  9. Transmit invoice.

Most EDI providers do not have an automated way to complete the Process Flow steps.


Shipment Types Accepted by Retailers

  • Ship to Distribution Center: ship a large quantity to the distribution center where it is stored and then picked/packed as needed to distribute to individual stores. Example: a box of 5,000 pens is sent to a distribution center, then as stores need inventory, a few hundred are picked, packed, and sent from the distribution center to individual stores.

  • Ship to Store: this type of shipment is more of an exception. Example: It is back-to-school season and the Lewis Center Kroger is out of black pens which are in high demand. An order is placed directly with the pen manufacturer and sent directly to the store to quickly replenish inventory.

  • Ship to Distribution Center But Mark for Store: manufacturer ships to the distribution center, but the company has asked for assistance in labeling products by individual store. Example: 5,000 pens are sent to the distribution center in boxes of 500. The distribution center communicated in their order that 4 boxes are for the Lewis Center store, 3 are for the Delaware store, and 3 are for the Westerville store. The manufacturer has labeled the individual boxes so they can be easily sorted and placed in each locations staging area. This practice allows the distribution center to easily and quickly receive and ship out inventory. Therefore, they request that it is already “marked for” the store ultimately receiving the inventory; this is called cross docking.

  • Ship to Consumer: the manufacturer/distributor asks for the shipper to send the product directly to the consumer like buying on Walmart.com and the shipper is sending the product directly to the consumer's home. In this model, the retailer never takes possession of the inventory at the distribution center or the store. UCC labels are not needed for this type of retailer shipments, however, the retailer will commonly request that the Shipper become "blind" in the process. This means asking the shipper to list the Retailers name and/or address as the Ship From on the label. In NetSuite, this is accomplished with the use of Pacejet's Ship From Override. Sometimes the Retailer requires their format of a Packing Slip to be used. Pacejet recommends use of NetSuite's Advanced PDF to create these forms.


Pacejet customers typically use one of the following EDI providers.

  • Xebec Data

  • B2B Gateway

  • DI Central

  • Dell Boomi

  • EZ Commerce

  • True Commerce/High Jump

  • SPS Commerce

SPS Commerce is a Pacejet partner that offers all the functionality listed above, but not automated.