Connect Sortly to EDI instantly
Join thousands of businesses moving EDI orders, invoices and fulfilment updates between Sortly and their trading partners on XEDI, no manual re-keying.
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Getting started with Sortly EDI
XEDI connects Sortly to retailer EDI where it is useful to do so, and is honest about where the portal on its own is the better answer, because Sortly tracks inventory rather than processing sales orders.
One managed platform, no custom code
XEDI maps Sortly to your trading partners and validates every document, so data flows straight into the systems your teams already use.
Sortly tracks inventory; it does not process a retailer's order
Being straightforward about this saves everyone time. Sortly is good at knowing what you have and where it is. It is not a sales order processing system, it does not hold a customer's trading terms, and it does not raise a commercial invoice against a purchase order.
An EDI programme needs those things. So for most Sortly users the integration is not the centre of the answer: the portal is, with Sortly feeding stock visibility and item identification into it.
Which is usually fine, and cheaper than the alternative
A business tracking stock in Sortly is often at the point of winning a first or second retail listing. The retailer requires EDI, and the instinct is that this means buying an ERP first. It does not.
The portal receives the order, your team confirms what is being sent, the despatch advice and pallet labels are produced, and the invoice follows. Sortly keeps doing what it does. When volume justifies a fuller system, the retailer-facing side does not change, because it never depended on what you ran internally.
What your team sees day to day
You get an EDI mailbox and a portal that works like an inbox. Retailer orders arrive, you are notified, and there is one place to work them rather than a PDF in somebody's email.
The order becomes the despatch advice, amended where you are sending more or less than ordered, with SSCC labels for the pallets, and becomes the invoice on delivery, whose arrival is confirmed in the dashboard.
Where Sortly is connected it supplies stock visibility and item identification alongside that. If you later move to a system that can process orders properly, the integration changes and the retailer sees no difference at all.
Documents you can exchange
- Stock levels read from Sortly for availability
- Item and folder data used to identify what a retailer is ordering
- Retailer orders received and worked in the XEDI portal
- Despatch advice and ASN messages raised from what you ship
- Invoices raised on delivery
Built for Sortly teams
Whoever owns Sortly in your business, XEDI keeps EDI accurate and hands-off.
- Small businesses winning a first retail listing
- Teams tracking stock without a full ERP
- Operations managers working from spreadsheets and Sortly
- Founders handling their own fulfilment
- Businesses deciding whether they need a WMS yet
Sortly EDI document types
These are the flows a retailer will require. Where they are produced from depends on how much of the chain Sortly is realistically carrying.
| Document | What it carries | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase orders | Retailer demand received in the portal, with Sortly consulted for what is actually in stock. | Retailer to XEDI |
| Order acknowledgements | Confirmation of what you will supply, raised once availability is known. | XEDI to retailer |
| Advanced shipping notices | Pallet and carton detail from what you are actually sending, with SSCC labels for the retailer's goods-in. | XEDI to retailer |
| Invoices | Raised once the delivery is confirmed, carrying the references the retailer matches on. | XEDI to retailer |
| Credit notes | Credits against the invoice they adjust, where a delivery is short or rejected. | XEDI to retailer |
| Stock levels | Read from Sortly to inform what can be committed, rather than maintained separately. | Sortly to XEDI |
How to connect Sortly with EDI using XEDI
The first step is establishing how much of the chain Sortly can sensibly carry, which is usually less than people expect. The sequence below is what onboarding looks like from your side.
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01
We establish what Sortly is doing for you, since it is an inventory tracker rather than an order processing system.
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02
We agree which parts of the flow Sortly should feed, usually stock visibility and item identification.
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03
We set up the portal so retailer orders are received, acknowledged, despatched and invoiced there.
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04
We prove each flow against what the retailer requires, whether or not Sortly is involved in that step.
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05
You get retailer trading working properly, and a clear answer on when a fuller system is worth having.
Ready to connect Sortly?
Talk through documents, mapping, testing and go-live with XEDI.
Everything about Sortly EDI
Common requirements
- Sortly account and API access
- Item and folder structure
- How stock levels are maintained and how current they are
- Who processes orders today and where
- The trading partners you deal with, or plan to
What we need from you to build it
Only what we cannot hold for you. Retailer requirements are already ours; what we need is an honest picture of how you operate today.
- Sortly access
- API credentials and the item and folder structure, so stock and identification can be read reliably.
- How current your stock is
- How often Sortly is updated and by whom, because committing to a retailer against stale figures causes short deliveries.
- Who processes orders
- Who receives and confirms a retailer order today, since the portal will replace whatever that is.
- Packing and pallet configuration
- Units per carton and cartons per pallet, which most retailers require on the despatch advice.
- Which retailers you supply
- The retailers you have won or are pitching. We hold what each of them expects.
Why suppliers choose XEDI for Sortly
- The retailer who has just listed you is very likely connected already, so you can start supplying them without any software changing.
- You can meet a retailer's EDI requirement without buying an ERP first.
- We are direct about what Sortly can and cannot carry, rather than selling an integration that would not help.
- SSCC labels and despatch advice are produced to each retailer's format whether or not a warehouse system is involved.
- Moving to a fuller system later changes our side, not what the retailer receives.
- If a retailer raises a problem, it comes to us, which matters most when there is no operations team to absorb it.
Can Sortly handle retailer EDI on its own?
Not really, and it is better to say so. Sortly tracks inventory rather than processing sales orders or raising commercial invoices, so the portal carries the trading relationship and Sortly supplies stock visibility and item identification.
Do we need to buy an ERP to trade with a retailer?
No. Many businesses trade through the portal alone for a considerable time. An integration is added when re-keying becomes the bottleneck, and the retailer sees no change when it is.
What happens when we outgrow Sortly?
The retailer-facing side does not move, because it never depended on what you ran internally. The integration changes on our side and your trading continues unchanged.
Plan your Sortly EDI setup
Everything you need to scope, map and go live with Sortly, in one place.