The retail EDI you'll actually trade — in plain English
Every X12 transaction set, segment, and element a small supplier hits with Walmart, Kroger, Amazon and the rest — what it is, what's in it, and what gets you fined. No login.
Transaction sets
The order itself — what the retailer wants, how much, at what price, ship where.
Your 'got it' — confirm, change, or reject each line of the PO.
What's on the truck — the pack hierarchy, SSCC carton labels, and ship date.
The bill — line prices and totals that must reconcile to the PO and the shipment.
The technical receipt — 'your interchange arrived and parsed' (or didn't).
The retailer changing an existing PO — new quantities, dates, or cancellations.
Your response to an 860 — accept or reject the retailer's change.
On-hand inventory — what you have available, by item.
Your catalog — items, descriptions, and prices the buyer can order from.
The store/DC hierarchy — which locations roll up to which.
Business-level 'your document had a problem' — beyond syntax.
Instruction to a 3PL/warehouse to ship goods out.
Notice that stock is being transferred INTO a warehouse.
The warehouse confirming what it actually received.
The warehouse confirming it shipped your 940 order.
Inventory corrections — damage, counts, reclassification.
Offering a shipment to a trucking carrier.
Carrier tracking updates — picked up, in transit, delivered.
The grocery-industry PO — same job as the 850, different dialect (G-segments, UCS heritage).
Coupon-clearing plumbing — a manufacturer telling its clearing agent which product codes redeem which coupon family.
The grocery-industry invoice — the 875's billing counterpart, standalone detail billing only.
Segments
Reading is good. Testing is better.
Drop a real X12 into the Inspector, or score it against a retailer's actual rules.
"X12" is a trademark of X12 Incorporated. This reference is provided free for educational purposes; descriptions are Rowdy EDI's own and are not affiliated with or endorsed by X12. It covers the retail/supply-chain subset Rowdy supports — not the full X12 standard.