Skip to content
MENUMENU
  • Support
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Customer Portal
  • Partner Portal
Remote Support
  • Select Your Industry
    • Distribution
    • Manufacturing
    • eCommerce
    • Services
  • Software
        • Acumatica Cloud ERP
          • General Business Edition
          • Distribution Edition
          • Manufacturing Edition
          • Construction Edition
          • Retail-Commerce Edition
        • Sage 100cloud
          • General Financial Management
          • For Distribution
          • For Manufacturing
          • With eCommerce
          • Add-ons and Integrations
        • Sage100 eCommerce
          • Sage 100 Woocommerce Integration
          • Shopify ERP integration
          • Sage100 EDI
          • Sage 100 AIA billing
          • Sage100 Certified Payroll
          • Sage 100 Union Payroll
        • Additional Software
          • Avalara AvaTax
          • Sage AP Automation
          • Sage CRM
          • Sage Fixed Assets
          • Sage Intelligence
          • Sage Inventory Advisor
          • See All >
  • Services
    • ERP Business Consulting
    • ERP Data Migration
    • ERP System Training
    • Custom Financial Reporting
    • Custom Programming
  • Resources
    • Checklist
    • Whitepaper
    • Video
    • Report
    • Guide
    • eBook
    • Product Sheet
    • Blog
    • Infographic
    • Ultimate Guide to Acumatica
    • Ultimate Guide to Sage 100
  • About Us
    • Why Kissinger?
    • Referral Program
    • Careers
  • eCommerce Solutions, Uncategorized

The Changing EDI Landscape

Share this:

  • Diane Schultz Diane Schultz
  • November 7, 2017

For over 50 years, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and its underlying standards have been providing the groundwork that has enabled the exchange of data via electronic means. For such an embedded set of standards it’s counterintuitive to think that new EDI strategies, business practices, and tactics are evolving every year. At Kissinger, we are constantly at the forefront of new EDI ideas. Awareness of EDI industry trends and strategies is part of who we are.

Our question for customers is always this: Are you riding the change, or running from it?

Just as standard business practices are always evolving (not to mention the constant evolution of communications software), EDI communication methods and models are always evolving too. The most successful companies are using that change to benefit their bottom line. Relatively new markets like Amazon tend to find it easier to “ride the change,” as their practices and standards are very much still in flux.

Amazon’s relationship with Vendor Central is at the core of who Amazon is. Manufacturers and distributors use Vendor Central (a web interface) to sell on Amazon. In a sense, they act as bulk suppliers to Amazon. That relationship seems like a tried and true, very basic EDI framework – inventory lists, shipment tracking, invoices, etc. Information communication that used to be done on paper turned into digital communication, much the way Amazon has turned brick-and-mortar sales into a digital marketplace.

And yet, Amazon has put tremendous pressure on traditional sales companies to compete. Their approach utilizes – almost completely – EDI methods to begin, close, and track sales, though they also see the value in web based, API integrations for data transfer (i.e. Seller Central). The magic recipe seems to be a balance of old and new technology command. For Amazon, being at the very forefront of change in communication has earned them enormous success. Academics will study the rise of Amazon for years to come.

At the opposite end of the spectrum stands one of the most recognizable brick-and-mortar empires of our time: Walmart. In 1950, Sam Walton began his legend by purchasing and opening Walton’s 5 & 10. 67 years later, purchasing at Walmart is a routine of most Americans day-to-day lives.

Despite its storied history and fabulous success, Walmart is not running from a changing EDI communication marketplace. They have a vast digital communications infrastructure utilizing the AS2 communication method and standard EDI technologies to boost their brick-and-mortar sales and compete with Amazon’s online empire. Only recently has Walmart ventured out into the web space with the acquisition of Jet.com a marketplace that only uses API integration and not EDI (for now – there are rumors that Jet.com will piggyback on Walmart’s EDI via AS2 infrastructure.

Both Amazon and Walmart seem to have tracked and utilized an EDI strategy that we at Kissinger prize very deeply: bidirectional EDI usage. Like all effective communication methods, EDI does not exist as a one-way-street. Vendors communicate with consumers, and consumers communicate with vendors. Using EDI to capitalize on the consumer to vendor communication, rather than just the vendor to consumer, has allowed Amazon and Walmart – behemoth companies by any account – to 1) save time and money by moving much of their consumer communication digital, 2) track consumer communication allowing for better monitoring of trends and potential emerging crises, and 3) maintain a robust community for their online consumers.

Whether we like it or not, the EDI landscape is always evolving and shifting. New technologies and methods can provide companies with better tools to build a better bottom line. At Kissinger, we pride ourselves in our understanding of and presence in that changing landscape. Don’t run from change – let Kissinger help you ride it.

Related

Back to the Main Blog Page

Be the first to know!
Get new posts delivered to your inbox:

Recent Posts

5 Challenges for Modern Distributors to Overcome in 2023

Read More »
Customizable ERP

Customizable ERP with Sage 100

Read More »

8 planning tips for ERP eCommerce integration project success

Read More »
Categories
  • Acumatica
  • Certified Payroll
  • Cloud
  • Consulting
  • Digital Transformation
  • Distribution
  • eCommerce Solutions
  • ERP Software
  • Industry Event
  • Manufacturing
  • News
  • Paya (Sage Payment Solutions)
  • Payroll
  • Press Release
  • Sage 100
  • Sage Inventory Advisor
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • Union Payroll
Connect with us
Linkedin Facebook Twitter Youtube
Sign up for our emails
Industries
  • Distribution
  • Manufacturing
  • eCommerce
  • Services
Software
  • Acumatica Cloud ERP
  • Sage 100cloud
  • Kissinger Solutions
  • Additional Software
  • Sage 100 eCommere & EDI
  • Sage 100 eCommerce Integration
  • Sage 100 EDI
  • Sage 100 Enhancements
  • Sage 100 AIA Billing
  • Sage 100 Certified Payroll
  • Sage 100 Union Payroll
About Us
  • Why Kissinger?
  • Referral Program
  • Careers
Can we help?
  • Support
  • Customer Portal
  • Partner Portal
  • Contact
  • Blog

Kissinger Associates helps businesses reach their full potential with software solutions and consulting services that harness technology to empower employees, serve customers with excellence, and maximize profitability.

Kissinger Associates, Inc.

2117 Main Street
PO Box 220
Centerport, PA 19516
(800) 562-5456
info@kissingerassoc.com

© 2000-2022 Kissinger Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy

Remote Support Links

Your Kissinger consultant will indicate which remote support option to choose.

join.me
mikogo
fixme.it

The remote support software will open in a new tab or window.