Amazon EDI Integration Guide: Setup, Testing & Compliance

If you're a first-party (1P) vendor, EDI isn’t optional—it’s how Amazon runs Vendor Central.

At CrossBridge, we’ve worked with suppliers of all sizes—those just getting their Vendor Central invite, and those processing hundreds of POs a day. One thing is always true: Amazon expects precision, speed, and full compliance.

This guide gives you the straight path—no jargon, no assumptions that you’ve done this before. Just the essential requirements, integration workflow, and the risks if you get it wrong.

Too busy to handle it all? Book a call with our team. We’ll take the Amazon EDI setup off your plate.

Let’s get into it.

1. Amazon EDI Requirements Explained

If you’re new to Amazon Vendor Central, here’s the headline: EDI is not a “nice to have”—it’s how Amazon runs its supply chain. Every order, every shipment, every invoice—they all move through EDI.

Amazon uses ANSI X12 formats (version 4010 or higher) and expects a flawless exchange of documents through your chosen connection method—usually AS2 over HTTPS.

Let’s unpack what this means.

EDI Format: ANSI X12 & AS2 Over HTTPS

Think of ANSI X12 as the language your systems will use to speak with Amazon. The key message types?

• 850 Purchase Order: Amazon’s order to you
• 855 PO Acknowledgment: Confirms receipt or changes to the PO
• 856 ASN (Advance Ship Notice): Details what’s being shipped and when
• 810 Invoice: Billing statement for the shipped goods

Amazon expects all of these documents to be formatted precisely to spec, or they’ll reject them.

And to send this data? You’ll use AS2 over HTTPS—Amazon’s primary transport protocol.

SFTP and VANs are supported, but less common.

Required Documents at a Glance

While not always required, the 846 Inventory Advice document can streamline backorder handling and improve stock visibility for high-volume vendors.

Manual submissions are banned once EDI is live.

Amazon does not accept emails, PDFs, or portal uploads—only structured EDI transactions.

No Free Web Portal

Unlike some retailers (e.g., Walmart), Amazon does not offer a free Web-EDI interface. If you can’t handle EDI, your only fallback is to manually operate inside Vendor Central’s UI for extremely low-volume fulfillment—something Amazon discourages.

If you're a serious vendor, you’re expected to either build EDI infrastructure or hire a provider. There’s no middle ground.

Trading Partner Setup Process

Amazon doesn’t treat EDI onboarding as a technical courtesy. It’s a screening process.

Once you’re invited to Vendor Central, you don’t get instant access to send POs or invoices. First, you’re required to complete a self-service integration workflow designed to validate that your systems, whether in-house or through a provider, are capable of meeting Amazon’s standards.

Step 1: Access the Self-Service EDI Startup Portal

After you’re accepted into Vendor Central, Amazon provides access to their EDI Self-Service Startup portal. It’s where Amazon begins evaluating your operational readiness.

You’ll be required to complete a technical questionnaire, covering:

• Your AS2 or SFTP connection details
• Your ISA/GS IDs (interchange sender/receiver codes)
• Your product identifiers: ASINs, UPCs, or vendor SKUs
• Your measurement units (e.g., EA, CA, UN)
• Your selected EDI provider (if applicable)
• Your item-level data for test orders: stock status, item cost, price, case quantity
• Your preferred connection method: AS2, SFTP, or VAN

Amazon uses this data to create your trading partner profile and align mappings before live testing begins.

Step 2: Choose Your Connection Type (AS2 / SFTP / VAN)

Amazon offers three options:

• AS2 (preferred): Direct, encrypted transmission over HTTPS. It’s Amazon’s standard, best suited for automation, real-time performance, and scalability.
• SFTP (Amazon-hosted): Secure file transfer. Simpler to set up but less responsive, typically used by smaller teams or older systems.
• VAN (intermediary): A third-party intermediary that relays EDI messages between your system and Amazon. You might use a VAN if your ERP can’t connect directly or you’re managing multiple retailers through one hub—but it introduces monthly fees, slower delivery, and a lack of visibility into failures.

Use AS2 unless you’re constrained by legacy infrastructure. SFTP works for low-volume setups. Avoid relying on a VAN unless absolutely necessary—most vendors choose it for convenience, but it becomes a bottleneck over time.

CrossBridge note: We configure direct AS2 connections to eliminate those weak links, reduce lag, and keep troubleshooting simple.

Step 3: Complete Document Testing

Amazon won’t let you go live until you prove that your system can send and receive every required EDI document without failure.

The testing process includes:

• Receiving test 850 POs
• Responding with 855 PO Acknowledgments
• Submitting test 856 ASNs
• Generating compliant 810 Invoices
• Sending 997 acknowledgments

Amazon verifies:

• Structure (per X12 spec)
• Content (every required field must be filled)
• Timeliness (response SLAs are enforced even in test)

You’ll likely go through multiple test cycles. Each failed mapping or missing value sends you back for revision.

Only after you pass all required tests will Amazon mark you as EDI Production Ready. At that point, your connection goes live, and real orders begin to flow.

Step 4: Maintain Compliance

Amazon’s EDI testing is not a one-and-done process. Once you're live, you're expected to:

• Monitor for spec changes (Amazon updates formats and rules)
• Keep your certificates and connections current
• Respond to every document (e.g., 855 after every 850)

You’ll use the Vendor Central dashboard to track document status, manage chargebacks, and confirm data flow. Amazon does not provide detailed EDI support post-onboarding—they assume you’re handling your own system or working with a qualified provider.

Choosing an Amazon EDI Provider & Setup Options

Amazon doesn’t care which EDI provider you use—only that your system works. But don’t mistake that flexibility for looseness. The compliance bar is high, and most vendors can’t meet it without help.

Amazon Doesn’t Enforce a Specific Provider

You’re free to use any EDI solution that can:

• Handle ANSI X12 documents (4010 or higher)
• Connect via AS2, SFTP, or VAN
• Map Amazon-specific formats and identifiers correctly
• Maintain uptime, accuracy, and responsiveness.

Amazon provides documentation. That’s it. They don’t offer prebuilt connectors or proprietary tools. It’s up to you—or your provider—to align every document field, test response, and error message.

Well-known providers include:

• Truecommerce
• Cleo
• SPS Commerce
• Orderful
• Boomi
• Better EDI

These vendors often advertise “Amazon-ready” solutions with pre-mapped templates and built-in validation tools to reduce setup time and testing cycles.

At CrossBridge, we work directly with these providers on your behalf. You won’t need to coordinate with technical teams, decode mapping specs, or chase compliance errors. We oversee the entire integration process—EDI, ERP, and 3PL systems included—to ensure everything talks to Amazon cleanly and automatically. No guesswork, no gaps, no missed orders.

Provider Role in Setup and Compliance

A capable provider will:

• Map all required EDI documents (850, 855, 856, 810, 997)
• Connect to your ERP and/or WMS
• Pass Amazon’s testing phases
• Monitor for document rejections and chargeback risks
• Update mappings when Amazon changes specs

Amazon doesn’t notify vendors of every change. If your 856 mapping breaks because a field spec changed, you’ll find out when a chargeback shows up.

CrossBridge note: We’ve seen vendors lose thousands over a missing tracking field because their provider didn’t update the mapping fast enough. Make sure whoever you work with has active support and real Amazon experience. 

What About APIs?

Amazon offers a Selling Partner API (SP-API) for other business models (e.g., Seller Central), but this is separate from EDI. For Vendor Central, EDI is the core system unless Amazon specifically enables an API-based path for your use case.

If you’re a 1P vendor, assume EDI is the default, and plan your systems around it.

EDI vs API: Which One Applies to You?

Amazon supports both EDI and API, but not interchangeably.

• EDI is required for standard Vendor Central operations like purchase orders, invoices, and ASNs.
• SP-API (Selling Partner API) is used for other models like Seller Central or Direct Fulfillment vendors.

Unless Amazon specifically invites you to use the API for Direct Fulfillment, assume EDI is mandatory. Even hybrid vendors with both Seller and Vendor accounts must maintain separate systems—EDI for Vendor Central, API for Seller Central.

What If You Use Both Vendor and Seller Central?

Some brands operate under both Amazon Vendor and Seller accounts. It’s important to understand that:

• Vendor Central requires EDI or Direct Fulfillment API (for 1P wholesale)
• Seller Central operates using SP-API (for 3P direct-to-consumer sales)

These systems do not talk to each other, and integration flows must be handled separately.

CrossBridge supports clients running hybrid models by maintaining two independent pipelines, ensuring compliance and automation across both tracks.

Penalties for Non-Compliance

Amazon doesn’t issue reminders—they issue chargebacks. Once you're live, every document must arrive on time, in the correct format, and with no missing fields. 

Fail, and Amazon deducts from your payments automatically.

Common Chargebacks and Their Triggers

• Late or missing ASN (856): $5–$150 per shipment, or 2–6% of the shipment value
• Missing or delayed PO Acknowledgment (855): 1% of the order cost
• Incorrect invoice (810) data: Deductions based on line-item issues
• Missed routing request deadlines: Triggers flat-fee penalties or rejected shipments
• Late or failed delivery appointments: Amazon applies deductions or blocks future routing slots
• Shipping before the ASN is received: Treated as a major violation

Amazon issues these automatically, tracked through the Vendor Central dashboard. They’re labeled with codes and include limited explanation. 

If you dispute, you’ll need documentation—logs, timestamps, acknowledgments—to prove compliance.

Integration Complexity & System Design

Getting EDI to work is one thing. Getting it to run cleanly across your ERP, warehouse, and Amazon’s systems—day in, day out—is something else entirely.

Amazon’s integration demands are high because they expect a fully automated, end-to-end supply chain. That means:

• Purchase orders feed directly into your ERP
• Invoices are generated automatically upon fulfillment
• ASNs are triggered the moment a shipment leaves your warehouse
• Tracking numbers, carton IDs, and shipment references are injected in the exact fields Amazon expects—no manual edits

Without this level of integration, you will miss SLAs, and you will be penalized.

Why It’s Complex

Every document Amazon requires comes with its own mapping, field rules, and validation logic. The 856 ASN alone must include:

• Amazon shipment ID
• Carrier SCAC
• Carton IDs
• Item-level quantities
• Routing data

If even one of these fields is malformed or missing, the ASN is rejected—or worse, accepted and penalized later.

Multiply this across:

• 850 → ERP purchase order
• 855 → order confirmation logic
• 810 → invoice formatting and payment terms
• 856 → WMS-triggered shipment notice
• 997 → document acknowledgment for all of the above

And every one of those documents has to run on Amazon’s version of X12, not your default ERP output.

To stay penalty-free, the entire system must work without manual intervention. That means:

• Validating every document before it’s sent
• Setting up alerts for failures or delays
• Monitoring EDI flow daily, not weekly

CrossBridge manages this layer, catching errors before Amazon sees them and aligning every system touchpoint to evolving compliance standards.

Amazon Also Changes Specs

Amazon updates its mapping guides, field requirements, and routing rules regularly—often without much notice. If your system isn’t built to adapt quickly, you’ll either fall out of compliance or spend days firefighting every update.

This is why off-the-shelf integrations fail over time. What works today breaks next quarter.

The Case for Middleware

Most vendors end up building or adopting a middleware layer—a bridge between Amazon and their internal systems.

This layer:

• Translates Amazon’s formats into ERP/WMS formats
• Inserts and validates required fields
• Automates document acknowledgments
• Flags issues before Amazon sees them

CrossBridge implements this bridge for you. We connect your ERP, 3PL, and Amazon’s endpoints with purpose-built automation that handles the nuance—mapping, routing logic, field population—so that you don’t have to rebuild internal systems from scratch.

The result: You meet Amazon’s standards without breaking your own workflows.

What Amazon Expects

By default, Amazon assumes:

• You have an internal tech team or external EDI provider
• You can maintain 24/7 document flow and uptime
• You can troubleshoot mapping issues without guidance
• You can respond to errors quickly and stay inside SLAs

This is where many suppliers fail—not on product quality, but on system maturity.

Small suppliers can use Vendor Central without EDI—for a while. You’ll be expected to:

• Manually acknowledge POs
• Enter shipment data via the Vendor Central UI
• Upload PDFs or fill out invoice forms manually

But Amazon doesn’t encourage this path. It’s slow, error-prone, and unsustainable beyond very low volumes. Most vendors who stay manual hit a ceiling quickly, either in labor costs or chargebacks.

That’s why Amazon pushes all vendors toward EDI (or API alternatives, which are limited). If you don’t scale your integration, your ability to grow within Vendor Central is capped.

CrossBridge steps in to fill that gap. If you don’t have in-house resources to handle this level of complexity, we manage your EDI flow, maintain compliance, and ensure your internal systems are production-ready.

ERP and 3PL Compatibility

Your ERP system is the brain behind your purchasing, invoicing, and inventory data. It must:

• Ingest Amazon’s 850 POs directly
• Trigger PO acknowledgments (855s) without delay
• Generate clean 810 invoices with Amazon-specific fields and terms
• Sync pricing, terms, and identifiers to avoid invoice rejections

Most ERPs aren’t built to handle Amazon’s X12 specs natively. You’ll need an EDI translator or middleware to map incoming POs into your ERP and extract outbound data in Amazon’s format.

Even common systems like SAP, Oracle, or NetSuite require custom integrations or prebuilt connectors to meet Amazon’s formatting and timing rules.

If your ERP can’t support EDI or API directly, there are still viable fallback methods:

• File-based integration: Many older systems support CSV or XML exports. These can be processed through secure file transfers (SFTP or FTP) and translated to EDI by a middleware layer.
• Middleware solutions: Tools like Cleo or Boomi can bridge your legacy ERP with Amazon’s systems without requiring deep ERP customizations.
• Third-party coordination: Your EDI provider can often build connectors that monitor ERP exports and convert them into compliant EDI documents on your behalf.

CrossBridge Note: We set up our clients with a custom, fully-managed ERP system that’s integrated with Amazon from launch day.

WMS and 3PL: The ASN Bottleneck

The Advance Ship Notice (856) is where most suppliers get burned. Amazon wants to know:

• What’s in the shipment
• How it's packed
• When it’s arriving
• Which cartons are in which shipment
• The Amazon Shipment ID—no exceptions

This level of detail doesn’t sit in your ERP. It’s typically held in your Warehouse Management System (WMS) or handled by your 3PL. If your warehouse can’t generate ASNs or send tracking info back to your EDI system instantly, you’ll miss ASN deadlines.

That’s why the 856 often requires a direct connection between your warehouse and your EDI provider—or a system that can generate EDI-ready shipment data on its own.

Coordinating with 3PLs

If you use a third-party logistics partner, coordination is critical:

• Can your 3PL produce Amazon-compliant ASNs?
• Do they provide carton-level detail, carrier SCAC codes, and appointment IDs?
• Can they send ASN data back to your ERP or directly into your EDI system?

Many 3PLs claim to support EDI, but Amazon’s format is stricter than most. If they can’t supply the required fields or data fast enough, the ASN fails—even if the shipment is perfect.

CrossBridge builds these connections out. We integrate your ERP and 3PL into a single flow, so ASNs are generated automatically from real-time shipping events. No double data entry. No missed fields. No guesswork.

Timeline and Budget Expectations

Most Amazon EDI integrations take between 2 to 12 weeks, depending on the complexity of your ERP, WMS, and how prepared your data is.

• Basic setups (downloading POs, sending invoices) start around $3,000–$7,000.
• Mid-level integrations with ERP/WMS mapping usually range from $10,000–$30,000.
• Enterprise implementations—global, multi-node, or multiple account setups—can exceed $50,000.

The faster your systems are aligned internally, the quicker you can go live. At CrossBridge, we reduce timelines by pre-mapping most ERP systems and managing all provider coordination.

Conclusion and Summary

Here’s what you need to succeed:

• A reliable EDI connection (AS2 preferred) mapped to Amazon’s exact format
• A middleware layer that transforms and syncs data across systems
• A connected ERP and 3PL that feed and receive transaction data automatically
• A provider or partner that can keep up with Amazon’s frequent spec changes
• An internal or external team that monitors document flow in real time

This is not something to delay or cut corners on. The longer you wait, the more risk you absorb with every order.

At CrossBridge, we don’t just handle EDI. We build the entire operational stack—ERP setup, accounting systems, warehousing, supply chain workflows, and last-mile delivery—so your business runs cleanly from PO to doorstep.

Need it handled end-to-end? Book a call.