Boots EDI Requirements and Compliance Guide

Boots trades EDI with suppliers over OpenText's TRADANET network, mainly in TRADACOMS. Suppliers exchange orders, advance shipping notices, invoices and remittance advices, and pharmacy suppliers also send credit notes. Retail and pharmacy accounts use different mappings, so build to the specification for your side of the business.

Boots' EDI Messages

These are the TRADACOMS and EANCOM messages Boots exchanges with suppliers. Where we have a guide, the card links to a segment-by-segment breakdown. New to the standards? Start with the EDIFACT guide or the TRADACOMS guide.

Boots-Specific Message Requirements

• TRADACOMS ORDHDR (Order File): Before go-live Boots runs EDI orders alongside its email orders, so check each EDI order against the email copy until the parallel run ends.
• ASN (Advance Shipping Notice): Boots expects an advance shipping notice for deliveries. Confirm which message carries it for your account type.
• TRADACOMS INVFIL (Invoice File): Invoices go back in TRADACOMS. Retail and pharmacy invoice mappings differ, so test the one that matches your account.
• TRADACOMS CREHDR (Credit Note File): Only pharmacy suppliers send credit notes by EDI.

Compliance Requirements

Here is what Boots expects from EDI-compliant suppliers:

• Set up a VAN mailbox on OpenText TRADANET using the Supplier ID Boots gives you, or connect directly to Boots' EDI provider
• Receive purchase orders and send invoices in TRADACOMS
• Send advance shipping notices for deliveries
• Send credit notes by EDI if you are a pharmacy supplier
• Receive remittance advices
• Use the mapping for your account type: retail and pharmacy mappings differ
• Run EDI orders in parallel with email orders before go-live

How to Set Up EDI with Boots

1. Enrol as a Boots supplier and get your Supplier ID and supplier site access from your Boots contact.
2. Set up a VAN mailbox on OpenText TRADANET, or a direct connection to Boots' EDI provider.
3. Exchange generic test files to prove the connection.
4. Send test documents for every message type your account uses.
5. Run EDI orders in parallel with email orders.
6. Go live on the date agreed with your Boots contact.

Sources for Boots' EDI Requirements

Boots issues its message specifications to suppliers during onboarding, so confirm the current version with Boots' EDI team before you build. These are the public sources this page draws on:

• Boots supplier site: Boots' site for existing suppliers, including the supplier manual. Your Boots contact sets up access.
• ecosio: Doing EDI with Boots: Third-party guide from EDI provider ecosio covering Boots' documents, retail and pharmacy mappings, network and onboarding.
• Cegedim: Connect to Boots via EDI: Third-party guide covering Boots' TRADACOMS standard and VAN mailbox setup.

How to Achieve Boots EDI Compliance

Getting compliant with Boots takes three things: an EDI setup that sends and receives the TRADACOMS and EANCOM messages Boots uses, validation that catches errors before a message reaches Boots, and a connection to your ERP so orders flow through without re-keying.

UK grocery and health and beauty retail runs on two standards. UN/EDIFACT, usually in the GS1 EANCOM subset, is the international standard and the one GS1 recommends for new EDI users. TRADACOMS is the older UK-only standard. GS1 UK stopped supporting it in 2017, but many UK retailers still trade in it. Products are identified by GS1 barcodes, and pallets carry a GS1-128 logistics label with an SSCC that the despatch advice references.

OrderSync processes EDIFACT, EANCOM, and TRADACOMS orders in the same pipeline as your X12, PDF, CSV, and email orders. Our purchase order automation checks each order against your product catalogue, pricing, and Boots' requirements before it syncs to your ERP. To check a message by hand, paste it into the free EDIFACT inspector.

Only trading with one or two retailers and no ERP to connect? Web EDI, or an agent that runs it for you, may be enough to meet Boots' requirements.

Related Guides and Articles

Learn more about Boots EDI requirements and compliance best practices: