Marks & Spencer EDI Requirements and Compliance Guide
Marks & Spencer's EDI setup over OpenText, and why the ASN drives payment
Marks & Spencer trades with suppliers in EDIFACT and TRADACOMS. The messages to plan for are EDIFACT ORDERS (Purchase Order), EDIFACT ORDRSP (Order Response), EDIFACT DESADV (Despatch Advice (ASN)), EDIFACT INVOIC (Invoice).
Marks & Spencer trades EDI with suppliers through OpenText Business Network. Its EDI team tests each new connection with test orders, and suppliers return order responses and invoices. M&S has also announced a move to self-billing, where it raises the invoice when it receives the supplier's ASN, which makes the despatch advice the document that gets you paid.
Marks & Spencer's EDI Messages
These are the EDIFACT and TRADACOMS messages Marks & Spencer 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.
Marks & Spencer-Specific Message Requirements
- EDIFACT ORDERS (Purchase Order): M&S sends test orders once your mappings are set up, before any live orders flow.
- EDIFACT ORDRSP (Order Response): Return an order response for each order. It is one of the documents M&S checks during testing.
- EDIFACT DESADV (Despatch Advice (ASN)): Under M&S's self-billing model the ASN triggers the invoice, so a missing or wrong ASN means a missing or wrong payment.
- EDIFACT INVOIC (Invoice): Suppliers invoicing directly send INVOIC. On self-billing, reconcile M&S's self-billed invoice against what you despatched.
Compliance Requirements
Here is what Marks & Spencer expects from EDI-compliant suppliers:
- Connect to OpenText Business Network, directly or through a connected EDI provider
- Receive purchase orders and return order responses
- Send an ASN for each delivery; under self-billing, M&S raises the invoice from it
- Send invoices by EDI where your account is not on self-billing
- Confirm with M&S whether your category trades EDIFACT or TRADACOMS
- Complete M&S's testing, which covers business scenarios such as different delivery types
How to Set Up EDI with Marks & Spencer
- Agree the trading relationship with M&S and get your supplier details.
- Connect to OpenText Business Network through your EDI provider.
- Map orders, order responses, ASNs and invoices to the M&S specification for your category.
- Process the test orders M&S sends and return order responses and invoices.
- Work through M&S's test cases for your delivery types, then go live.
Sources for Marks & Spencer's EDI Requirements
Marks & Spencer issues its message specifications to suppliers during onboarding, so confirm the current version with Marks & Spencer's EDI team before you build. These are the public sources this page draws on:
- ecosio: EDI connection with Marks & Spencer: Third-party guide from EDI provider ecosio covering M&S's network and testing process.
- Cegedim: Why EDI matters in retail (2023): Third-party roundup of UK retailer EDI changes, including M&S's move to self-billing on ASN receipt.
How to Achieve Marks & Spencer EDI Compliance
Getting compliant with Marks & Spencer takes three things: an EDI setup that sends and receives the EDIFACT and TRADACOMS messages Marks & Spencer uses, validation that catches errors before a message reaches Marks & Spencer, 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 Marks & Spencer's 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 Marks & Spencer's requirements.
Related Guides and Articles
Learn more about Marks & Spencer EDI requirements and compliance best practices:
Related Resources
How to Answer "Are You EDI Capable?"
A buyer asked, and you need to answer this week. The four things they are checking, what you can say yes to today, and a realistic date for the rest.
- What a buyer is really asking when they ask this
- The minimum set-up that makes the answer yes
- What you can answer today versus what needs building
- Rough timelines, so you can give a date rather than a maybe
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Check Your EDIFACT Messages
Paste an EDIFACT message into our free inspector and read it segment by segment before it goes to Marks & Spencer.
Open EDIFACT InspectorTrading with US customers in X12 as well? The EDI Inspector reads 850s, 856s and 810s.
Frequently Asked Questions
Marks & Spencer trades in EDIFACT and TRADACOMS. The messages on this page are EDIFACT ORDERS (Purchase Order), EDIFACT ORDRSP (Order Response), EDIFACT DESADV (Despatch Advice (ASN)), EDIFACT INVOIC (Invoice). Marks & Spencer's EDI team issues the specification for each one during onboarding, and the version you are given is the one to build to.
The first cost is operational. A delivery that arrives without a matching despatch advice has to be receipted by hand, and an invoice that does not match the order gets queried before it is paid. Any charges for non-compliance are set in your supply agreement with Marks & Spencer, so check the terms you signed.
Yes. OrderSync processes EDIFACT, EANCOM, and TRADACOMS orders alongside X12, PDF, CSV, and email orders, checking each one against your catalogue and pricing before it reaches your ERP. Book an intro call to walk through Marks & Spencer's message set with us.
Under self-billing, M&S creates the invoice on the supplier's behalf when it receives the supplier's ASN. Your ASN quantities become the invoice quantities, so ASN accuracy decides what you are paid.