Morrisons EDI Requirements and Compliance Guide

Morrisons has moved its supplier EDI from TRADACOMS to EDIFACT D96A and made advance shipping notices mandatory. Suppliers exchange purchase orders, order amendments, ASNs, invoices and credit or debit notes, connecting through OpenText's TRADANET network or a direct AS2 link.

Morrisons' EDI Messages

These are the EDIFACT and TRADACOMS messages Morrisons 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.

Morrisons-Specific Message Requirements

• EDIFACT ORDERS (Purchase Order): Purchase orders arrive as EDIFACT D96A ORDERS. Older connections received TRADACOMS ORDHDR files.
• EDIFACT ORDCHG (Order Change): Morrisons sends amendments to open orders. Apply them to the order in your system and pick to the amended quantity.
• EDIFACT DESADV (Despatch Advice (ASN)): Morrisons requires ASNs. The DESADV tells the depot what is on the vehicle before it arrives.
• EDIFACT INVOIC (Invoice): Invoices and credit or debit notes go by EDI. Invoice the quantities you despatched, which may differ from the quantities first ordered.
• TRADACOMS ORDHDR (Order File): The TRADACOMS order file Morrisons used before EDIFACT. Suppliers set up before the switch may still see it.
• TRADACOMS INVFIL (Invoice File): The TRADACOMS invoice file Morrisons used before EDIFACT.

Compliance Requirements

Here is what Morrisons expects from EDI-compliant suppliers:

• Trade EDIFACT D96A messages: ORDERS, ORDCHG, DESADV and INVOIC
• Send an advance shipping notice (DESADV) for deliveries; Morrisons has made ASNs mandatory
• Apply purchase order amendments to the open order before you pick
• Send invoices and credit or debit notes by EDI
• Connect through OpenText's TRADANET network or set up a direct AS2 connection
• Pass Supplier Onboarding Verification testing and a live-proving phase
• Confirm whether any of your flows still use TRADACOMS files from before the switch

How to Set Up EDI with Morrisons

1. Contact Morrisons' EDI team, which also gives you access to its testing portal.
2. Set up a connection through OpenText's TRADANET network or a direct AS2 connection.
3. Map EDIFACT D96A orders, order changes, despatch advices and invoices.
4. Exchange EDIFACT test messages in the Supplier Onboarding Verification phase.
5. Complete live-proving: process orders in your live system and send the turnaround messages.
6. Go live once Morrisons signs off.

Sources for Morrisons' EDI Requirements

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

• ecosio: Morrisons EDI: Third-party guide from EDI provider ecosio covering the EDIFACT D96A switch, documents, network and onboarding phases.
• Cegedim: Why EDI matters in retail (2023): Third-party roundup of UK retailer EDI changes, including Morrisons' ASN mandate.

How to Achieve Morrisons EDI Compliance

Getting compliant with Morrisons takes three things: an EDI setup that sends and receives the EDIFACT and TRADACOMS messages Morrisons uses, validation that catches errors before a message reaches Morrisons, 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 Morrisons' 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 Morrisons' requirements.

Related Guides and Articles

Learn more about Morrisons EDI requirements and compliance best practices: