Sainsbury's EDI Requirements and Compliance Guide
What Sainsbury's expects from supplier EDI, from TRADACOMS orders to EDIFACT price catalogues
Sainsbury's trades with suppliers in EDIFACT and TRADACOMS. The messages to plan for are TRADACOMS ORDHDR (Order File), TRADACOMS INVFIL (Invoice File), EDIFACT INVOIC (Invoice), EDIFACT PRICAT (Price/Sales Catalogue), TRADACOMS PRIHDR (Price Information File).
Sainsbury's trades with suppliers in both EDIFACT and TRADACOMS. Purchase orders arrive as TRADACOMS ORDHDR files, invoices go back as TRADACOMS INVFIL or EDIFACT INVOIC, and price data moves as EDIFACT PRICAT or TRADACOMS PRIHDR. Sainsbury's issues your Supplier ID and GLN once the message set is agreed.
Sainsbury's EDI Messages
These are the EDIFACT and TRADACOMS messages Sainsbury's 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.
Sainsbury's-Specific Message Requirements
- TRADACOMS ORDHDR (Order File): Sainsbury's sends purchase orders in TRADACOMS. Even if you invoice in EDIFACT, your system needs to read ORDHDR files.
- TRADACOMS INVFIL (Invoice File): The TRADACOMS invoice file. Agree with Sainsbury's EDI team whether your account invoices in INVFIL or INVOIC before you map it.
- EDIFACT INVOIC (Invoice): The EDIFACT invoice, the alternative to INVFIL. Whichever you use, it has to carry the Supplier ID and GLN Sainsbury's gave you.
- EDIFACT PRICAT (Price/Sales Catalogue): The EDIFACT price catalogue. Keep the cost prices in your system in step with what Sainsbury's holds so invoices price-match.
- TRADACOMS PRIHDR (Price Information File): The TRADACOMS price information file, used for the same purpose as PRICAT on TRADACOMS accounts.
Compliance Requirements
Here is what Sainsbury's expects from EDI-compliant suppliers:
- Receive purchase orders as TRADACOMS ORDHDR files
- Send invoices by EDI, as EDIFACT INVOIC or TRADACOMS INVFIL
- Exchange price data as EDIFACT PRICAT or TRADACOMS PRIHDR where your category uses it
- Send advance shipping notices and handle proof of delivery where Sainsbury's sets them up for your account; requirements differ for suppliers delivering direct to depot and those delivering to a second-tier site such as a bonded warehouse
- Use the Supplier ID and Global Location Number (GLN) Sainsbury's issues to you
- Connect by direct AS2 or through a VAN; Sainsbury's works with several EDI networks
- Complete testing with Sainsbury's EDI team, including returning its test orders
How to Set Up EDI with Sainsbury's
- Apply to supply through Sainsbury's supplier application form and agree the trading relationship.
- Agree the message types you will exchange with Sainsbury's.
- Receive your documentation from Sainsbury's, including your Supplier ID and Global Location Number (GLN).
- Set up a direct AS2 connection or a VAN connection, and map orders, invoices and any price messages.
- Return the test orders Sainsbury's EDI team sends and work through its test cases.
- Go live once testing passes.
Sources for Sainsbury's EDI Requirements
Sainsbury's issues its message specifications to suppliers during onboarding, so confirm the current version with Sainsbury's EDI team before you build. These are the public sources this page draws on:
- Sainsbury's: Our partners: Sainsbury's supplier page, including the application form for new suppliers.
- SEEBURGER: Sainsbury's EDI: Third-party list of the EDIFACT and TRADACOMS messages exchanged with Sainsbury's.
- Cegedim: Connect to Sainsbury's via EDI: Third-party guide covering Sainsbury's standards, Supplier ID and GLN.
- ecosio: Doing EDI with Sainsbury's: Third-party guide from EDI provider ecosio covering connection options and testing.
How to Achieve Sainsbury's EDI Compliance
Getting compliant with Sainsbury's takes three things: an EDI setup that sends and receives the EDIFACT and TRADACOMS messages Sainsbury's uses, validation that catches errors before a message reaches Sainsbury's, 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 Sainsbury'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 Sainsbury's requirements.
Related Guides and Articles
Learn more about Sainsbury's 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 Sainsbury's.
Open EDIFACT InspectorTrading with US customers in X12 as well? The EDI Inspector reads 850s, 856s and 810s.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sainsbury's trades in EDIFACT and TRADACOMS. The messages on this page are TRADACOMS ORDHDR (Order File), TRADACOMS INVFIL (Invoice File), EDIFACT INVOIC (Invoice), EDIFACT PRICAT (Price/Sales Catalogue), TRADACOMS PRIHDR (Price Information File). Sainsbury'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 Sainsbury's, 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 Sainsbury's message set with us.
Plan for both. Sainsbury's sends orders as TRADACOMS ORDHDR files and takes invoices as EDIFACT INVOIC or TRADACOMS INVFIL, so a setup that reads only one standard will not cover the full order-to-invoice cycle. Sainsbury's EDI team confirms the exact mix for your account.