EDI guide: document 855
The 855 is where the brand commits. It tells the retailer the 850 arrived, whether every line can ship as ordered, and what changes if it cannot. Most retailers want it within 24 hours.
What it is
An EDI 855 is the purchase order acknowledgment. The brand sends it back to the retailer after receiving an 850 to confirm the order was accepted and to flag any line that will ship differently: short quantity, substituted item, new price or revised date. The 997 says the file arrived; the 855 says the business is happening.
Retailers care about it because their replenishment planning depends on it. If a brand accepts an order it cannot fill, the retailer finds out when the ASN arrives short, which is too late to reorder from someone else. So most vendor agreements set a deadline for the 855 (commonly 24 to 48 hours) and fine suppliers who miss it or who accept everything and then ship short.
The 3PL's role is upstream of the document. The warehouse holds the inventory and knows what can actually ship in the window, so the brand's 855 is only as good as the stock and capacity data the 3PL exposes. A brand that sends an 855 without checking available-to-promise in the WMS is guessing.
Sample layout
Illustrative values. Each retailer or carrier publishes an implementation guide with the exact subset of segments and codes it accepts.
| Segment | What it carries | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ST | Start of the transaction set | ST*855*0001 |
| BAK | Purpose (00 original), acknowledgment type (AC accepted, AD accepted with detail and change, AE accepted with exception, RD rejected with detail), PO number, PO date | BAK*00*AD*4500123456*20260916 |
| REF | References echoed from the 850: department, vendor number | REF*IA*77812 |
| DTM | Dates: 067 current scheduled delivery, 017 estimated delivery | DTM*067*20260925 |
| N1 | Parties: ST ship-to, SF ship-from (often the 3PL's address) | N1*SF*Brand c/o 3PL Warehouse*92*WH01 |
| PO1 | The line as ordered, mirrored from the 850 | PO1*1*48*CA*18.50*PE*UP*012345678905 |
| ACK | Line-level status: IA accepted, IB backordered, IC changed, IQ quantity changed, IR rejected, ID deleted; plus quantity, unit and date | ACK*IQ*36*CA*067*20260925 |
| CTT | Number of line items | CTT*1 |
| SE | End of the transaction set | SE*9*0001 |
How it flows
Common rejection reasons
The failures that show up in 997s, exception queues and retailer chargebacks.
Before you sign
Warehouses whose inventory feeds the brand's 855 in real time.
Questions
Retailer asking for EDI?
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