EDI

Booksolve’s EDI system is available as a module of our management software for bookshops, Booksolve.net. Some features are included as standard when you choose our stock control module, including availability at key wholesalers. 

Booksolve’s EDI solutions make order processing easy

Booksolve’s EDI for bookshops allows you to: 

• Receive electronic orders from your website or trade bureau. These can then be imported into Booksolve.net as orders.

• Check your stock availability at either your other shops or your wholesaler/distributor, and forward orders straight to wholesalers without having to key in a single ISBN!

• Move stock across a number of branches if you have more than one bookshop.

Booksolve supports commonly used EDI standards such as TRADACOM and EDIFACT. We have also worked with PubEasy to develop SOAP interfaces which adhere to BIC industry standards.

EDI can be especially useful for chains of bookshops. If you have more than one store, it can help you to move stock between branches, providing a complete audit trail of how the stock has moved. These transfers can all be managed electronically. 

What is EDI?

EDI stands for electronic data interchange and is simply a way for businesses to exchange documents and information in a standardised format. This can be particularly helpful if you’re a bookshop who relies on warehouses and distributors to ship your orders directly, instead of sending them from your shop premises.

EDI messaging, therefore, can reduce the risk of human error when sending orders between shops and distributors. It’s also faster than using physical documents, reducing the need for repetitive keying in of data or the risk of lost/damaged paperwork. 

EDI can be used to send payment confirmations, receipts, orders to be processed, and more. This makes it a vital tool for bookshops that want to maintain a level of efficiency and accuracy. 

There are a number of EDI standards available, but generally they don’t work with one another. This is because each standard follows a different format and structure. Much like two people talking in two different languages, the standards cannot understand and interact with each other. Some standards include EDIFACT, TRADACOM, X12 and EANCOM.