Modernizing EDI for omnichannel commerce with the Crisp Order Gateway

Connect any system, any partner, any format: Crisp’s Order Gateway combines the best of EDI and API for streamlined order intelligence.

While electronic data interchange (EDI) has traditionally powered brick-and-mortar commerce behind the scenes, its legacy standards haven’t fully adapted to retail’s evolution. As API connections gain prominence, EDI remains necessary – still required by many retail and logistics partners. Beyond EDI and API, organizations continue to use XML, CSV, or even spreadsheets to process, exchange, and record orders.

This technical diversity can create critical challenges for 3PLs, manufacturers, and other retail players, such as order visibility gaps, delayed communications, and overwhelming IT departments to create, or even just maintain, essential connections. As orders flow through disconnected systems, businesses struggle to achieve the real-time responsiveness that modern commerce demands.

Omnichannel retail requires a new approach to order management. Suppliers and logistics partners who aim to excel across Amazon, Shopify, Target, Costco, grocery chains, and their .com marketplaces need seamless, real-time communication to consistently deliver on-time, in-full on their promises.

Legacy EDI and ad-hoc API solution providers fail to support the numerous partners, formats, and processes required for true order management. Modern, advancing commerce requires a flexible, customizable service provider to rise to the occasion of unifying order intelligence for responsive operations and seamless supply chain decision-making – which is where Crisp, the leading retail data platform for collaborative commerce, comes in. What’s more, our structured and automated approach supports an adaptive AI-ready outlook for organizations.

Set up your own Crisp Order Gateway

The Crisp Order Gateway is a transformative approach to order management that bridges the gap between legacy systems and today’s omnichannel reality. We’ve built a flexible, modern platform that combines the best of EDI and API technologies, and which is additionally universally compatible with XML, CSV, flat files, email-based inputs, and more. While other providers claim “all-in-one compatibility”, the Order Gateway is actually customizable and adaptable to your unique business needs, accounting for data systems disparity.

Our team of experts addresses the nuanced challenges of moving order data efficiently across your entire ecosystem, freeing your team from becoming experts in every trading partner’s unique requirements. Key features of our responsive order management solution include:

• Omnichannel native: Crisp Order Gateway operates seamlessly across EDI formats, API, shopping carts, marketplaces, spreadsheets, and more, ensuring no order falls through the cracks regardless of its origin.
• Universal compatibility: We meet your trading partners where they are technologically. Whether they’re sending EDI 850s, JSON via API, XML documents, CSV files, or even email-based purchase orders, the Gateway intelligently processes and normalizes everything into your preferred format without forcing partners to change their systems.
• Predictable flat-rate pricing: We’ve eliminated transaction-based pricing that can punish growth. There will be no surprises when volume spikes during peak seasons or when landing a big new account. Think of it as an unlimited data plan for your order flow!
• Full integration management: Crisp handles everything from initial setup to ongoing partner onboarding, custom mapping specifications, integration testing, and trading partner support. You gain sophisticated integration technology without the typical implementation headaches.
• WMS and ERP connectivity: We’ve already done the hard work of creating standardized connections with major WMS, ERP, and TMS platforms. The Gateway plugs directly into your business systems through pre-configured endpoints that dramatically accelerate deployment timeframes while reducing implementation risks.

Crisp Order Gateway connects your entire supply chain network without the heavy lifting or convoluted maintenance, enabling your team to become ultra-responsive with complete visibility into your operations – today, not after months of implementation work.

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1. Making 3PLs responsive to all

For third-party logistics providers (3PLs), every new client brings their own system preferences, retailer requirements, and timeline pressures, creating complex technology requests that can become overwhelming. Crisp’s Order Gateway framework empowers 3PLs to say “yes” to any client request, fast, with features including:

• Ready-made systems integration: Pre-built connections with popular WMS platforms (like Synapse) and transportation management systems, eliminating complex integration costs.
• Flexible and fast client onboarding: Whether your clients use Shopify, EDI, Excel, or custom formats, Crisp connects to their systems with minimal involvement from your IT team, speeding up your ability to service new business without capacity constraints.
• Simplified retail complexity: Order Gateway processes and translates standardized EDI formats from retailers, so 3PLs don’t have to become EDI experts or manage the complexities of each retailer’s unique requirements.
• Scalable client management: When clients come and go, the Order Gateway minimizes connection disruption by handling the technical details of onboarding and offboarding.

Order Gateway processes and translates standardized EDI formats from retailers, so 3PLs don’t have to become EDI experts or manage the complexities of each retailer’s unique requirements.

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2. Streamlining order intelligence for manufacturers

Supplier manufacturers navigate a complex world of omnichannel commerce, where inventory decisions have ripple effects across sales channels and fulfillment networks. They need full transparency across every retail channel to plan around valuable inventory and resources while meeting diverse customer expectations.

• One integration point: Crisp Order Gateway serves as a single connection point to send and receive orders, shipping confirmations, all-important change orders, inventory updates, and more across warehouses, sales channels, distribution centers, and more. 
• Reduced IT burden: Crisp manages retailer complexity and maps formats to manufacturers’ internal systems, minimizing the need for specialized EDI expertise in-house and freeing IT resources for strategic initiatives.
• Omnichannel excellence: Whether selling through Amazon, big-box retail, including Target and Costco, or distributors, Order Gateway ensures compliance and consistency for seamless communications while normalizing records for organizational use.
• Accelerates expansion: Adding new sales channels becomes straightforward, quickly creating quality data flows across new partners.
• All-around visibility: Complete insight into omnichannel order statuses, inventory positions, and shipment confirmations to make faster, better-informed decisions and provide better service to customers, wherever their purchase journey.

Complete insight into omnichannel order statuses, inventory positions, and shipment confirmations help CPGs make faster, better-informed decisions and provide better service to customers.

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3. Enabling retailers and distributors with the finest order management systems

Retailers and distributors thrive on accuracy, speed, and visibility to meet everyday evolving consumer demands, putting trust in thousands of trading partners. Crisp delivers significant advantages that strengthen these critical relationships and enhance order management.

• Real-time order tracking: Immediate visibility into order status and updates from all suppliers and warehouses through a unified interface, eliminating blind spots in your supply chain.
• Technical flexibility: Support mixed technology stacks – whether you prefer API, EDI, CSV, XML, or other formats, Order Gateway normalizes communications.
• Enhanced vendor compliance: Boost compliance by streamlining vendor onboarding with clear documentation and expert support from the Crisp team.
• On-time in-full performance: Enhances your ability to receive accurate, timely deliveries from 3PLs and manufacturers with clean information exchange, improving customer satisfaction and reducing out-of-stocks.

Retailers and distributors thrive on accuracy, speed, and visibility to meet everyday evolving consumer demands, putting trust in thousands of trading partners. Crisp delivers significant advantages that strengthen these critical relationships and enhance order management.

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The foundation for scalable, intelligent operations

Structured, streamlined data is table stakes for modern supply chains. The Crisp Order Gateway keeps partners across channels connected, enabling a flow of clean order intelligence that forms the essential foundation for real-time analytics, AI-driven innovation, predictive workflows, and future-facing operational agility. It’s a cornerstone of Crisp’s collaborative commerce platform, creating the infrastructure for modern retail and beyond.

Get started with the smart choice for EDI and order management by contacting Crisp today. Or email Alex Phan directly at alex.phan@gocrisp.com.