1995 Called. They Want Their File Format Back: A Modern Look at EDI

If you’ve ever had to deal with EDI, you know it’s a bit like speaking a second language.

Let’s be honest—EDI is old, rigid, and ugly. Not because it’s inherently bad, but because the rules around it have ballooned over decades of patches, add-ons, and exceptions that are anything but standard. And yet, it’s still how retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers exchange a massive portion of their B2B order data.

So here’s the paradox: EDI is essential. But it’s also fundamentally broken.

Let’s unpack why—and how OrderEase is navigating (and modernizing) this outdated ecosystem with an EDI integration platform built for B2B.

What EDI Actually Is

At its core, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is just a document format. It’s a recipe that defines how two trading partners should exchange structured data like purchase orders, invoices, and shipping notices.

But here’s the twist: the format is “standard”… with built-in permission to deviate from the standard. So what starts out as an 850 purchase order (seemingly universal) ends up being completely different depending on whether it’s coming from Costco, Metro, or an automotive supplier.

“It’s a standard—but it’s not a standard. Because everyone’s allowed to tweak it.”
— Rob Tigwell, CTO, OrderEase

Still wondering "What is EDI?" This blog explains more 

Why EDI Is Still So Painful

1. It's Technically Ugly

EDI is designed for machines, not humans. That’s why most providers hide the raw files behind portals. The data isn’t just hard to read, it’s painful to troubleshoot when something goes wrong. You don’t get clean feedback like you would from an API. Instead, you get a 997 (basically: “We received something… good luck”).

2. It’s Designed for Dial-Up, Not Data

Back when bandwidth was expensive, keeping files small was everything. So EDI documents use two-character codes and tightly-packed data strings. Today, we stream 4K movies on demand… but we’re still getting charged by the kilo character like it’s 1995.

3. It’s Gatekept by an Inner Circle

Legacy providers are gatekeepers. They’ve made certification intentionally painful, expensive, and slow—not to protect quality, but to protect their turf.

How OrderEase Works Around the Madness

We’re Not Just Translating Documents—We’re Managing Orders

Most EDI vendors were built to send documents. OrderEase was built to manage orders through EDI integration. That’s a crucial difference.

We normalize order data (EDI or not), insert intelligent checks and workflows (like confirming quantities before pushing to ERP), and give your ops team clean visibility across every step. We don’t just make EDI look pretty—we make it work for modern businesses.

“We started with a different premise: help people exchange order information—not just EDI documents.”
— Rob Tigwell

So… Is EDI Going Away?

Not anytime soon.

While some innovators are displacing EDI with APIs, change is slow. Legacy retailers and ERP systems aren’t switching overnight. The monopoly is crumbling, but EDI will likely stick around for another 20–30 years.

In the meantime, OrderEase bridges the old with the new. We handle the complexity behind the scenes so your team can work with clean, modern order data—regardless of where it started.

Final Thoughts

You shouldn’t have to understand complex EDI docs to sell to Costco or Home Depot. You shouldn’t have to pay by the thousand-character block. And you definitely shouldn’t have to suffer through 96-document certifications just to get orders flowing.

You just need your orders delivered.
Cleanly. Accurately. Automatically.

And that’s what OrderEase is built to do.