EDIFACT in German grocery retail

EDIFACT remains the canonical language of the supply chain between suppliers and large German retail. With around 2.5 billion messages exchanged per year, Germany is the second-largest European EDIFACT market after France. The 2025-2028 E-Rechnung reform does not erase EDIFACT — it forces it to converge toward EN 16931 for the invoice segment.

Chains and their EDI portals

The German retail landscape is dominated by two cooperative/family groups (Edeka, REWE), two global discounters (Aldi, Lidl), a cash-and-carry (Metro), and specialised drogerie chains (dm, Rossmann). Each operates its own supplier EDI portal.

GS1 Germany EANCOM 2002 subset

The subset used by German retail is EANCOM 2002 (Syntax 3 and 4 majority), maintained by GS1 Germany via its Application Recommendations (AR). This subset specifies 35 EDIFACT messages enriched for the German retail context.

• GS1 Germany GmbH — national registry entity for GTIN (Global Trade Item Number), GLN (Global Location Number), SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code). Headquartered in Cologne, over 70,000 member companies.
• EANCOM 2002 Syntax 3 (UN-EDIFACT D.01B) — most widespread in Germany, compatible with legacy German ERPs (SAP R/3, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Lexware).
• EANCOM 2002 Syntax 4 (UN-EDIFACT D.07B) — modern version with better support for GS1-128 barcodes (SSCC), variable data (GS1 AI), and EPCIS traceability. Deployed at Lidl and Kaufland since 2018.
• EANCOM Application Recommendations. Sectoral subsets published by GS1 Germany: "Lebensmittel" (food), "Drogerie" (drugstores), "Bau- und Heimwerker" (DIY), "Apotheke" (pharmacy), each with its own restriction rules and GS1 codification.

Day-to-day messages

The daily EDI life of German retail relies on around ten EDIFACT EANCOM messages, structured around order, shipment, invoice, and their acknowledgements:

Anatomy of a REWE ORDERS

Below is a simplified example of an ORDERS message exchanged between REWE Group and a fictitious supplier, conformant to the EANCOM 2002 Syntax 3 subset used at REWE Systems Köln.

UNB+UNOC:3+4045432000004:14+4250555000003:14+260519:0905+REWE000729'
UNH+1+ORDERS:D:01B:UN:EAN010'
BGM+220+REWE-91-2026-000729+9'
DTM+137:20260519:102'
DTM+2:20260521:102'
RFF+CT:VTR-2024-REWE-1487'
NAD+BY+4045432000004::9'
NAD+SU+4250555000003::9'
NAD+DP+4045432900012::9'
LIN+1++4006381333931:EN'
QTY+21:288'
PRI+AAA:1.79'
LIN+2++4006381334006:EN'
QTY+21:144'
PRI+AAA:2.49'
UNS+S'
CNT+2:2'
UNT+15+1'
UNZ+1+REWE000729'

• UNB — Interchange envelope: sender GLN 4045432000004 (REWE central), receiver GLN 4250555000003 (supplier), interchange reference REWE000729.
• UNH — ORDERS message header version D.01B (UN/EDIFACT) + EANCOM subset EAN010.
• BGM 220 — Document type "Order", number REWE-91-2026-000729.
• DTM 137 — Document date (2026-05-19), DTM 2 = requested delivery date (2026-05-21, i.e., D+2).
• RFF CT — Reference to the supplier framework contract (VTR-2024-REWE-1487).
• NAD+BY/SU/DP — Buyer / Supplier / Delivery point (REWE Hamburg-Hammerbrook warehouse).
• LIN + QTY + PRI — Product lines: GTIN-13 + ordered quantity (QTY code 21 = "ordered quantity") + net unit price.

DESADV, SSCC and GS1-128 palletisation

DESADV (Despatch Advice) is the most complex message in the cycle. It accompanies every physical shipment and carries pallet structure: for each pallet, its 18-digit SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) + the breakdown of cartons and products by pallet.

UNB+UNOC:3+4250555000003:14+4045432000004:14+260521:1410+DES000291'
UNH+1+DESADV:D:01B:UN:EAN005'
BGM+351+DES-2026-000291+9'
DTM+137:20260521:102'
DTM+11:20260521:102'
RFF+ON:REWE-91-2026-000729'
NAD+SU+4250555000003::9'
NAD+BY+4045432000004::9'
NAD+DP+4045432900012::9'
CPS+1'
PAC+12'
PCI+33E+004250555000000291:SSCC'
LIN+1++4006381333931:EN'
QTY+12:288'
LIN+2++4006381334006:EN'
QTY+12:144'
UNS+S'
CNT+2:2'
UNT+15+1'
UNZ+1+DES000291'

• RFF ON — Link to the originating order (ORDERS REWE-91-2026-000729), essential for automatic reconciliation on receipt.
• CPS — Consignment Packaging Sequence: start of the packaging hierarchy. CPS+1 = pallet 1.
• PAC 12 — Packaging level "Logistic Unit" (Euro pallet 80×120 cm standard).
• PCI 33E — Packaging Description, code "Container ID" — carries the 18-digit SSCC prefixed "00" (GS1 AI 00 length).
• LIN + QTY 12 — Actually shipped quantity (QTY code 12 = "despatched quantity"), to be compared with QTY 21 from the ORDERS.

German EDI networks and providers

The German EDI operators market is fragmented, with a coexistence of large international actors and national specialists:

• SEEBURGER AG (Bretten) — German leader, ~50% of German EDI retail/automotive market. Cloud Services + on-premise Business Integration Suite. Connected to all REWE/Edeka/Aldi/Lidl portals.
• Lobster (Pöcking) — vendor of Lobster_data, low-code EDI integration platform. Targets industrial SME suppliers to large retailers.
• Cleo (Rockford US, DACH presence) — cloud EDI operator, rapid growth since 2020 on new entrants (food e-commerce).
• OpenText (Waterloo CA, ex-GXS) — historical market player, Trading Grid network infrastructure. Still used by Metro Cash & Carry, dm.
• EDICOM (Valencia ES, Düsseldorf branch) — multi-country, strong on pan-European groups (Schwarz Gruppe + Lidl France/Spain).
• B2BE (Bingen am Rhein) — WebEDI specialist for SME suppliers unable to invest in a direct AS2 connection.

Volume and market share

GS1 Germany publishes an annual report on B2B retail electronic exchanges. 2024 data (latest available report):

• Total EDIFACT retail Germany volume: ~2.5 billion messages per year (vs 3 billion in France).
• B2B adoption rate: 95% of purchase orders between food retailers and industrials are done in EDIFACT (vs PDF/email).
• Product coverage: 8.2 million active GTINs in the German GS1 Sync database (price/product reference shared by all actors).
• Error rate: 0.4% of messages trigger a negative APERAK, mainly linked to invalid barcodes or price mismatches.
• Average latency: 4.2 seconds for AS2 transmission + CONTRL validation, 18 minutes for application APERAK (compared to 6h average on X.400 network in the 2000s).

Coexistence with the E-Rechnung reform

The big question 2025-2028 for German retail: what happens to EDIFACT INVOIC under the Wachstumschancengesetz? The BMF letter of 15 October 2024 provides a clear two-step answer:

1. Until 31 December 2027: EDIFACT INVOIC allowed by bilateral agreement, subject to extraction of mandatory EN 16931 fields (generally via an EDIFACT→XRechnung or EDIFACT→ZUGFeRD mapper).
2. From 1 January 2028: obligation to migrate all B2B invoices to XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. Other EDIFACT messages (ORDERS, DESADV, RECADV, PRICAT) remain allowed without limit — they are outside the §14 UStG scope.

In practice, chains have adopted three migration strategies:

• Progressive migration to Factur-X/ZUGFeRD: REWE and Edeka have announced a 2026-2028 schedule (REWE Systems "ZUGFeRD Implementation Project").
• B2B XRechnung adoption: Metro and Lidl/Kaufland position themselves on pure XRechnung (CII), arguing for consistency with their PEPPOL stack for international.
• EDIFACT-to-EN 16931 on-the-fly mapping: Aldi (both groups) announced keeping EDIFACT INVOIC internally and generating a shadow XRechnung for post-2027 legal archiving.

Cross-links

• Germany hub — full e-invoicing mandate
• Wachstumschancengesetz — legal foundation
• ZUGFeRD — post-EDIFACT pivot format
• EDIFACT Germany — Automotive (VDA)
• EDIFACT retail France (comparison)
• GS1 Germany — official site
• GS1 — EANCOM international standard
• SEEBURGER — German EDI leader