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EDI Amazon Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment 846
X12 EDI

Amazon X12 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice

X12 846 (Inventory Inquiry/Advice) is the EDI transaction exchanged between Amazon (Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment) and its trading partners. Stacksync handles full compliance, mapping, and real-time delivery.

Segments
9
Loops
2
X12 846
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Transaction context

Where 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice fits on Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment

Amazon channels
1 of 4

1 of Amazon's 4 channels carries 846

Trading partners
117

partners across the Stacksync network trade 846

Channels
137

channels network-wide carry 846

Most common alongside 846

The 846 publishes inventory positions between trading partners: quantities on hand, committed, and available by item and location. Retailers and marketplaces depend on it to decide what to display as sellable, which makes it foundational to drop-ship and e-commerce programs where the supplier holds the stock. Many retailers require the feed daily or multiple times per day, so stale or inaccurate data translates directly into oversells and cancelled orders. Typically sent by a supplier, warehouse, or 3PL to a retailer, marketplace, or distributor; a buyer can also send it as an inventory inquiry.

When it fires: A scheduled inventory snapshot, often daily or intraday per retailer requirements, or a stock-status change that must be pushed to selling channels.

Common 846 rejection causes
  • Incorrect BIA transaction purpose codes (original 00 vs replacement 05 vs incremental 25), causing feeds to duplicate or overwrite existing inventory data.
  • Missing DTM 007 effective date, leaving the inventory snapshot without a temporal anchor and making the data unreliable for replenishment decisions.
  • Product identifier and unit-of-measure mismatches between partners (SKU/UPC/GTIN, EA vs CS), causing mapping failures and misread quantities.
  • Inaccurate or infrequent updates relative to the retailer's required cadence, leading to oversold items and cancellations.

Specification summary

X12 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice at the element level

The X12 846 specification defines 26 segments carrying 77 data elements, 48 of which are mandatory.

Segments
26
Data elements
77
Mandatory elements
48
Segments with mandatory elements
Segment Elements Mandatory
BIA 5 4
N1 4 1
LIN 7 2
REF 2 1
QTY 2 1
DTM 4 1
SCH 7 4
LS 1 1
LE 1 1
N2 2 1
Key identifiers in 846
  • Transaction Set Purpose Code
  • Report Type Code
  • Reference Identification
  • Date
  • Entity Identifier Code
  • Product/Service ID Qualifier
  • Product/Service ID
  • Reference Identification Qualifier
Full segment guideline — 9 segments 2 loops · X12 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice
ISA Interchange Control Header 16 elements

To start and identify an interchange of zero or more functional groups and interchange-related control segments

GS Functional Group Header 8 elements

To indicate the beginning of a functional group and to provide control information

ST Transaction Set Header 2 elements

To indicate the start of a transaction set and to assign a control number

BIA Beginning Segment for Inventory Inquiry/Advice 5 elements

To indicate the beginning of an Inventory Inquiry/Advice Transaction Set

N1 Loop Repeat: 5
N1 Name 4 elements

To identify a party by type of organization, name, and code

LIN Loop Repeat: 10,000
LIN Item Identification 3 elements

To specify basic item identification data

SDQ Destination Quantity 4 elements

To specify destination and quantity detail

CTT Transaction Totals 2 elements

To transmit a hash total for a specific element in the transaction set

SE Transaction Set Trailer 2 elements

To indicate the end of the transaction set and provide the count of the transmitted segments (including the beginning (ST) and ending (SE) segments)

Trading partners

4+ trading partners.
And every channel covered.

We connect to every major retailer, distributor, and 3PL on the EDI network. Type to search the directory, or browse the full catalogue.

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Amazon Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment EDI 846 FAQ

Common questions about 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice on the Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment channel.

What is X12 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice?
X12 846 (Inventory Inquiry/Advice) is the EDI transaction set used to exchange inventory inquiry/advice data. Amazon's Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment channel requires it from trading partners.
Does Amazon Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment require 846 for trading partners?
Yes, Amazon (Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment) supports X12 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice. Stacksync handles the full integration so your team can focus on operations.
How fast can I integrate Amazon 846 with Stacksync?
Most companies go live with Amazon 846 on Stacksync in days. Pre-built mappings, no-code setup, and real-time monitoring make EDI compliance straightforward.
Which documents accompany 846 on Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment?
On Amazon Dropship - Direct Fulfillment, X12 846 is typically exchanged alongside 850 Purchase Order, 856 Ship Notice Manifest, 810 Invoice, 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment. Stacksync maps each document into the same ERP or WMS workflow, so the full cycle stays in sync end to end.

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