LOWE’S EDI Special Orders Sales (SOS) Program

Lowe’s Special Orders Sales (SOS) program provides Lowe’s vendors with additional revenue opportunities in Lowe’s stores and is one of the  primary growth vehicles. As with any major initiative, Lowe’s is constantly reviewing the operational model, looking for ways to reduce costs for both  customers and suppliers.

The implementation of EDI for Special Orders is one of these initiatives. If a vendor has been asked to utilize this process with Lowe’s, their company has been selected by their Lowe’s Merchandising Team to participate in Lowe’s EDI program for Special Orders Sales.

SOS EDI will benefit the vendor in the following areas:

• Increase accuracy of orders
• Improve information flow to vendors
• Reduce SOS Adjustment Errors by systematically eliminating the manual process
• Improve customer service by providing timely, accurate order status information
• Reduce Invoice Discrepancies

SOS EDI requirements:

• SOS Approved – vendor must be approved by Lowe’s Merchandiser to supply Lowe’s Special Order product.
• Electronic Catalog – All SOS Item Data must be setup in Lowe’s E-Catalog, SOS Kitchen Design Catalog, or SOS Configurable Catalog. This is required before EDI testing can begin.
• EDI-INT – Internet EDI is recommended to exchange data with Lowe’s. SOS vendors are asked to retrieve orders throughout the day as Lowe’s will process SOS Orders in a Realtime mode.
• EDI 850 SOS PO – SOS POs for shipments to Lowe’s store or direct to a customer/installer and EDI SOS PO Cancellations will be transmitted to the vendor.
• EDI 997 Functional Acknowledgement (FA) – used by the vendor to confirm receipt of the EDI 850 SOS PO. Lowe’s will send the vendor an 997 FA to confirm receipt of the EDI 870 and 810 transactions.
• EDI 870 Order Status Report – used to convey information on the status of SOS orders by the vendor.
• EDI 810 Invoice – required via EDI for all SOS POs that are shipped.
• EDI Testing – All vendors must complete testing of all EDI documents before advancing to production.

SOS order flow:

1. Create EDI PO – When an SOS order is created, Lowe’s system confirms the vendor is SOS EDI certified and verifies the SOS items exists in one of Lowe’s electronic catalogs before it can be transmitted.
2. 2-hour remorse window – All SOS POs, excluding PO Cancellations, are held at the store for 2-hours to allow the customer to change the order prior to transmitting it via EDI. Once the order has been paid for by the customer, the 2-hour timeframe begins. A process runs every 15 minutes in the store to send all EDI orders that exceed the 2-hour threshold to Lowe’s host system for transmission to the vendor.
3. EDI 997 FA from vendor
   • All SOS PO Originals and PO Cancellations must be acknowledged by the vendor with an 997 FA at the transaction level (include AK2 and AK5 segments in 997s).
   • The vendor should transmit the 997 within 6-hours, or earlier, from the time the order is transmitted to the vendor. The 6-hour window begins when Lowe’s transmits the 850, not when the vendor receives the 850. If this is not feasible on weekends, the 997 document must be transmitted within the first-hour of business of the vendor’s next business day.
4. EDI 870 Order Status Report for SOS PO Originals
   • Multiple 870s are required from the vendor throughout the life cycle of the SOS PO to provide Lowe’s stores/customers with order statuses until the order is shipped/delivered. An 870 can include status updates at each stage of the order or it can include exceptions at the order level or item level when identified by the vendor.
   • A minimum of three 870s must be returned from the vendor for all SOS Original POs without exceptions, plus an additional 870 for direct to customer shipments.
     • 1 st 870 required within 24-hours from the time the SOS PO is transmitted – The ‘IN’ 870 is required to indicate the order is approved and can be filled as ordered.
     • 2 nd 870 required within 48-hours from the time the SOS PO is transmitted – The ‘AP’ 870 is required when the order is committed and allocated to production.
     • 3 rd 870 Required – The ‘CC’ 870 is required when the order is shipped. It should be sent before the PO Requested Delivery Date.
     • 4 th 870 Required for Customer Direct Shipments – After the PO is delivered direct to the customer, send the ‘DD’ 870 to indicate a Delivered Status. This is not required for shipments to a Lowe’s location.
     • When an SOS PO has data exceptions, such as rescheduling the ship/delivery date when the PO requested delivery date cannot be met by the vendor, invalid item information, out-of-stock conditions, etc., specific 870 statuses are required to report the data exception. These exceptions should be identified upon receiving the SOS PO and the appropriate 870 sent within 24-hours from the time the SOS PO is sent. Use the 870 Order Status Matrix on LowesLink® to find the next steps for POs with data exceptions. When it is not feasible to transmit the 870s within the 24 and 48 hour windows on weekends or holidays, the 870 must be transmitted the morning of the vendor’s next business day.
5. EDI 870 Order Status Report for SOS PO Cancellations 
   • These are the business rules for sending the EDI 850 PO Cancellation in regards to the stage of the PO.
   • For shipments to a Lowe’s store, the EDI 850 SOS PO Cancellation can be transmitted along various stages of an SOS PO. The PO can be cancelled until the customer picks up the shipment or until Lowe’s delivers it to the customer. This means the PO can be cancelled by Lowe’s after receiving the 870 Approved/In Process Order Status (IN), the EDI 870 Committed Order Status (AP), or the EDI 870 Shipped Order Status (CC).
   • For direct to customer shipments, the 850 SOS PO Cancellation can be transmitted until the 870 Shipped Order Status (CC) is received from the vendor. This means the PO can be cancelled by Lowe’s after receiving the 870 Approved/In Process Order Status (IN) or the EDI 870 Committed Order Status (AP).
   • When Lowe’s transmits the EDI 850 SOS PO Cancellation to the vendor, an 870 Deleted Order Status (DE) should be transmitted by the vendor. The 870 DE Status is mandatory within 24-hours from the time the 850 PO Cancellation is transmitted. The DE 870 confirms the vendor has cancelled the PO and it should not be sent until the vendor receives an 850 SOS PO Cancellation from Lowe’s. It confirms the vendor has cancelled the PO and it cannot be used by the vendor to submit a PO Cancellation.
6. 870 Order Status posts in Lowe’s Systems
   • Lowe’s SOS system application is updated with each 870 status within 15-30 minutes from the time Lowe’s receives the vendor’s 870. This allows Lowe’s to keep customers current on the status of their SOS PO.
   • All 870 statuses with exceptions that are conveyed to Lowe’s will be negotiated by Lowe’s with the customer and vendor. 7. 870 Order Status Compliance – vendors will be notified by Lowe’s EDI when an 870 Order Status is not received as required.
7. 870 Order Status Compliance – vendors will be notified by Lowe’s when an 870 Order Status is not received as required.

Look for Lowe’s Special Orders Sales (SOS) program additional requirements.