Proof of Delivery Mapping Gives Walmart Suppliers a Complete Order Audit Trail

Proof of delivery mapping gives Walmart suppliers a way to trace an order from the purchase order through shipment, delivery evidence and invoice. The map connects records by shared business references, so you can investigate what was ordered, what your warehouse reported shipping, what the carrier reported delivering and what you billed.

A complete order audit trail depends on keeping those records distinct. An advance ship notice describes a shipment; it does not establish receipt. A carrier delivery record may establish an arrival event; it may not settle a dispute about the quantity received. BOLD VAN recommends designing the trail around these separate questions, then linking the evidence without changing what each record means.

What proof of delivery mapping connects

Proof of delivery mapping is the process of associating a carrier or receiving confirmation with the correct shipment and its originating order. The evidence might be a carrier delivery status, a signed receipt or another record available through your transportation process. Its format and the details it contains depend on the carrier and shipment.

Start with an order-level relationship, then preserve shipment-level relationships for split deliveries. If an order produces more than one shipment, each delivery record needs to point to the shipment it concerns. Keep the original evidence accessible alongside the reference used to find it. An invoice can then be reconciled against the relevant order and shipment, rather than assumed to represent every item on the order.

Records in the order audit trail

For an ANSI X12 workflow, these transaction sets describe different stages. Which ones apply to your Walmart relationship, along with their versions and timing rules, should be checked against Walmart's current EDI implementation guide and your agreement.

Record	What it establishes	What to connect
EDI 850, purchase order	What the buyer ordered	Order reference and ordered lines
EDI 855, purchase order acknowledgment	How the supplier responded	Response to the related order
EDI 856, ship notice/manifest	What the supplier reported shipping	Order, shipment and packaging relationships
Carrier record or proof of delivery	What the carrier or recipient reported at delivery	The shipment the evidence concerns
EDI 810, invoice, when applicable	What the supplier billed	Relevant order and shipped quantities
EDI 997, functional acknowledgment	Syntax acceptance or rejection	The EDI document being acknowledged

How to build the links

Identify the shared references

List the order, shipment and invoice references your systems actually retain. Then identify which reference accompanies the carrier's delivery record. Do not rely on a purchase order number alone if the same order can produce multiple shipments. Preserve a clear relationship between each shipment and its delivery evidence.

Record where each event originated

Keep the source and event meaning alongside each reference. Your ERP may hold the order and invoice, your WMS the shipped quantities and packaging, and your TMS or carrier the delivery evidence. An EDI transmission timestamp should remain identifiable as a transmission event, not be presented as the time a shipment arrived.

Test the return path into your business systems

When you bring delivery evidence back into an ERP or order view, check that the shipment reference survives translation. BOLD VAN maps data to and from ERPs such as SAP, Oracle ERP and Infor CloudSuite, WMS platforms such as ShipHero, TMS platforms such as Oracle TMS, e-commerce platforms such as Shopify and others. We also connect to a platform's API for EDI-to-API and API-to-EDI workflows. The exact integration design depends on each system's documentation.

Common pitfalls

• Matching at the wrong level: If a partial shipment arrives separately, an order-level delivery flag can hide the outstanding shipment. Reconcile at shipment level before summarizing the order.
• Confusing shipped with received: Your warehouse record and the EDI 856 describe your shipment. Compare them with carrier and receiving evidence rather than treating them as proof of receipt.
• Losing corrections: A corrected ASN or invoice should remain distinguishable from its earlier version. Otherwise, reviewers cannot explain which record applied when a discrepancy was raised.
• Assuming every Walmart workflow is identical: Requirements may differ by supplier program, transaction version or implementation. Check Walmart's published EDI implementation guide and the applicable program documentation before setting mapping rules.

Best practices for review and testing

Choose an actual order and follow it through your systems. Confirm that a reviewer can locate the purchase order, identify each shipment, find the corresponding ASN, inspect delivery evidence and reconcile the invoice. If the chain breaks, record whether the missing link is an identifier, an unavailable source record or a mapping rule.

Test a split shipment and a rejected EDI document as well as a routine order. Assign an owner to investigate unmatched delivery records rather than silently attaching them to the nearest order. Keep retention rules aligned with your agreements and internal controls. These steps make it easier to assemble evidence when a retail deduction arises and help reduce the risk of chargebacks.

Every document BOLD VAN handles is tracked in the portal, where you can search, requeue and report, with notifications when something needs your attention. When a trading partner changes its requirements, we update the map, and minor changes are typically handled at no cost. For a connected order and delivery workflow, BOLD Integration is the practical place to start reviewing the map across your EDI and business systems.

---

Frequently asked questions

---