An Advance Shipping Notice (ASN) is an electronic message a supplier sends before a shipment reaches the buyer. In EDI terms it is the 856 transaction set. It describes what is in the shipment, how it is packed, how many cartons or pallets are on the way, the carrier, and the expected delivery date, so the receiving side knows exactly what to expect before the truck arrives.
How it works
The ASN is sent once goods leave the supplier’s dock, ahead of physical delivery. It ties back to the original purchase order and often carries a hierarchical structure: shipment, then order, then pack (carton or pallet), then item. Many ASNs include carton-level barcodes (an SSCC on a GS1-128 label) so a warehouse can scan a box and instantly see its contents against the PO.
Why it matters
Without an ASN, receiving is a manual count against a packing slip. With one, the warehouse can pre-stage labor, flag short or over shipments early, and post goods to inventory faster. Large retailers and 3PLs frequently require ASNs from suppliers, and non-compliance can trigger chargebacks.
Example
You quote a wholesale buyer 40 cases of product across two POs. Once you ship, your system transmits an 856 listing both POs, four pallets, SSCC labels, and a Thursday delivery date. The buyer’s dock scans each pallet on arrival and reconciles against the quote-turned-order in seconds.
Relevance to B2B quoting on Shopify
An ASN lives downstream of the quote, after a buyer has accepted and the order is in fulfillment. If you convert accepted quotes into real Shopify orders (see the B2B quoting glossary), those orders become the reference the ASN maps to. Shopify itself does not generate EDI 856 messages, so merchants with ASN-mandating buyers typically add an EDI provider or 3PL that reads Shopify order data and emits the notice.