B2B Fulfillment in Canada: How to Ship to Retailers, Distributors and Wholesalers

TL;DR

• What it is: B2B fulfillment in Canada ships cases or pallets against a business purchase order.
• Routing guide: Each retailer’s routing guide sets how freight is booked, built, labelled, and documented.
• EDI: Major chains expect electronic order documents (EDI), usually sent through an EDI provider.
• Cost: Labels, pallets, and freight add separate lines on top of order handling.
• One 3PL: One third-party warehouse (3PL) can ship online and wholesale orders from one inventory pool.

Brand owners holding a first purchase order from a Canadian retailer, distributor, or wholesaler ship it in cases or pallets, not parcels. Every carton carries the buyer’s labels, the truck arrives on a booked appointment, and electronic documents reach the buyer before the freight does.

“Can you support both wholesale and ecommerce orders?” is one of the questions brands ask North Industries before they sign. This guide answers it, step by step.

What is B2B fulfillment in Canada?

B2B fulfillment in Canada means filling a business customer’s purchase order in cases or pallets for delivery to a distribution centre or store. The business customer is usually one of three buyer types. Each one orders in bulk and sets its own delivery rules.

• Retailers: chains that sell to shoppers.
• Distributors: companies that resell and often add services.
• Wholesalers: companies that buy in bulk to resell to businesses.
  
  

Wholesale fulfillment in Canada changes the unit of work from single items for shoppers to full cases for businesses.

How is B2B fulfillment different from DTC fulfillment?

B2B fulfillment and direct-to-consumer (DTC) fulfillment differ in who orders, how stock is picked, and what a mistake costs. A DTC order comes from a shopper at checkout and ships as a parcel. A B2B order comes from a business purchase order and ships in cases or pallets on a set schedule.

Four terms to know:

• EDI: electronic data interchange, how retailers send and receive order documents as structured files.
• LTL: less-than-truckload, freight that shares a truck.
• FTL: a full truckload.
• Chargeback: a deduction a retailer takes from your invoice when a shipment breaks its rules.
  
  

The table compares B2B vs DTC fulfillment line by line.

A brand adding wholesale fulfillment in Canada often keeps selling DTC, so the warehouse has to follow both sets of rules at once.

What happens after you receive your first retail purchase order?

A first retail purchase order moves through nine steps, from the order itself to the brand’s invoice. The brand, its EDI provider, and its 3PL each own different steps. The sequence shows where a penalty can start and who should watch each step.

1. Purchase order arrives: as an EDI 850.
2. Brand acknowledges: through its EDI provider or portal.
3. Stock is picked to case pack: full cases of a fixed unit count.
4. Cartons and pallets are labelled: with the retailer’s labels.
5. Pickup or appointment is booked: per the routing guide.
6. Freight ships: by LTL, FTL or appointment.
7. ASN is sent: the advance ship notice (EDI 856), before the freight arrives.
8. Order is delivered: to the distribution centre or store.
9. Brand invoices: with an EDI 810.

What is a retail routing guide and what does it control?

A retail routing guide is the retailer’s rulebook for how your freight must arrive. The guide controls how the load is booked, built, labelled, and documented. Every retailer writes its own guide, so a shipment that passes at one chain can still fail at another.

• Carrier selection: which carriers you may use.
• Appointments: how a delivery slot is requested.
• Pallet build: size, height, stacking, and wrap.
• Label placement: where carton and pallet labels go.
• Documents: what must arrive before the freight.
• Penalties: what each mistake costs.

Canadian Tire shows how specific these rules get. Vendors send an electronic Request for Pick-Up or Appointment (RPA) to get approval to ship, and the RPA Response supplies the shipment number the load needs, according to SPS Commerce’s summary of Canadian Tire vendor rules. Confirm the current version in the supplier portal before you ship.

Do you need EDI to sell to Canadian retailers?

Yes, for major Canadian retail chains. EDI for Canadian retailers means exchanging purchase orders, shipping notices, and invoices as structured electronic files instead of email or paper. Most brands connect through an EDI provider or a retailer’s web portal, not an in-house system.

Services sold as EDI fulfillment in Canada combine two separate jobs. An EDI provider handles the documents, and a warehouse handles the freight.

Walmart offers a simpler route for lower-volume suppliers. WebEDI sits inside Walmart’s Retail Link supplier portal and serves suppliers who cannot run AS2, a direct system-to-system EDI connection. It costs nothing, needs no mapping or technical testing, and supports invoicing in Canada. Suppliers above 5,500 documents a year are expected to move to AS2, according to iNymbus’s Walmart EDI guide for suppliers.

Loblaws sets a formal gate before a supplier goes live on EDI: vendors must complete certification and testing through SPS Commerce, Loblaws’ third-party tester, according to Crisp’s Loblaws supplier setup notes. Confirm Walmart’s and Loblaws’ current terms in their supplier portals.

What do EDI 850, 856, and 810 mean?

EDI 850, 856, and 810 are the three core documents in a retail order. The 850 opens the order, the 856 describes the shipment, and the 810 bills for it. The three documents must agree, so an error in one can carry into the next.

What do Canadian retailers require on cartons and pallets?

Major Canadian retailers require labelled cartons and pallets that match the paperwork. The core requirement is a GS1 logistics label, the shipping label format set by GS1, the barcode standards body. Each label carries an SSCC, or serial shipping container code, a unique number for each carton or pallet. Case quantities must also match the purchase order.

The SSCC is the one mandatory element on every GS1 logistics label, but it does not list the contents. That link lives in the ASN, which is why each SSCC pallet label and the ASN must match, according to GS1 Canada’s barcode basics for shipping units.

Retailers add their own rules on top:

• Loblaws labels: shipping labels must include the supplier’s GS1 company prefix, on 4×6 labels, per Crisp’s setup notes.
• Canadian Tire pallets: standard 40-by-48-inch CHEP or PECO pallets with no overhang, per SPS Commerce.

CHEP and PECO rent out reusable pallets. Confirm the current rules in each retailer’s supplier portal.

Does a 3PL handle EDI and routing guide compliance?

A 3PL handles the physical side of routing guide compliance, not the EDI itself. The brand owns the retailer relationship and its item data. The EDI provider sends documents and generates labels. The 3PL picks, labels, builds, and ships. Clear ownership keeps each requirement from falling between companies.

The table shows who owns each part of 3PL EDI compliance.

At North Industries, the brand keeps its EDI connection through an EDI provider or retailer web portal, and North Industries executes the physical side of the order. EDI integration can be reviewed for larger accounts, depending on the client’s system, volume, and scope. North Industries applies carton and pallet labels produced by the brand’s EDI provider or supplied by the brand.

What causes retail chargebacks and how do you avoid them?

Retail chargebacks usually come from five repeat mistakes: a late or missing ASN, carton labels that do not match the ASN, an unapproved carrier, a short shipment and a missed delivery window. Each mistake traces back to documents, labels, or timing, and each has a matching prevention step set up before the first order ships.

The penalties are specific. At Canadian Tire, a late, missing, or inaccurate ASN costs $200 CAD per purchase order or shipment, and late or missing order quantity costs 2% of that quantity’s value, according to SPS Commerce’s summary of its vendor requirements. Confirm current amounts in the supplier portal.

The table pairs each cause with its prevention step.

How is B2B fulfillment priced compared with DTC?

B2B fulfillment pricing is a stack of separate lines, not one flat fee per order. A DTC order is mostly pick, pack, and postage. A B2B order adds labelling, palletization and freight coordination. Some orders also need storage or cross-docking, which moves inbound freight straight to an outbound truck.

North Industries’ starting prices for B2B and DTC work are below. The per-order rate is the same for both channels; the difference sits in the lines a B2B order adds.

Stock between retail orders can sit in North Industries’ pallet storage in Ontario. Each figure is a starting point for a scoped quote.

Can one 3PL run DTC and wholesale fulfillment from the same inventory?

Yes. One 3PL can run DTC and wholesale fulfillment from the same inventory when both channels draw on one stock record. The key is allocation. Units reserved for a purchase order must come off the online count right away, so your store never sells stock already promised to a retailer.

At North Industries, DTC and wholesale orders draw on one inventory pool in the Zoho Inventory system. An online store joins that pool by connecting Shopify to a Canadian 3PL through Zoho, so every connected channel draws on the same count.

Before choosing DTC and wholesale from one 3PL, ask:

• One record: do both channels draw on the same inventory count?
• Allocation: when does a purchase order’s stock get reserved?
• Sync: how quickly does the online store see the new count?
• Short stock: who decides which channel gets stock when there is not enough?

How does North Industries handle B2B fulfillment in Mississauga?

North Industries handles B2B fulfillment from its Mississauga warehouse by picking cases and pallets, applying the brand’s retail labels, booking appointments, and moving the freight. The brand keeps its EDI connection. North Industries runs the physical side of each order, alongside manufacturing, packing, and storage when a brand needs them.

For brands comparing retail fulfillment in Ontario, the service covers:

• Case pack fulfillment in the GTA: case picking, plus carton-level and pallet-level orders.
• Replenishment: retail and store replenishment, plus distribution-centre shipments.
• Labels: from the brand’s EDI provider, or supplied by the brand.
• Appointments: delivery appointment coordination.
• Delivery: company-operated local and regional delivery.
• Longer freight: LTL and FTL coordinated through approved third-party carriers.
• EDI review: integration reviewed for larger accounts.
• Test order: run before a new account goes live.
• Low minimums: onboarding below many national pallet minimums.
• One relationship: manufacturing, packing, storage, and delivery together.

North Industries runs a B2B warehouse in Ontario from its Mississauga warehouse, and the same team handles third-party fulfillment for growing brands on the DTC side.

When your first purchase order lands, request a B2B fulfillment review.

Frequently asked questions

1. What is the difference between a distributor and a wholesaler?
   A wholesaler buys products in bulk and resells them to retailers and other businesses. A distributor typically buys from the brand and resells too, but often adds services such as warehousing and sales coverage. These are general definitions, and the terms overlap in practice, so check each agreement.
   
2. What is a case pack?
   A case pack is a case holding a fixed, predefined number of consumer units, such as 12 bottles of one product. When every unit inside is identical, the case gets its own barcode number, called a GTIN-14, under GS1 Canada’s standards. Retailers typically order by the case.
   
3. What does OTIF mean in retail?
   OTIF stands for on-time, in-full. An OTIF order arrives within its delivery window with every unit ordered. In Canada, Canadian Tire sets a Receipt Fill Rate minimum of 97%, according to SPS Commerce’s summary of its vendor requirements. Confirm the current figure in the supplier portal.
   
   
4. Do I need GS1 barcodes to sell to retailers in Canada?
   Yes, for major retailers. GS1 Canada is the only authorized issuer of GS1 company prefix licences in Canada. That prefix is the base for your product barcodes and also builds the SSCCs on your carton and pallet labels, so get the prefix before your first retail shipment.
   
   
5. Can I use my own shipping labels with a 3PL?
   Yes. North Industries works with client-provided shipping labels where required, including carton and pallet labels from the brand’s EDI provider. Carrier account arrangements are discussed during scoping. Ask any 3PL how it handles labels and carrier accounts before you sign an agreement.
   
   
6. Who pays when a chargeback is caused by the warehouse?
   The service agreement sets who pays for a warehouse-caused chargeback, so confirm that wording before you sign. Check how errors are reported, investigated, and settled. North Industries works directly with clients to resolve errors and exceptions, and the agreement defines how any resulting cost is handled.
   
   
7. How long does it take to set up retail fulfillment with a 3PL?
   North Industries typically sets up 3PL accounts in two to six weeks, depending on integrations, inventory complexity, and decision-making. A test order runs before the account goes live. Retailer EDI testing runs separately on the brand’s side, so start it early.