Retail EDIFACT — Maxima + IKI + Rimi + Lidl + Norfa

Lithuanian retail rests on a structural quintet: Maxima LT (Maxima Grupė, founded in 1992 by Numavičius and Bagdonavičius — the only Baltic-scale retail giant that has remained locally-owned), IKI (Rewe Group since 2018), Rimi Lietuva (ICA Sweden), Lidl Lietuva (Schwarz Group), and Norfa (Norfos mažmena, local cooperative). All operate on EANCOM 2002 S4 over Tieto Evry and Telia Lietuva VANs.

History — Maxima 1992 to Baltic consolidation

Maxima Grupė is the Baltic exception: the only large retail chain born locally and still locally-owned. Founded in Vilnius in 1992 by Nerijus Numavičius and Mindaugas Bagdonavičius (still co-majority shareholders via Vilniaus Prekyba), it has become the largest private Baltic employer (~40,000 staff in 2024) and operates in LT, LV, EE, PL, BG. Alongside: IKI (bought by Rewe in 2018), Rimi (ICA), Lidl (Schwarz), Norfa (local cooperative).

1992       | VP Market (future Maxima) opens its first supermarket in
           | Vilnius. Founders: Nerijus Numavičius + Mindaugas
           | Bagdonavičius (still majority shareholders).
           |
1998       | IKI opens — local chain bought by Rewe Group (Germany)
           | in 2017 (deal closed 2018).
           |
2000-2005  | EDI EANCOM takes off — first ORDERS / INVOIC exchanges
           | on VANs (Tieto, Telia). GS1 Lithuania pushes implementation
           | guidelines.
           |
2007       | Rimi Lietuva (ICA Sweden) enters the country via
           | acquisition of a local chain. EANCOM 2002 EDI
           | standardisation.
           |
2010-2014  | Lidl Lietuva opens — gradual store rollout. EANCOM EDI
           | enforced from day one (alignment with Lidl Stiftung
           | central).
           |
2014       | PEPPOL adhesion via local operators (Tieto Evry, Telia).
           |
2017       | e.sąskaita B2G — but not mandatory in B2B retail.
           | Retailers remain on EANCOM with UBL converters for
           | foreign suppliers.
           |
2020-2024  | Maxima Grupė becomes the largest private Baltic employer
           | (~40,000 employees). Present in LT/LV/EE + Poland + Bulgaria.
           |
2023-2026  | REST API modernisation for SME suppliers (Norfa, Aibe,
           | IKI). Maxima keeps legacy EANCOM for large industrial
           | suppliers.

Governance — GS1 Lithuania + retailers

GS1 Lithuania (gs1lt.org) governs the local implementation guidelines — EANCOM 2002 S4 subset adapted to local retailers. The quintet Maxima / IKI / Rimi / Lidl / Norfa each publish their supplier specification on top of GS1 Lithuania, with minor variations (item codes, optional segments).

On the infrastructure side, dominant VANs are Tieto Evry Lithuania (Tieto heir, acquired by Evry in 2019) and Telia Lietuva (national telecom operator, Telia Cygate EDI branch). OpusCapita (Finland) and Pagero (Sweden) run cross-border gateways for foreign suppliers.

Schema — ORDERS / DESADV / INVOIC

Key messages in the retail procurement cycle:

• PRICAT — supplier price catalogue (sent on tariff change).
• ORDERS — retailer → supplier purchase order.
• ORDRSP — supplier → retailer order acknowledgement.
• DESADV — despatch advice (with pallet SSCC).
• RECADV — receipt acknowledgement on the retail platform side.
• INVOIC — EDIFACT invoice (pref. PO reference in RFF+ON).
• RETANN / RETINS — returns / quality recall management.
• INVRPT — stock report (used by Maxima in vendor-managed mode).

UNB+UNOC:3+5417100012345:14+5417200067890:14+260615:1432+MAXIMA-LT-000124'
UNH+1+INVOIC:D:01B:UN:EAN010'
BGM+380+INV-2026-04211+9'
DTM+137:20260615:102'
RFF+ON:PO-MAXIMA-LT-2026-9988'
NAD+SU+5417200067890::9+UAB Vilniaus Mēsa+Vilnius+Kalvarijų g. 125+LT-08221+++LT'
NAD+BY+5417100012345::9+UAB Maxima LT+Vilnius+Naugarduko g. 100+LT-03160+++LT'
RFF+VA:LT100001234567'
CUX+2:EUR:9'
LIN+1++5901234123457:EN'
IMD+F++::9:Smoked salami sliced 200g'
QTY+47:120:PCE'
MOA+203:480.00'
PRI+AAA:4.00'
TAX+7+VAT+++:::21'
UNS+S'
MOA+79:480.00'
MOA+125:580.80'
MOA+124:100.80'
UNT+18+1'
UNZ+1+MAXIMA-LT-000124'

Lithuania vs Latvia vs Estonia

Adoption — B2B retail coverage

• ~90% of retail INVOIC between suppliers and chains use EANCOM 2002 over VAN (GS1 Lithuania estimate).
• ~150M messages/year on Tieto Evry Lithuania + Telia Lietuva VANs (retail segment only).
• Maxima ~30,000 active suppliers, of which ~85% via direct EDI or SupplyOn / Maxima B2B portal.
• e.sąskaita not mandatory in retail B2B — chains keep EANCOM by operational habit.

Common pitfalls

• Divergent specifications. Maxima, IKI, Rimi, Lidl and Norfa share EANCOM 2002 S4 but with variations (optional segments, item codes, SSCC vs internal ID). A multi-chain supplier must maintain 5 distinct mappings.
• Lithuanian characters. The UNOC:3 syntax (Latin-1) breaks ą č ę ė į š ų ū ž. Migrate to UNOY:3 (UTF-8) or escape on the ERP side.
• VAT code in TAX+7. The PVM rate must be coded as an integer percent 21 / 9 / 5 / 0. Many ERPs push 21.00 — accepted by some chains, rejected by others.
• Stale PO. An INVOIC referencing a PO in RFF+ON must point to a still-valid ORDERS. If the PO has been cancelled or modified, RETANN follows.
• SSCC vs pallet EAN. Maxima and Lidl require 18-char SSCC in DESADV for pallets. Norfa still accepts 14-char pallet EAN (legacy). Check the chain spec.

Cross-links

• Lithuania hub — full view
• Industrial EDI — Achema / Ignitis / Telia
• RKDS — online cash registers
• VAT regimes
• Registrų centras — identifiers
• GS1 Lithuania
• Maxima LT