Slovak retail EDIFACT — fragmented multi-actor landscape

Unlike the Finnish (S/K) or Czech (Albert/Globus) duopolies, the Slovak retail market is fragmented between international players (Tesco, Kaufland, Lidl, Billa), a large local cooperative (COOP Jednota) and a domestic challenger (Terno). EDI rests on EANCOM 2002 (EDIFACT D.01B subset) governed by GS1 Slovakia, with around 80 million messages per year flowing through Comarch, EDITEL, Seyfor, DXC VANs, and increasingly PEPPOL for the invoice leg.

Slovak retail landscape

The Slovak food retail market is less concentrated than its neighbours, with 4 foreign players (Tesco, Kaufland, Lidl, Billa) and a strong local cooperative (COOP Jednota). This fragmentation creates greater heterogeneity in EDI specs on the retailer side — each chain pushes its own EANCOM variant derived from the GS1 Slovakia subset.

Volkswagen and Kia have also built a parallel industrial EDI ecosystem, but that is covered in another page (Slovak industrial EDI).

Key retailers and EDI specs

EANCOM messages used

The Slovak supplier ↔ retailer EDI pipeline typically chains 5 to 7 EANCOM messages:

1. ORDERS — retailer-to-supplier order, product references by GTIN, quantities, negotiated prices (BGM / RFF CT framework agreement).
2. ORDRSP — order acknowledgement / modification (supplier → retailer).
3. DESADV — dispatch advice / packing list, structured by pallet, carton, unit.
4. RECADV — receipt acknowledgement with possible discrepancies (retailer → supplier).
5. INVOIC — EANCOM invoice or, increasingly, PEPPOL BIS 3.0 (UBL EN 16931) for flows targeting eFaktúra or foreign HQs.
6. SLSRPT — POS sales report, especially for Tesco and Kaufland which require weekly feedback.
7. PRICAT — price catalogue, quarterly maintenance or at each annual negotiation.

UNA:+.? '
UNB+UNOC:3+8588000123456:14+8588000789012:14+260615:0915+SK20260615-0915'
UNH+1+ORDERS:D:01B:UN:EAN010'
BGM+220+TESCO-SK-260615-09142+9'
DTM+137:20260615:102'
DTM+2:20260618:102'
RFF+CT:TESCO-SK-FRAME-2026-0042'
NAD+BY+8588000123456::9'
NAD+SU+8588000789012::9'
LIN+1++8588001234567:EN'
QTY+21:600:PCE'
PRI+AAA:1.29:CT'
LIN+2++8588002345678:EN'
QTY+21:300:PCE'
PRI+AAA:0.69:CT'
UNS+S'
CNT+2:2'
UNT+13+1'
UNZ+1+SK20260615-0915'

GS1 Slovakia — governance

GS1 Slovakia (gs1sk.org) is the Slovak national member of GS1 international. Its mission:

• Allocation of Slovak GTIN prefixes (country prefix 858), GLNs, and other GS1 keys.
• Maintenance of the EANCOM 2002 subset tailored to the Slovak market, in coordination with major retailers and suppliers.
• Hosting the Slovak eCom Forum, a quarterly body bringing retailers and suppliers together to evolve EDI specs.
• Liaison with GS1 Czech Republic — many Slovak suppliers serve both markets and use cousin subsets.

Transport and VANs

The Slovak VAN mix is dominated by 4 players:

• EDITEL (Austrian group Editel Austria, GS1 Austria subsidiary) — leader for Austro-German chains (Billa, Kaufland, Lidl, METRO, dm).
• Comarch EDI (Polish Comarch group) — strong on Tesco SR, COOP Jednota and Terno. Multi-country CEE hub.
• Seyfor (former Solitea, Czech holding) — strong on COOP Jednota, Money S5 and Pohoda integration.
• DXC Technology Slovakia — for PEPPOL flows (B2G eFaktúra), shares the national PEPPOL Authority.
• OpenText (ex-GXS) — historical VAN for METRO cross-border, OFTP2 / AS2 depending on volumes.

Common pitfalls

• Confusing GLN and IČO. GLN = GS1 logistics identifier (13 digits, store / warehouse). IČO = Slovak legal identifier (8 digits). EDIFACT routing by GLN, PEPPOL routing by IČO (ICD 0143).
• Mixing Schwarz and GS1 SK subsets. Kaufland SR and Lidl SR follow the Germany-aligned Schwarz subset, NOT the GS1 Slovakia subset. A supplier pushing a generic EANCOM GS1 SK to Kaufland is rejected at the format level.
• Forgetting COOP Jednota lead times. The cooperative runs longer cycles than Tesco / Kaufland (D+3 to D+5 deliveries common) but enforces strict penalties on late DESADVs. The SK EANCOM subset doesn't include all DTM qualifiers used by Tesco UK.
• Underestimating B2G share via eFaktúra. Some COOP Jednota stores supply schools, hospitals, town halls (B2G). The invoice must then switch to PEPPOL BIS 3.0 toward slovensko.sk eFaktúra, not EANCOM INVOIC.
• Ignoring Pohoda / KROS Omega on the SME side. Many Slovak SME suppliers use Pohoda (Stormware) or KROS Omega as their accounting system and have no native EDIFACT module — they must go through an EDITEL or Seyfor connector.

Cross-links

• Slovakia hub — full view
• Industrial EDI — VW, Kia, Stellantis
• B2G eFaktúra mandate
• Slovak DPH (VAT) regimes
• IČO / DIČ / IČ DPH
• GS1 Slovakia — official site
• Tesco SR
• COOP Jednota