What the Practice Simulator Does
The practice simulator is RetailReady's safe test counterparty. It acts like the retailer during Practice Mode so you can learn the workflow and catch setup problems before anything reaches a real retailer system.
Practice documents stay in the sandbox workflow. They do not ship product, create real invoices, or send documents to the retailer's production endpoint.
The Full Practice Loop
- Create a practice order. The simulator creates a test purchase order, also called an 850, using the retailer workflow you are practicing.
- RetailReady receives the order. The test order enters your account through the hosted gateway and is processed by the same order workflow you use for real orders.
- You confirm, ship, and invoice. When you send a PO acknowledgment, shipment notice, or invoice, RetailReady generates the outbound EDI document for that retailer workflow.
- The simulator validates the reply. The simulator receives the document and checks whether it can be understood as the retailer would expect.
- You see results in RetailReady. Statuses, acknowledgments, and errors appear in the order, shipment, invoice, and EDI document views.
Why Practice Errors Are Real Signals
A practice order can still show warnings or validation errors. That does not mean the simulator created a bad order. It usually means the document you are trying to send is missing something the retailer workflow requires, such as a product identifier, ship-to value, carton label, tracking detail, or invoice total.
That is intentional. Practice Mode is useful because it exercises the workflow before real orders are involved.
Managed Practice Routing
On AS2 setup screens, you may see a Managed practice outbound route. This is the sandbox route RetailReady uses while you are practicing. It is managed by RetailReady and points at the practice simulator.
The managed practice route is separate from the retailer-returned Certification and Production details you enter later. Leave the retailer AS2 ID, retailer AS2 URL, certificate, and MDN settings blank until the retailer gives you those values.
When Retailer Endpoints Are Used
| Stage | Where documents go |
|---|---|
| Practice Mode | RetailReady's practice simulator. This is safe sandbox traffic. |
| Certification | The retailer's certification or test endpoint, after the retailer provides connection details. |
| Live | The retailer's production endpoint. These are real business documents. |
What to Check When Something Fails
- Open the document error. The error usually names the missing field or failed retailer rule.
- Check product identifiers. UPC, GTIN, buyer item number, and retailer SKU mappings are common practice blockers.
- Check shipment details. Carton labels, weights, dimensions, tracking, and carrier details are often required before an ASN can be sent.
- Check AS2 setup stage. In Practice Mode, managed simulator routing can be enough. In Certification or Live, you need the retailer-provided endpoint and certificate details.
Good to know: The URL shown in your setup packet is generated for the environment you are using. Production users should see public RetailReady-hosted URLs, not local development URLs.