Department store guide · Updated November 2026
By Shahrooz "Shawn" Kohan, CEO & Co-Founder of AIMS360 · Published November 10, 2026
Macy's and Nordstrom each have three doors: wholesale, dropship and a marketplace. Every door has its own application, its own rules and its own connection to your systems. Here's how a small brand gets in, what each retailer requires before the first order, and how to keep one honest stock number across all of it.
How does a small brand get into Macy's and Nordstrom? Pick a door first. Wholesale means the retailer buys your stock at cost. Dropship means it sells your product online and you ship each order to the shopper. Marketplace means you list on its site, set your own price and pay a commission. Macy's takes new merchandise vendors through RangeMe. Nordstrom's marketplace runs on Mirakl and is curated, so brands are selected rather than signing up on their own. Every door needs GS1 UPCs and clean product data, and wholesale and dropship also need EDI: at minimum the 850 purchase order, the 856 ship notice and the 810 invoice.
Where small brands get stuck is what comes after the yes: compliant labels, on-time ASNs, and a stock number that doesn't get sold twice across three programs. That's the part AIMS360's built-in EDI handles.
Wholesale, dropship, marketplace
Each door is a separate program with its own catalog, its own order stream and its own inventory feed. Brands often set up one and only find out about the others later.
| Door | Macy's | Nordstrom | Who owns the stock | Who sets the retail price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale (bulk) | Bulk EDI orders shipped to a Macy's DC or direct to store. Macy's names OpenText as its preferred EDI network. | Bulk EDI orders to Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack DCs, with prepacks, ratios and store-level shipments. | The retailer, once it receives the goods | The retailer |
| Dropship | Vendor Direct Fulfillment (VDF) for macys.com and bloomingdales.com, by direct EDI or the Rithum OrderStream connection. | Nordstrom.com dropship on Rithum's Dsco network, onboarded through nordstromsupplier.com. | The brand, until the order ships | The retailer |
| Marketplace | Macy's Marketplace on Mirakl, launched September 2022. Bloomingdale's runs a separate Mirakl storefront with its own onboarding. | Nordstrom Marketplace on Mirakl, launched April 2024. Curated by Nordstrom's marketplace team and merchants. | The brand | The brand. The retailer takes a commission. |
Program names and platforms come from each retailer's own vendor documents and can change. Ask your buyer or onboarding contact which program you're being set up for, because each one is a separate integration. The full program detail is on our Macy's EDI and Nordstrom EDI pages.
You keep the stock, set the price and ship each order. At Nordstrom, the retailer handles customer care and lets shoppers return marketplace items, then settles with the brand. The catch: both marketplaces are selective, and Mirakl catalog requirements can slow your first listings.
A real buying relationship without a bulk purchase order. Macy's VDF requires the complete order to ship within two business days with a Macy's or Bloomingdale's branded packing list, and you accept the consumer return unless you've negotiated otherwise.
Store presence and the largest purchase orders, with the most compliance: floor-ready tickets, GS1-128 carton labels, ASN timing, routing guides and expense offsets when something is off.
Our take: if you don't already carry inventory for wholesale, dropship or marketplace lets you test demand first. If a buyer offers a bulk order, take it, and get the warehouse and EDI side ready before the first ship date rather than after.
Getting in front of the buyer
The two retailers handle new brands very differently. Macy's publishes an application route. Nordstrom mostly finds brands through its buyers and a curated marketplace.
Before the first purchase order
Requirements come from the vendor guidelines each retailer issues to you, and they change without notice. These are the four that catch small brands most often.
Macy's won't set up a vendor without a GS1 certificate and company prefix, and it wants an EDI 832 UPC catalog through OpenText at style, color and size level. Nordstrom trades every document at the UPC level, so your catalog has to be loaded before you trade. Start with barcodes and RFID set up in your ERP.
Macy's requires the 850 purchase order, 856 ship notice, 810 invoice and 832 from every merchandise vendor. Nordstrom's core set is the 850, the 856, the 810 and the 997. Dropship adds the 846 inventory feed. Macy's sends purchase order changes as a retransmitted 850, not an 860.
Both retailers want a GS1-128 carton label on every carton. Macy's also wants merchandise floor ready: pre-ticketed with one UPC per ticket, on the right hanger, with an SSCC-18 that has never been used before, and RFID tags per its EPC specification in most families of business.
Macy's 856 goes out right after the truck door closes and has to land at least three hours before delivery. Nordstrom needs the ASN in its systems before the shipment reaches the DC, and it now requires a TMS Shipment ID on the ASN to stay inside its routing rules.
Side by side
The same small brand often sells to both. Here's where the rules match and where they don't.
| Requirement | Macy's | Nordstrom |
|---|---|---|
| How new brands apply | RangeMe, linked from Macy's, Inc.'s vendor page | No public wholesale form found; Marketplace is curated |
| Vendor portal | MacysNet | nordstromsupplier.com |
| Required EDI | 850, 856, 810 and 832 from every vendor; 846 for select vendors and VDF | 850, 856, 810 and 997; 855, 846 and 860 also in use |
| Purchase order changes | Retransmitted 850, no 860 | EDI 860 |
| Dropship | VDF by direct EDI or Rithum OrderStream; ship within two business days | Dropship on Rithum's Dsco network |
| Marketplace | Mirakl, since September 2022 (Bloomingdale's separate) | Mirakl, since April 2024 |
| Non-compliance charges | Expense offsets deducted from what Macy's owes you; schedule in Appendix H of the Vendor Standards | $150 per incident for no electronic 850, a missing ASN or no UPC catalog; $25 per paper invoice |
| Sister banners | Bloomingdale's and Bloomingdale's Outlet share the standards; Macy's Backstage has its own | Nordstrom Rack and Nordstrom Canada use the same connection standards |
Sourced from each retailer's vendor documents as summarized on our Macy's and Nordstrom EDI pages. Specs change, so confirm against the guidelines issued to you.
From yes to first shipment
Macy's publishes a week-by-week checklist that starts when your setup is confirmed. Week one: register on MacysNet, confirm your account number, send ship-from addresses at least 30 days before the first shipment and complete the EDI startup form. Week two: order UPC and EPC tickets, mail physical samples to Macy's EDI and order hangers. Week three: EDI testing. Macy's doesn't state a total, so treat three to four weeks as the realistic floor. Ticket sample approval usually sets the date, not the EDI.
Nordstrom onboarding runs through its supplier portal, with testing for each program you're set up on. Marketplace onboarding at both retailers is a separate Mirakl track that doesn't depend on EDI, but it isn't instant either: Cotopaxi, which started on Mirakl marketplaces in May 2025, told Digital Commerce 360 that marketplace approvals and catalog data work slowed how fast it got more product online at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's.
AIMS360 sets up 100+ brand-to-retailer EDI connections a year and starts from prebuilt Macy's and Nordstrom maps rather than building from scratch. See how the AIMS360 implementation team runs it.
What non-compliance costs
Macy's calls them expense offsets and invoice chargebacks, and it deducts them from what it owes you rather than invoicing you. Its Vendor Standards say non-compliance is consent to those offsets, and the schedule by violation lives in Appendix H. Disputes run through MacysNet.
Nordstrom's supplier compliance manual lists $150 per incident when you can't receive an electronic 850, ship without an ASN, or don't have your UPC catalog available, plus $25 per paper invoice once you're EDI capable. Invoices missing required fields get rejected outright.
When a deduction does land, EDI chargeback management keeps the PO, ASN and invoice together so you can dispute it.
Inventory across every door
Each door publishes availability on its own. Macy's VDF sends an 846 once per business day unless Macy's approves more, and each marketplace publishes through Mirakl on its own schedule. Neither retailer holds stock for its other programs, or for your Shopify store. If nothing upstream holds one number, the same unit gets promised twice and you take the cancellation.
AIMS360 keeps one stock record across your warehouse, your 3PL and your stores. Wholesale, EDI, dropship and marketplace commitments are subtracted before any retailer sees a sellable number, and the 846 and Mirakl feeds publish from that figure. Dropship through Rithum runs from the same record.
FAQ
Apply through RangeMe. Macy's, Inc.'s vendor page links its merchandise application to rangeme.com/macys. Once a buyer says yes and you have an account number, you register on MacysNet for the technical requirements and EDI onboarding. Women- and minority-owned brands can also apply to The Workshop at Macy's, a free training course. See Macy's EDI.
Nordstrom doesn't publish an open wholesale application like Macy's RangeMe link, so most brands reach a buyer through trade shows, showrooms, wholesale platforms or referrals. Nordstrom Marketplace is curated: Nordstrom says its brand partners are selected by its marketplace team with its merchants. Approved vendors onboard through the supplier portal at nordstromsupplier.com. See Nordstrom EDI.
No. Nordstrom Marketplace launched in April 2024 on Mirakl and is curated. Brands set their own prices, manage their product content and ship their own orders. Nordstrom earns a commission, handles customer care, and lets shoppers return marketplace items, then settles with the brand. See Mirakl marketplace integration.
Vendor Direct Fulfillment is wholesale dropship: Macy's sends a purchase order for a customer order, you ship it within two business days with a Macy's or Bloomingdale's branded packing list, and you invoice at cost. Macy's Marketplace runs on Mirakl: you set the retail price and pay a commission. They're separate programs with separate onboarding. See dropship EDI.
Macy's requires the 850 purchase order, 856 ship notice, 810 invoice and 832 UPC catalog from every merchandise vendor. Nordstrom's core set is the 850, the 856 with a GS1-128 label on every carton, the 810 and the 997. Dropship adds the 846 inventory feed at both. See the EDI 856 ASN.
Not necessarily. Both marketplaces run on Mirakl, which accepts an API connection, CSV feeds or EDI. Wholesale and dropship do need EDI, or for Macy's dropship, the Rithum OrderStream connection. See Rithum dropship.
Macy's publishes a three-week checklist that starts at setup confirmation and doesn't state a total. Plan on three to four weeks at minimum. Ticket sample approval and ship-from address setup usually set the date, and marketplace onboarding runs separately. See the implementation process.
Macy's calls them expense offsets and deducts them from what it owes you; the schedule is in Appendix H of its Vendor Standards. Nordstrom lists $150 per incident for a missing ASN, no electronic 850 or no UPC catalog, and $25 per paper invoice once you're EDI capable. See chargeback management.
Yes. Macy's won't set up a vendor without a GS1 certificate and company prefix, and Nordstrom trades every EDI document at the UPC level, so your UPC catalog has to be loaded before you trade. See barcodes and RFID.
Yes, if one system holds the stock number. Each program publishes availability separately and none of them holds stock for the others. AIMS360 subtracts wholesale, dropship and marketplace commitments from one stock record before any retailer sees a sellable number. Book a demo to see it on your own styles.
Keep going
A 30 minute walkthrough on your own styles: retailer EDI, GS1-128 labels, dropship and marketplace feeds, all from one stock record.
Last reviewed November 10, 2026 by the AIMS360 team. Checked against Macy's, Inc.'s vendor and S.P.U.R. Pathways pages, The Workshop at Macy's FAQ, the Macy's Vendor Standards and onboarding instructions and Nordstrom's supplier compliance manual as summarized on our Macy's and Nordstrom EDI pages, Nordstrom's April 2024 marketplace announcement, WWD and Digital Commerce 360. Retailer requirements change without notice, so confirm against the vendor guidelines issued to you.
