How Does Pubnet Work?

What Does Pubnet Do?

Pubnet allows booksellers and publishers to exchange information (such as purchase orders, order acknowledgements, shipping notices, and invoices) electronically, through what is known as EDI communication.

How Does Pubnet Do This?

We create a “mailbox” for each bookseller on Pubnet. Each of your publisher or supplier partners also has their own mailbox. SAN Numbers are used as the mailbox addresses. When you place a Pubnet order through your POS, your POS system accesses your Pubnet mailbox through the FTP login credentials we send you in your welcome email and places your PO in your mailbox. Pubnet is the internal mailman in this system and picks up the mail from your mailbox, checks the SAN number address, and then delivers it to the appropriate supplier mailbox.

Each supplier has login credentials to their own mailbox where they regularly retrieve orders sent to them (each publisher checks their mailbox on their own set schedule), process them through their order fulfillment system, and then upload responses (Acknowledgments, Ship notices, Invoices). Pubnet again acts as mailman and delivers these responses to the bookseller’s mailbox based on the bookseller’s SAN number.

The responses wait until you tell your POS to check your mailbox. When your POS finds responses in your mailbox, it will download and process them, updating your order’s status as appropriate.

What Setup Do Suppliers Have to Do for Me?

Each of your suppliers need to know that you will be using Pubnet to place orders so that they will recognize your SAN when your orders arrive. An unrecognized SAN can cause delays in processing an order or can even cause an order to be rejected by the supplier. Pubnet does the initial supplier notification for you and you can add additional suppliers anytime through this form

What Setup Will I Have to Do?

For each supplier you will be using Pubnet with, you’ll need to add your Pubnet login credentials and the supplier’s SAN number to their vendor record in your POS system. Some POS providers will login and do this for you. For the others, we have step-by-step documentation if you are a DIYer or we can walk you through it on a scheduled call if you’d like personal assistance.

How Long Does It Take to Get Set Up Once I Register?

Approximately 5 business days. It usually takes us 2 business days to create your mailbox. Once it’s created, we’ll send you a welcome email with your login details and we’ll also let any suppliers you told us about during registration know to expect your orders. Suppliers usually need 2 business days to get you set up on their end and during that time we can help you set up your POS and you can build your first order. After you send the order, it may take up to 24 hours to receive the order acknowledgment, confirming that everything was set up correctly for that vendor and that your order has been processed.