In short: While EDI and web stores do overlap to a certain degree, web stores offer your business opportunities that simply aren’t feasible with EDI.
EDI (electronic data interchange) is a great way to automate bulk orders from your customers. This saves time and energy for both you and your clients while ensuring that there is always have enough key inventory in stock.
However, EDI isn’t suited to all types of purchases. In our experience, companies use EDI to process 75% of their orders. That means that a quarter of your total orders still require your customers to reach for the phone, or send an email (or even a fax). It’s less convenient for everyone involved, and much less efficient and profitable for you.
Then there’s the matter of marketing. Unlike EDI, a web store makes it easy for (prospective) customers to browse your entire product catalog. This offers more cross-selling and upselling opportunities, and increases the chance that they will find relevant products that they maybe didn’t even realize you stock.