Short answer
Check eight things before you confirm: prices and discounts, product codes, sizes and colours, quantities against today's stock, the delivery window, the delivery address and dock, the order number, and the retailer's labelling and packing rules. Then ask one more question: is this the right order for the season?
The eight checks
| Check | What to look for | If you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| Prices and discounts | List price, agreed terms, and the order discounts apply in | Invoice disputes, rejected deliveries |
| Product codes | Each retailer code matches your style and EAN | Wrong goods shipped |
| Sizes and colours | No swapped or missing size lines | Returns, short shipments |
| Quantities and stock | Available today, not last week | Short shipments, credit notes |
| Delivery window | A date you can meet | Late-delivery penalties |
| Address and dock | The right store or warehouse, and the right unloading dock | Refused deliveries |
| Order number | New, not a duplicate or a revision | Goods shipped twice |
| Labels and packing | The retailer's labels, units per carton, hanging or folded | Extra handling charges |
Some retailers refuse deliveries sent to the wrong warehouse. Zalando's supplier terms are one example.
Which checks matter most?
Price, by far. In my experience, price errors are the most frequent and the most expensive. A typical case: the retailer applies its discounts in a different order from the one agreed, and every line ends up slightly wrong.
Stock comes next. Every day an order waits for approval, stock moves. A price question that takes a week to settle can leave you with nothing to ship.
From the field
One order had a price that did not match what we had agreed. While we went back and forth with the buyer, the delivery date slipped, and the stock we thought we had was sold to other customers. By the time the price was settled, we could not ship. It cost us tens of thousands of pounds in missed orders.
From a European fashion brand
Is it the right order?
There is a second check that often gets skipped. Did the retailer order enough of your best sellers? Too much of a slow style? Key account managers rarely have time to ask this when the order lands. It tends to come up later, when it is too late to change.
The answer is in the retailer's sales data. See the difference between sell-in and sell-out.
Where Gatsbee fits
Gatsbee checks every order as it lands: prices against your terms, codes against your products. It flags what does not match, with the reply to the buyer drafted. What happens when an order has a problem.
Questions
How fast should I check and confirm an order?
Within one working day is a good target, and always within any deadline the retailer sets. Amazon, for example, asks direct fulfilment vendors to acknowledge orders within 24 hours.
Who should check purchase orders?
Usually the key account manager checks that prices and quantities make sense. Sales admin then checks codes, stock and delivery details before entering the order.
What if the retailer's price is wrong?
Do not confirm until it is settled. Send the buyer the agreed price list, and confirm the corrected order in writing. Then make sure the agreed price is entered in your ERP, so the invoice matches.
Alexis
Co-founder, Gatsbee
15 years in wholesale. Former CEO of a European lingerie brand selling to retailers across the UK, France and Germany.
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