In short
The most common wholesale order errors are price mismatches, wrong product codes or sizes, availability problems and delivery or packing mistakes. Most of them start on the brand's side, in an out-of-date catalogue or unclear terms. They usually surface weeks later, at invoicing. The penalty is rarely the biggest cost: team time and the buyer's trust are.
What are the most common order errors?
Four types of error come back again and again.
| Error | Where it starts | When it is found | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | A price change not reflected in the terms; discounts applied in the wrong order | At invoicing, or when the retailer receives the goods | Rejected deliveries, credit notes, days of internal approvals |
| Codes and sizes | Typos; retailer codes not matched to yours; sizes entered wrong | At the warehouse or at delivery | Wrong goods shipped, returns, short shipments |
| Availability | Wrong replenishment status; stock sold elsewhere while the order waits | When the order is picked | Short shipments, credit notes, a disappointed buyer |
| Delivery and packing | Wrong slot, wrong dock, wrong carton quantities or labels | At the retailer's warehouse | Late-delivery penalties, refused deliveries, extra handling costs |
Price errors are the most frequent and the most expensive. A typical case: the retailer applies its discounts in the wrong order. Some terms apply to the price before other discounts (pre-terms), others after (post-terms). Get the order wrong and every line is slightly off.
Availability errors often come from replenishment status. Is a style current season or past season? Fully replenishable, or replenishable only in season? If the retailer holds the wrong status, it keeps ordering styles you can no longer supply.
Where do order errors really start?
In my experience, retailers rarely make mistakes on their own. They work from what you gave them: your catalogue, your prices, your terms. When those are out of date, errors follow.
The most common trigger is a change on the brand's side that never reaches the retailer. A style moves from replenishable to seasonal. A price goes up. The retailer keeps working from the old version. It spends its open-to-buy (the budget a buyer has for a season) on products you cannot deliver. Then penalties start, on both sides.
Of course, retailers also miss updates they did receive. One team I know re-uploads its full catalogue to Amazon every month, just to be sure every replenishment code is current.
Most mid-sized brands do not have a product information system (PLM) for this. They keep the catalogue in Excel, maintained by hand by one person. That works until that person is busy, or on holiday.
- Catalogue change
- Order
- Approval
- Warehouse
- Delivery
- Invoice
Price or status updated; the retailer is not told.
A price or replenishment change that never reaches the retailer travels through the whole order, and only shows up on the invoice.
From the field
One German hypermarket had sent us weekly orders for years, each delivered straight to its stores on different days. Our warehouse team changed the labels to match our other clients, and at the same time decided to ship all orders on the same day each week, to save costs.
Nobody told the sales team, let alone the buyer. The retailer's own operations team started charging small late-delivery fines, store by store. It took us several weeks to find the cause. Our buyer was very nervous: the problem put his own position at risk inside his company.
From a European fashion brand
When are order errors found?
Rarely when the order arrives. Most surface at the warehouse, at delivery, or weeks later at invoicing.
- Short shipments turn into credit notes. These are slow to process and they damage your credibility with the buyer.
- Penalties are often applied automatically by the retailer's warehouse systems. Late-delivery fees are part of standard delivery terms at retailers such as Zalando. Some retailers apply deductions by default and count on suppliers not checking.
- Packing mistakes are a hidden cost. Many small orders in small quantities, each with special labels or packing, add up fast.
What do order errors really cost?
Team time is the silent killer. At the brand I ran, 5 of our 30 staff worked in sales admin, serving around 150 active accounts across Europe. They were overwhelmed. A single price dispute could take a week to settle. When one person went on holiday without rerouting their emails, orders simply waited.
A dispute rarely stays with one person. It moves from the key account manager to the sales director, then to controlling, then to the CFO, and back to sales. Every hour spent there is an hour not spent selling or improving the range.
Penalties and lost sales come next. A delivery outside the slot can be fined or refused: Zalando, for example, expects deliveries on the confirmed day or in the booked slot.
Trust is the cost nobody counts. Wholesale is a human business. A key account manager and a buyer may have worked together for years. Every error is a small blow to that trust. And because operations and sales usually sit in different teams, frustration between them builds quickly too.
From the field
8%
A recently signed, strategic retailer sent an urgent order with the wrong prices on several lines. They were last season's discounted prices, and the buyer refused to go back: "We paid this once, we will not change it again."
It took several days to agree, first between sales and the buyer, then internally with the sales director and finance. Some prices went back up, some stayed discounted. We approved the order. But the special discount was not entered correctly, so the ERP printed the normal prices on the invoice.
The retailer's warehouse saw the mismatch and rejected the delivery. By the time we fixed the invoice, the buyer had cut some quantities, we had lost a week of sales, and we were charged for late delivery. In total, it cost us 8% of the order.
From a European fashion brand
How do you stop order errors?
Most fixes are about discipline, not technology.
- Keep one catalogue, with one owner. Prices, codes, sizes and replenishment status, always current.
- Share every change with every retailer, and check they applied it. With key accounts, re-send the full catalogue regularly.
- Write down the terms for each retailer: which discounts apply before others, and which prices are exceptions.
- Approve orders fast. Set a target, such as within one working day. Every day an order waits, stock moves.
- Agree delivery and packing rules upfront with the retailer's operations team: slots, docks, labels, units per carton. Do not be shy about stating your own requirements: small, special orders cost money.
- Tell sales when operations change anything that a retailer will see.
- Check every deduction on remittances. Do not assume it is right.
- Make sure nobody's inbox is a single point of failure. Shared inboxes, holiday cover.
See also our guide on how retailer orders arrive, and what to check before you confirm, and what Gatsbee does when an order has a problem.
Quick answers: What to check on a purchase order · Getting orders into your ERP
Questions
What is the difference between pre-terms and post-terms prices?
Pre-terms discounts apply to the list price before other discounts. Post-terms discounts apply after them. If a retailer applies them in a different order from the one agreed, every line on the order ends up at the wrong price.
What is open-to-buy?
Open-to-buy is the budget a retail buyer has left to spend on a category in a given period. If a retailer spends it on products you cannot supply, both sides lose sales.
Can I dispute a late-delivery penalty?
Usually yes, if you can show the delay was not your fault, for example with proof of delivery or the retailer's own booking. Check every deduction: some are applied automatically and are not always correct.
Who should own the product catalogue?
One named person, with a back-up. Sales, planning and operations all feed into it, but one owner makes sure every change reaches every retailer.
Why are order errors usually found so late?
Because orders are checked for price and quantity when they arrive, but delivery, packing and invoice details are only tested at the retailer's warehouse or by its accounts team, often weeks later.
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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