Over the past few weeks, we have talked about your product, your packaging and labelling and although we spoke briefly about supply last month I would like to dwell a little deeper and what to expect.
As previously mentioned, the last thing you want to do as a small brand is to finally get your break that you have been working so hard towards and have stock rejected, not be able to supply or not be compliant with their requirements.
So let’s break this down and have a look, why would your stock get rejected when they ordered in the first place? Good question with lots of answers.
| Short Supply | If you are unable to meet your agreed order, communicate to the buyer before delivery, the people receiving the stock are only going on the paperwork they have available to them. To ensure you have enough stock you will need to work very closely with your manufacturer to ensure all the pieces of the puzzle to make you product shelf ready are in place eg. Labels, bottles, lids, raw ingredients, shippers etc. |
| Damaged Stock | The retailer does not want damaged stock that they can’t sell and you as the brand owner does not want damaged stock to be reflective of your brand. Please make sure who ever is packing your stock is doing it well and that you are using a trusted logistic company. Sometimes when using a 3PL (third party logistics) company you need to be very specific of how your stock is to be packed. |
| Pallet Configuration | Some retailers have very specific pallet configuration requirements for safety and the needs of their warehouse, it could be as simple as how many layers they will accept or how high or heavy it can be if this is not correct, they will not take receipt, please make sure that is covered off in your contract with them. They may even require a certain pallet eg plastic, timber, cheap. |
| Labelling | Make sure that your pallets are clearly labelled with product name, batch number, box number and any other requirements the retailer has requested. |
| Delivery Window | Many retailers will give you a window (a specific time) for delivery and will not accept your delivery out of this time. |
Correct Way to Configure a Pallet
