ASN Accuracy Tracking: Making Advance Ship Notices Match Reality

Advance Ship Notices are supposed to make retail receiving faster and cleaner. In practice, inaccurate ASNs create confusion, delays, and penalties. When carton counts, pallet details, or item quantities do not match what arrives at the dock, the receiving process slows down and chargebacks follow. This is why ASN accuracy tracking matters for brands shipping B2B orders.

An ASN is only as useful as its accuracy. Tracking ensures the data reflects the physical shipment, not a best guess.

Why ASN errors are so costly

Retailers rely on ASNs to plan labor, space, and appointments. When the ASN is wrong, the entire downstream process suffers.

Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience at G10 Fulfillment, explains the risk clearly. "Ensuring retail compliance can be involved. If you don't do it right, you get those massive chargebacks." ASN errors are one of the fastest ways to trigger those penalties.

What ASN accuracy tracking should include

Accuracy tracking should verify item quantities, carton counts, pallet configuration, serial or lot data when required, and timing of transmission. Each of those elements can break compliance if they are wrong.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO of G10 Fulfillment, explains the system foundation. "Our WMS system was written from day one around B2B." A B2B-first system makes it easier to validate ASN data against real warehouse activity.

ASNs must reflect what actually shipped

Many ASN problems come from generating the notice too early. If changes happen after the ASN is sent, accuracy suffers.

Maureen Milligan, Director of Operations and Projects at G10 Fulfillment, describes the expectation retailers have. "We will take in your inbounds, we will get them received and reported back to you within our SLAs." That same discipline applies to outbound data like ASNs.

Scan-based execution supports ASN accuracy

ASN accuracy depends on scan-based confirmation of picks, cartons, and pallets. Without scans, the ASN becomes an assumption.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO of G10 Fulfillment, explains the foundation. "A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point that you touch it." Those scans ensure ASN data is tied to real work.

Timing matters as much as correctness

An accurate ASN sent late can be just as damaging as an inaccurate one sent early.

Holly Woods, Director of Operations at G10 Fulfillment, explains how unforgiving retail timelines can be. "Target has a deadline for delivery and that's it, no exceptions. They'll just cancel the order." ASN timing is part of meeting those deadlines.

Visibility helps catch ASN exceptions early

ASN tracking should surface mismatches before shipment leaves the dock.

Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment at G10 Fulfillment, explains the value of visibility. "Our clients get best-in-class visibility and transparency. They can see their daily orders, they can see KPIs, and they can see historical transactions." That visibility includes ASN status and accuracy.

Shared ASN data improves accountability

When brands and 3PLs share ASN accuracy data, conversations become factual instead of reactive.

Matt Bradbury, Director of Sales at G10 Fulfillment, connects transparency to confidence. "Transparency and predictability help us build trust." Accurate ASNs support that predictability.

What ASN accuracy tracking really delivers

Strong ASN accuracy tracking reduces receiving delays, prevents chargebacks, and keeps B2B shipments flowing smoothly. It turns advance ship notices into a reliable signal instead of a liability.

For growing brands, ASN accuracy tracking is not a technical detail. It is a requirement for profitable retail fulfillment.

The next step is simple. If ASN errors are creating deductions or delays, share your current ASN workflow and where mismatches usually occur, and we will show you how tracking and scan-based execution can close the gap.