Vendor Routing Compliance Without the Headaches

Vendor routing compliance is the part of wholesale logistics that feels like someone handed you a rulebook written by lawyers, engineers, and a retail buyer who had a bad morning. Every retailer has its own expectations, its own timing, its own barcode style, and its own interpretation of what correct looks like. Search trends show that operators routinely look up phrases like what is vendor routing compliance or why did my delivery get rejected. Those searches come from brands that are growing and suddenly discovering how strict big retailers can be.

If you have ever stared at a routing guide that reads like a foreign language, you are not alone.

Why routing guides create so much tension

Every retailer treats compliance differently, but all of them take it seriously. Routing guides tell you how to label pallets, how tall those pallets can be, how each carton must face, what barcodes must be included, what data must be in your ASN, and when the ASN must arrive. These rules are not optional. If you miss even one detail, the retailer may refuse the shipment outright or issue a chargeback.

Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience at G10, sees the fallout regularly. "Walmart is pretty intense with their labeling rules. Dick's Sporting Goods is the same. If you do not do it right, you get those massive chargebacks." A brand can lose thousands in a single shipment. One misaligned label can derail an entire week.

Where routing compliance usually breaks

Most routing compliance issues do not come from carelessness but from mismatched systems. Many 3PLs use WMS platforms that were never designed for B2B. They are strong at shipping individual e-commerce orders but weak at building compliant pallets for a retailer who has a hundred pages of requirements. If the system cannot support retailer-specific rules, warehouse teams end up improvising. Improvisation is where compliance goes to die.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO, explained why this happens. "Our WMS was written around B2B from day one. If a retailer has a specific labeling rule or ASN rule or pick requirement, it is already built into the software." When a WMS does not have this built in, staff must apply rules manually, and manual processes always drift.

Why compliance is more than just labels

Vendor routing compliance is about more than correct stickers. It affects timing, accuracy, and your retailer relationships. A late ASN can cause delays, and some retailers will automatically penalize you. A pallet stacked too high may be rejected. A missed appointment may take days to reschedule. Retailers do not bend rules to be friendly. They enforce them to protect their networks.

Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment, explained how routing compliance connects to larger workflow issues. "One of the pain points our clients have experienced with previous 3PLs is inventory accuracy. Maybe their previous 3PL was not great at picking the orders accurately. So they were losing money by shipping wrong items or wrong quantities of items." If inventory tracking is off, routing is almost guaranteed to be off too.

The human factor that separates good compliance from bad compliance

Even with solid systems, many 3PLs fall apart because of how slow they communicate. When a routing issue comes up, clients get pushed into ticket queues. Hours pass. Days pass. Meanwhile, the retailer is expecting a perfectly compliant order on a strict timeline.

Joel described the contrast clearly. "At some 3PLs you get thrown into a ticketed queue, and you get different people replying every time. It can take days, if not weeks, to get a resolution." That is the opposite of what routing compliance needs.

G10 does it differently. Every client has one dedicated point of contact. As Joel put it, "You call one person. That is it. And things get done." When compliance questions surface, this speed keeps orders from falling out of alignment.

What real vendor routing compliance looks like

A clean routing process begins before the first order ever drops. Retail rules must be translated into system logic. Labels must be templated correctly. Pallet specs must be coded into the WMS. ASN timing must be automated. Pick logic must match retailer workflows. Once all of this is set, compliance becomes a smooth process instead of a recurring crisis.

Connor explained how G10 approaches new routing requirements. "When we onboard a client who sells into places like Amazon or Walmart, the process changes depending on where they are selling. We work through all of their routing guide requirements and make sure the warehouse is ready before the first order ever drops." Preparation eliminates most problems before they happen.

How G10 performs under routing pressure

The best proof of routing compliance is what happens when something goes wrong. Joel shared a moment when a Target-bound shipment arrived late from the ports with zero flexibility for delay. "Our supervisor, warehouse manager, and several employees worked the entire day into the night, then came back at 5 a.m. to make sure we had the routing completed." That is what real routing compliance looks like under stress.

In another case, a client's product went viral and order volume spiked. Joel remembered, "The client asked, Can you help us? And we said, Yeah, we gotcha. Then we sent a truck to the carrier at midnight." Retailers expect you to keep up. G10 makes sure you can.

The bottom line for brands navigating retail routing

Vendor routing compliance is not a suggestion. It is a requirement for scaling into major retailers without losing margin to penalties. When your routing process is built into your WMS, supported by accurate inventory, and backed by a responsive team, compliance becomes predictable instead of painful.

If you want routing compliance that keeps retailers satisfied and protects your margins, reach out to G10. You will get faster setups, cleaner data, and far fewer surprises when retailers change the rules on a whim.