Even small mistakes can chip away at your revenue without you noticing. That’s why understanding where these errors come from is so important. The longer they go unchecked, the harder—and costlier—it is to fix them.
The good news? You don’t have to manage everything manually. With the right processes and systems in place, it’s possible to catch fulfillment errors early, recover losses efficiently, and keep your operations running smoothly.
Imagine a retail giant like Amazon orders, let’s say, 1,000 units of your goods. The retailer collects 980 of them. Maybe you didn’t ship all of them. Perhaps you did, but the packaging didn’t meet the compliance standards.
Fulfillment errors are mistakes in the supply chain that occur during the process of preparing an order or while shipping it. These refer to any obstacles preventing the successful delivery of the purchase order.
We’re thinking of wrong quantities, incorrect labeling, missed delivery windows, damaged goods, packaging non-compliance, missing ASNs, or incomplete documentation. And that marks the beginning of your chargeback nightmares.
Retailer chargebacks or deductions are automatic fines imposed as a result of fulfillment errors and non-compliance with strict supply chain requirements.
Here’s a quick start:
A report by Supply Chain Dive states that suppliers lose 2-10% of their annual revenue to chargebacks and deductions. That amounts to a $1M leak in annual revenue for a $10M business.
Now let’s break down some real-world impacts:
Prevention of errors is not so much about cost savings—it's about earning the trust of your partners and customers. Though automation and tools can play their part, there are certain operational measures that all businesses can adopt to prevent errors and increase dependability in their process of fulfillment. Some of them include:
Having checkpoints along your process flow guarantees that all products are labeled and scanned before proceeding to another phase. This avoids mistakes such as sending an incorrect product, shipping items in incorrect quantities, or labeling products incorrectly—errors that cost money to correct and harm brand reputation.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software enables data centralization across departments, providing you with complete visibility over inventory and shipping operations. Connecting ERP to your fulfillment processes enables real-time tracking of orders, mitigates overselling or stockout risks, and enhances communication between warehouse operations and back office operations.
ASNs (Advance Shipping Notices) play an important part in informing your partner retailers about what is delivered and when. Sending them too late or incomplete can result in delays in receiving, lost goods, or chargebacks. On-time ASNs with accurate data ensure an efficient handoff and keep your supply chain in motion.
Each retailer has their own compliance requirements—from packaging to labeling on boxes. Equipping your fulfillment team with clear, retailer-specific training can cut down on expensive mistakes and avoid rejected shipments. It also demonstrates to partners that their requirements are being taken seriously.
Automation tools can also work as your first line of defense. Tools such as iNymbus exist to pinpoint potential issues—like incomplete documentation or labeling discrepancies—before shipment. By catching these early in the process, you can repair them ahead of time to prevent unnecessary deductions or interruptions.
When something goes wrong with an order—like the wrong item gets shipped or a label is missing—it often leads to a deduction or chargeback. And that’s just the beginning. You’re suddenly dealing with tight deadlines, confusing paperwork, and the pressure to fix things fast. Multiply that by dozens or even hundreds of orders, and it quickly becomes overwhelming.
That’s where deduction data comes in.
It’s not just about getting money back. It’s about understanding why these problems are happening in the first place. By tracking and organizing deduction data, businesses can spot patterns—like repeat shipping mistakes or common packaging issues—and figure out what’s causing them.
In fact, McKinsey reports that companies using automated deduction management can reduce lost revenue by up to 40% and solve disputes in half the time.
Over time, this process helps you:
Big retailers follow strict rules to keep things running smoothly. But for suppliers, those rules can be frustrating. Automated systems flag even the tiniest mistakes.
Worse, suppliers often can’t access the retailer’s portals. They have no way to check what went wrong or why they were charged.
As a result, they pay for mistakes they didn’t make. They waste hours on paperwork. And they lose money they could’ve recovered.
We’re talking automation. Software like iNymbus can offer you automation in managing deductions and here how that can help you.
1. Automate Disputes for Invalid Deductions
iNymbus takes the manual work off your plate by automatically identifying and disputing invalid deductions across retailer portals. No more scrambling to meet deadlines or digging through paperwork.
2. Find the Root Cause
Once your deductions are organized and tracked in one place, iNymbus helps you see the bigger picture. You get clear, detailed insights into why deductions are happening. Many of our clients have used this data to fix core issues—and have seen a noticeable drop in deductions within just 4–5 months.
3. Free Up Your Team for What Really Matters
Because iNymbus handles future deductions as they come in, your team doesn’t have to stay buried in dispute work. Instead, they can shift their focus to prevention—improving processes, reducing errors, and protecting your revenue long-term.
Stats Explaining Why You Need an Automated Solution
You cannot avoid fulfillment errors forever, despite putting multiple measures into place. However, revenue bleed is always controllable. Give your profit margins the protection they deserve. Whether you’re supplying to a giant retailer or a niche e-commerce platform.
Deduction management is not just damage control — it’s revenue recovery.
And with automation tools like iNymbus in your bag, you'll go from reactive to proactive faster than you can say “chargeback denied.”
Visit iNymbus to see how our automation tools help suppliers reclaim lost revenue, reduce operational strain, and finally win the chargeback game.