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Holiday returns are here—and how you classify them decides whether you pay for them later. You must separate true defective  products from shipping damage  or policy abuse  (like “used once, then returned”) before retailers reset your “excessive defectives” rates. What’s at stake:  the wrong label today can lock in higher return allowances or additional chargebacks for months. Fictional example (for illustration):  A home electronics brand treated all returns as “defective.”

Promotions move product. They also generate deductions if your math or your proof is fuzzy. The goal: make promotional allowance deductions match the plan—no more, no less—and be ready to win the audit later.

Cyber Monday is a rocket booster for sales—and a magnet for deductions. When orders surge, small disconnects in marketplace fee math, split shipments, or “porch piracy” claims can snowball into accounts payable (AP) headaches and post-audit chargebacks.

Black Friday moves fast. Price files, promotions, and point-of-sale (POS) syncs don’t always move with it. When they don’t, you get price claims and invoice debits.

Today, gratitude. For the people who keep goods moving and cash flowing. To finance  teams who reconcile the messy and make it make sense. To operations  teams who turn chaos into cartons on time (and correct UCC-128 labels). To sales  teams who carry the weight of the season with grace. None of this works without you. From everyone at HRG: thank you. Your work matters—to shoppers celebrating together, to teammates relying on you, and to the brands that trust you. If you ever

Short week. Fewer people. Same (or more) shipments. This is when small misses become expensive. Fictional example (for illustration):  A candy supplier shipped on Thursday with no “owner backup.” A Friday receiving window moved; no one was watching. The truck missed, and On-Time In-Full (OTIF)  penalties landed. A two-minute handoff would have prevented it. Your preflight before you log off Shipment holds & gates:  Reconfirm receiving hours and blackout dates for all active p

Trade spend is supposed to grow sales—not quietly fund deductions. Industry estimates often peg trade spend at 20–25% of gross revenue , yet leakage from unclear terms, mis-accruals, and missing proofs regularly eats 1–2 points of margin. Where the January “surprise” happens. Cooperative advertising ( co-op ) and market development funds ( MDF ) reconciliations arrive with fuzzy backup. “Rate card drift” means the ad ran at a different cost than you accrued. Promo proofs live

Advance Ship Notice ( ASN ), Uniform Code Council-128 ( UCC-128 ) carton labels, and distribution center ( DC ) mix decisions decide whether your loads glide through—or get hit with negative acknowledgments ( NAKs ) and compliance chargebacks. Why it spikes in Q4.  More promotions. More split purchase orders ( POs ). More DC reassignments. More ways your plan breaks. Fictional example (for illustration):  A home goods supplier shipped on time, but their ASN posted after gate-

On-Time In-Full ( OTIF ) is simple on paper and brutal in peak. A missed window here, a short-shipped pallet there—and suddenly you’re funding the retailer’s margin via chargebacks. Here’s the part most teams miss: OTIF isn’t won in the warehouse. It’s won in the calendar. A quick reality check.  Across the industry, suppliers routinely see November–December carrier on-time performance ( OTP ) sag as capacity tightens and dwell times creep up. Even modest slippage can stack i

Black Friday doesn’t just test your demand plan—it stress-tests your price files, order flow, and shipping logic at the same time. Miss one sync or let a small error ride, and you can trigger a mass event: hundreds of price claims, a wave of canceled purchase orders (POs), and split shipments that later look like shortages.

Black Friday can make—or quietly drain—your year. Not because shoppers didn’t show. Because your price files, promo proofs, and terms confirmations didn’t lock before the doors opened, when they’re off, you don’t get a few invoice issues—you get a mass event: price variances across every store, on every unit, all weekend long. That’s how great promotions turn into invoice claims on Monday.

Today, we pause to honor the men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform—and the families who stood watch with them. Your courage, discipline, and quiet commitment to something larger than yourselves set a standard we aspire to at HRG every day. Service looks like a lot of things: showing up early, doing the hard work no one sees, and keeping your word even when it costs you. Veterans embody that spirit. We are grateful for your sacrifice, and we’re mindful that the free

If you’re staring at December 31 and thinking, “We’ll clean up deductions after the holidays,” here’s the friendly nudge: don’t. A slow dispute now becomes a write-off later.

Peak inbound season is a gift to sales—and a stress test for your operation. When docks are stacked and teams are sprinting, shortage deductions  climb. Not because your product vanished, but because counts, paperwork, or scans didn’t line up under pressure. Let’s keep your December revenue from becoming January deductions. Here’s how to tighten counts, Proof of Delivery (POD) , and research packages so you can prevent  shortages—and win  disputes when they pop. What’s at sta

Holiday promotions should lift velocity and win new households. Too often, they lift deductions  instead. The difference usually isn’t intent—it’s structure. When limited-time offers (LTOs)  aren’t framed cleanly, co-operative advertising (co-op) , market development funds (MDF) , and scan allowances  can boomerang months later as retail chargebacks  and post-audit recovery  headaches. Let’s keep your promo dollars working for  you—not against you. What’s really at stake Marg