Lots of Love for Home Improvement Retailers 🌹

👋 Well hello there Vendorville,

When my invoice gets paid without any chargebacks

Staying compliant with retailers can sometimes feel as rocky as reality TV! But even when your retailer causes drama with surprise chargebacks, Vendorville will always have a rose for you! 🌹

With Spring behind us and Summer in full swing, the home improvement business is “blooming.” But with increased business comes increased issues, as Home Depot suppliers well know.

It is important to double-check that your supply chain is compliant and know how to dispute chargebacks when they arise.

✅ Compliance with Home Depot

Compliance at Home Depot mostly falls into three categories:

Transportation Compliance
Data Quality Compliance
RDC/DFC Compliance

Knowing Home Depot’s compliance expectations is important, and you can do so by making sure you are comfortable with their Supplier Hub.

🚛 Transportation Compliance

The most common transportation compliance violations are:

Routing Guide Violations (Collect or Prepaid)
Multiple Bill of Lading Violation
Parcel PO Violation

Routing Guide violations are primarily related to Collect or Prepaid shipping. Home Depot has specific routing guides for different types of shipments. Collect relies on set routes, while Prepaid depends on carrier instructions laid out in Home Depot’s routing guides.

If you receive a multiple BOL violation, this means that the supplier is sending individual BOLs for multiple shipments to the same DC on the same day. Home Depot requires a Master BOL rather than one BOL for each product.

Parcel PO violations typically mean that the PO did not include the correct 8-digit PO number or 4-digit store number in the correct fields.

📊 Data Quality Compliance

Data quality compliance mainly covers the following areas:

Specs and Digital Assets
Supply Chain
Hazmat

Whether it’s during new item setup or the actual shipping process, Home Depot expects strict adherence to image specs and resolution, item hierarchy, and compliance with shipping hazardous materials.

🏢 RDC/DFC Compliance

RDC (Rapid Distribution Centers) and DFC (Direct Fulfillment Centers) compliance issues typically fall into the following categories:

Fill Rate
ASN Timeliness
On Time
Fluid Receiving

If an RDC/DFC receives less product than what is listed on the PO (Fill Rate); if the ASN does not include all the necessary documentation, or arrives after the shipment (ASN Timelines); if the PO arrives after the expected delivery date (On Time); or if there are issues with shipping labels at RDCs (Fluid Receiving), Home Depot will consider the supplier out of compliance, and the supplier may be subject to chargebacks.

DTS (Direct To Store) compliance fines function similarly to RDC/DFC compliance fines but can be subcategorized by:

On Time
Fill Rate

Both On-Time and Fill Rate compliance fines for DTS operate in much the same way as On Time and Fill Rate fines for RDC/DFC.

💰Disputing Chargebacks at Home Depot

"Me, the supplier, existing. Home Depot: deducts."

When disputing chargebacks at Home Depot, one or more of the following documents may be required:

Documentation from Home Depot employee
Copy of BOL
TMS screenshot with applicable information
Copy of ASN
Copy of Label and UPS Manifest

In order to view and/or dispute chargebacks from Home Depot, you will go to the Merch Payables Self-Service Portal (MP-SSP) in Supplier Hub. Within a month of the chargeback, it will be viewable to the supplier on MP-SSP.

The most common chargebacks from Home Depot are:

Shortages
Pricing Discrepancies
Trade Discounts

Shortages are one of the most common chargebacks suppliers receive from Home Depot. This is when the shipment received was less than what was listed on the PO.

Pricing Discrepancy chargebacks are when Home Depot thinks the invoice is higher than what the product is worth. Disputing this chargeback will require a "531 SKU Detail" report.

Trade Discounts are slightly different than Shortages and Pricing Discrepancies as they are contractual agreements. However, because they are taken out of the invoice, they are still considered chargebacks.

Home Depot allows suppliers to select Dispute Invoice via MP-SSP, and from there you will need to input the necessary information: date range, amount to dispute, etc. It is also recommended to fill out the fields that are NOT required, if you have the information that is being requested.

And don’t forget! Home Depot lets you re-dispute previously denied claims!

Retailer News 🗞️

Retail Dive
Walmart debuts Sparky, its generative AI assistant for customers

“Joining Wally, an AI assistant for merchants, Sparky will summarize reviews for customers and help shoppers plan purchases.”

The Street

Target CEO offers 10,000 items below $5 to win customers back

“Target has seen its business decline steadily for more than a year. It's not a massive drop, but it's enough of a decline that CEO Brian Cornell addressed it at the top of the company's first-quarter earnings call.”

Fox Business

Joann, Macy's, other store closures part of a 274% spike in retail layoffs in 2025

“The number of job cuts announced in the first five months of 2025 increased 80% from the same period the prior year, according to a new report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas.”

⭐ Rick’s Tips ⭐

“According to Walmart, as of March 17, 2025, making or importing products with TCE is a no-go. As of June 16, selling or shipping them is off the table unless TCE is under 0.1%. Time to check those shelves and clean up compliance with Walmart!”

Let's Circle Back

Working with retailers can cause drama, and sometimes, agreements don’t live up to suppliers’ expectations. Maybe it isn’t quite as dramatic as reality TV, but let’s have a little fun with that comparison.

We asked ChatGPT what some retailers’ catchphrases would be if they were contestants on a dating show. Who would get a rose from you?

🌹Walmart – "I may not be the cheapest date, but I guarantee everyday low prices on love."

🌹Home Depot – "I’m not just here to build shelves—I’m here to build a future with you."

🌹Lowe’s – "Let’s make this a home improvement… for the heart."

🌹Target – "I wasn’t looking for love, but somehow, I always leave with more than I planned."

🌹Amazon – "I deliver love fast… but beware of surprise fees."

Until Next Time,

Vendorville ♥️