Selling at Walmart and Target: Label and Barcode Compliance Guide for Suppliers

You worked for months to get that first purchase order from Walmart or Target. Then a label prints one grade too light, a pallet code doesn’t match the ASN, and the whole thing comes back to you as a chargeback. Retail compliance is where good products go to get nickel-and-dimed — so let’s make sure yours doesn’t.

Retailer distribution centers are heavily automated. A label that doesn’t scan, doesn’t match the expected format, or sits where the scanner can’t see it creates real handling cost — and that cost comes straight back to you. Here’s what to have in order before your first shipment.

The Three Labels Every Retail Supplier Needs

There are three, they stack from the smallest unit up to the pallet, and each one talks to a different scanner in the receiving process. Tap any of them for the specifics.

1. Product label with UPC barcode — the one shoppers scan

Every unit on a retail shelf needs a UPC-A or EAN-13 barcode derived from a GS1-registered Company Prefix. It has to scan at point of sale, trace back to your company in the GS1 database, meet minimum print quality (ANSI/ISO grade C minimum; A or B preferred), and be sized correctly — at least 80% of the GS1 nominal size for UPC-A. Retailers verify UPC ownership through GS1’s database, so barcodes bought from third-party resellers fail the check and get your product flagged or delisted.

2. Shipping carton label with GS1-128 barcode — the one the DC scans

Every carton shipped to a retailer’s distribution center needs a GS1-128 shipping label identifying the carton contents. The GS1-128 barcode encodes your product’s GTIN, quantity, and other supply chain data using GS1 Application Identifiers. Exactly which Application Identifiers are required varies by retailer — some want lot number, some want production date, some want only GTIN and quantity. Your trading partner’s routing guide spells out which ones.

3. SSCC pallet label — the one that matches your ASN

Any palletized shipment to a retailer’s distribution center needs SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) pallet labels — one on each side, four per pallet. The SSCC is an 18-digit code that uniquely identifies the pallet and links it to your EDI 856 Advance Ship Notice. If your ASN says “pallet 123 holds 40 cases of SKU XYZ” but the label doesn’t scan as SSCC 123, the receiving system can’t match the shipment to the ASN. The pallet gets quarantined for manual processing, and you get charged.

Routing Guides: The Rulebook You Can’t Skip

Every major retailer publishes a vendor routing guide — the document that specifies exactly how they want shipments labeled, packaged, routed, and documented. It is not optional reading, and it is not the same from one retailer to the next.

A routing guide typically covers:

• Required GS1 Application Identifiers on carton labels
• SSCC pallet label format and placement
• EDI transaction requirements (856 ASN, 810 invoice, and so on)
• Carton marking requirements (human-readable text, retailer item numbers)
• Pallet configuration (cases per layer, layers per pallet)
• Carrier and routing requirements

What Walmart and Target Each Expect

The core requirements rhyme, but the details differ. Here’s the side-by-side, straight from what each retailer publishes.

Requirement	Walmart	Target
Where to find it	Supplier One Stop portal	Partners Online portal
Product label	GS1-registered UPC-A / EAN-13, verified against GS1	Same GS1 requirement, verified against Target’s catalog
Carton label	GS1-128 with GTIN (AI 01) and quantity (AI 37); more AIs by category; human-readable content above the barcode	4” × 6” GS1-128; GTIN (AI 01), quantity (AI 37), and in some categories lot (AI 10) and production date (AI 11)
Pallet label	SSCC-18 in GS1-128; four per pallet, one per side, 15–45 inches from the floor	SSCC labels for LTL and FTL; placed at eye level on each visible side
Barcode grade	Grade B minimum (ANSI/ISO)	ANSI/ISO quality expected
EDI	Pallet SSCC matches your EDI 856 ASN	EDI 856 ASN before the shipment reaches the DC; counts must match

The through-line: both retailers scan at high speed, both match pallets to your ASN by SSCC, and both expect barcode quality good enough to read on the first pass. Barcode grade isn’t a formality — at their volumes, a marginal barcode is a throughput problem, and throughput problems become your chargebacks.

Where Chargebacks Actually Come From

Most compliance penalties trace back to the same handful of mistakes. Here’s the short list, and how you keep off it.

Missing or unreadable barcode

The single most common cause. Either the barcode printed below grade, it was placed where the scanner couldn’t reach it, or the format was wrong for what the DC expected. The fix is verification before the labels ever leave the shop — every barcode graded to ANSI/ISO, every order.

ASN-to-shipment mismatch

Your ASN said one thing; the pallet held another. SSCC labels are the linking mechanism, so when an SSCC doesn’t match the ASN, the receiving system can’t reconcile the receipt. Generate SSCC labels from the same system that produces your ASN so the codes can’t drift apart.

Wrong label placement

Labels on a seam, buried under stretch wrap, facing inward, or at the wrong height on the pallet. All scannable in theory, none scannable in practice. The routing guide gives exact placement specs — follow them to the inch.

Carton count discrepancy

Routing guides often dictate exactly how many units per carton and how many cartons per layer. Deviate from that and you can get charged even when the total unit count is correct. Build your pallets to the guide’s configuration, not to whatever fits.

Expired or outdated label format

Guides change, and yesterday’s compliant label is today’s rejection. Pull the current routing guide before each new run and confirm the format still matches.

A single shipment rejection or chargeback from Walmart or Target can cost more than the labels themselves — which is exactly why the labels are worth getting right the first time.

How to Order Retailer-Compliant Labels

When you come to us for retail compliance labels, have these ready so we can build the format right the first time:

• A copy of your trading partner's current routing guide.
• Your GS1 Company Prefix and the GTINs for the products you're shipping.
• The required Application Identifiers for your carton GS1-128 labels.
• Your pallet label quantity (estimate from expected pallet count).
• Whether you need variable SSCC data (unique per pallet) or static carton labels.

We produce GS1-128 carton labels and SSCC pallet labels for suppliers shipping to all major US retailers, and every barcode we run gets ANSI/ISO verified — the same grading Walmart and Target apply at receiving, done before your labels leave our floor. We’ll review your routing guide and confirm the format meets your trading partner’s specs before we go to production, so the first scan at the DC isn’t the first time anyone checks.

That’s been the standard here since 1986, from our plant in Hillsborough, NJ. We serve suppliers across New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania and ship compliant labels nationwide.

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Retail compliance is detail work with real money attached, and the details are easier to get right with someone who’s produced these labels before. Onboarding a new Walmart or Target account? Call (908) 495-6235 or request a quote — send us your routing guide and we’ll have compliant labels ready before your first shipment.