Retailer Scorecard

A retailer scorecard is the report card a retailer issues to each of its suppliers, measuring logistics and operational performance over a defined period – typically monthly or quarterly. Scorecards aggregate metrics like OTIF percentage, in-full rate, ASN accuracy, appointment compliance, chargeback volume, and fill rate into a composite view of how well the supplier is executing. Retailers use these scorecards to make decisions about shelf space, order volume, promotional inclusion, and – in extreme cases – whether to continue the relationship.

Each retailer structures its scorecard differently. Walmart's scorecard emphasizes OTIF with published thresholds and per-case fines. Target tracks similar metrics through its Partners Online portal. Amazon's vendor scorecard includes PO confirmation rates, ASN timeliness, and packaging defect rates. The common thread is that poor scorecard performance has tangible commercial consequences – suppliers who consistently underperform get fewer orders, less favorable placement, and reduced promotional support.

For suppliers, the challenge is that scorecard data often arrives weeks after the fact, making it difficult to connect a poor score to the specific operational failures that caused it. A 91% on-time rate in March doesn't tell you which POs were late, which carriers underperformed, or which lanes are problematic – unless you're tracking that data independently. Shippers who maintain their own internal performance dashboards, tracking the same metrics retailers measure, can identify and address problems in real time rather than reacting to a scorecard they can't influence retroactively.

The best-performing suppliers treat the retailer scorecard as a lagging indicator and manage to leading indicators – real-time shipment status, carrier on-time rates by lane, and documentation accuracy rates – that predict what the scorecard will say before it arrives.