Handling returns and stock rotation
ClaimDS has no dedicated returns or rotation claim, but the money they create — allowances, credits, price drops — maps to the existing claim types.
Returns and stock rotation are real parts of the channel — goods come back damaged, slow stock gets swapped, expiry forces a write-off. ClaimDS doesn't manage that physical process, but it does settle the money those events create, and that money maps cleanly onto the claim types it already has.
What ClaimDS does — and doesn't
ClaimDS is a settlement system, not a returns or inventory system. So the honest boundary is this: the physical return, rotation or replacement happens in your ERP or DMS; the claim that results — a deduction, an allowance, a price recovery — is what you bring into ClaimDS to reconcile and settle.
Map the situation to a claim type
Work the steps below: match what actually happened to the right existing claim. A partner taking money lands as a deduction or an inbound channel claim; a price drop on held stock is stock protection; a correction on invoiced goods is a retroactive price adjustment.
When in doubt, ask
The same goes for buyback — a vendor repurchasing stock — which also has no dedicated claim type. If your returns, rotation or buyback arrangement doesn't fit any of these cleanly, talk to us; it's better to model it deliberately with the tools ClaimDS has than to force it into the wrong claim type.
Step-by-step
Separate the physical process from the financial claim
ClaimDS settles the money side of the channel — it isn't a returns or stock-rotation system. The physical return, swap or write-off of goods lives in your ERP or DMS. What comes into ClaimDS is the financial claim that results, and that's what these steps capture.
A partner deducts for damaged or slow-moving stock
When a downstream partner takes money for defective goods, returns, or slow-moving stock, it arrives as a deduction or an inbound channel claim. The reason codes — for example Defect Allowance or Slow Moving Inventory — record why, so you can review and decide it like any other.
A manufacturer cuts the price on stock you hold
If the value loss is a price drop on inventory you're still holding, that's a stock-protection claim. Use it to recover the cost or MRP fall on your eligible quantity.
The price on already-invoiced goods needs correcting
If the situation is really a post-sale price correction on business you've already invoiced, raise a retroactive price adjustment, which settles against the original invoice.
Bring only the financial claim into ClaimDS
Run the physical return or rotation in the system that owns your stock, and bring the resulting credit, deduction or allowance into ClaimDS as the matching claim. That keeps the money reconciled and settled without ClaimDS pretending to manage inventory it doesn't hold.
Frequently asked
Is there a "returns" or "stock rotation" claim type?
No. ClaimDS doesn't have a dedicated claim type for returned, rotated, expired or replaced stock. You capture the financial effect of those events with the existing claim types — a deduction, an inbound channel claim, stock protection, or a price adjustment.
Which reason codes cover return-related allowances?
Inbound channel claims carry business reason codes, and the seeded set includes ones like Defect Allowance and Slow Moving Inventory — the kinds of reasons a partner raises for damaged or unsold stock.
What if none of these fit our process?
Talk to us. We can help you model your specific returns or rotation arrangement with the claim types ClaimDS has, rather than forcing it into the wrong shape.
Still stuck?
Book a demo and we'll walk through it on your own data — or just talk to us.