Wholesale packing slip requirements are easy to underestimate until a retailer rejects a delivery, a carrier holds a pallet, or finance cannot match goods receipt to the invoice. For brands shipping B2B across the EU—and beyond—the packing slip, delivery note and commercial invoice are not paperwork afterthoughts. They are the operational record of what left the warehouse, what the buyer should book in, and what customs or Intrastat processes may need to see.
Treating these documents as copies of the wholesale order—not as separate spreadsheets—keeps quantities, case packs and references aligned from pick to invoice.
What is a wholesale packing slip and how does it differ from a delivery note?
A packing slip is a document that lists the contents of a shipment as packed: SKUs or article numbers, descriptions, quantities per line, and how those quantities are grouped into cartons or pallets. It travels with the goods so warehouse staff, carriers and receiving docks can verify what is inside without opening every case.
A delivery note is closely related and, in many EU markets, is the buyer-facing goods document used at receipt. In Sweden it is commonly called a följesedel; in German-speaking trade a Lieferschein. The delivery note typically emphasises proof of delivery: ship-to party, delivery address, order or PO reference, and lines the receiver can tick off. A packing list is often used interchangeably with packing slip when the focus is carton-level detail (which SKUs in which outer cartons, weights, dimensions).
In practice the same data set feeds both. The difference is emphasis: packing slip and packing list describe physical contents and packing structure; the delivery note is the commercial/receiving counterpart the retailer files against the purchase order. Neither replaces the commercial invoice, which is the value and tax document.
Stacked cartons with a simple packing list sheet resting on top
What must appear on a packing slip for EU wholesale orders?
There is no single EU-wide “packing slip form,” but wholesale packing slip requirements converge on fields that make the shipment identifiable and countable. At minimum, a usable B2B packing slip or delivery note usually includes:
- Seller (ship-from) name and address, and buyer (bill-to) identity where the retailer needs it for matching
- Ship-to name and address if different from bill-to
- Buyer PO number and your order or shipment number
- Line items: article/SKU, plain-language description, ordered vs shipped quantity where they can differ
- Unit of measure and case-pack structure (units per inner, inners per outer carton)
- GTIN / EAN where the retailer scans cases or units
- Number of outer cartons or handling units, with optional SSCC or carton IDs if you label at that level
- Ship date and carrier or tracking reference when known
- Backorder or short-ship notes so receiving does not assume the PO is fully complete
Weights and dimensions help carriers and, for heavier freight, warehouse planning. Lot, batch or expiry information matters for food, beauty and other regulated or FEFO-driven categories even when the commercial invoice stays simpler.
Identity fields that sit on or beside the packing docs in EU wholesale include VAT identification numbers for the parties on tax documents, and—when customs procedures apply—an EORI number for the economic operator interacting with customs.[1] Keep master data consistent so the same legal names and numbers appear on order confirmation, packing slip, delivery note and invoice.
Do packing slip requirements change for intra-EU vs export shipments?
Yes. The physical content list stays similar; the supporting document set changes.
Intra-EU supply (goods moving between EU member states in a B2B chain) still needs a clear packing slip or delivery note for the retailer and your own warehouse controls. Tax treatment and reporting sit mainly on the invoice and, where national thresholds apply, statistical reporting such as Intrastat—not on inventing a customs-style packing declaration for every van delivery.[2] Parties’ VAT numbers and a clear narrative that the movement is an intra-EU supply belong on the commercial documents, with packing docs focused on what was shipped and to which PO. For movement context beyond the slip itself, see our guide to cross-border shipping for EU B2B.
Export outside the EU adds customs expectations. Alongside the packing list you typically need a commercial invoice with values, currency, and classification-ready product detail; transport documents such as a bill of lading for sea freight or a CMR consignment note for international carriage of goods by road; and often the seller’s or declarant’s EORI in the customs file.[3][1] Packing lists for export should support inspection: totals by package, net/gross weight where used, and descriptions that match the invoice lines. Ambiguity between “what’s in the box” and “what’s on the invoice” is a common cause of delay.
Simplified map route from a warehouse icon to two destinations inside and outside a border
What do retailers expect on packing slips and delivery notes?
Retailers and distributors optimise for goods-in speed and claim avoidance. They generally expect:
- PO number prominent and exact—not a shortened internal alias
- One shipment’s contents clearly separated from another if multiple POs share a truck
- Line order and identifiers that match the order confirmation or portal order
- Case-pack quantities that match labelled outer cartons
- GTINs that scan at the level they actually receive (unit vs case)
- Honest short-ships and substitutions noted on the document, not discovered at the dock
- Delivery address and appointment or warehouse codes exactly as on the PO
Large retail DCs may add label rules (placement, barcode type, carton marks). Even smaller specialty retailers notice when the delivery note cannot be matched to the open PO in their system. That mismatch feeds deductions and slow payment as much as damaged stock does. Clean B2B delivery documentation is part of streamlining B2B wholesale order fulfillment, not a separate “admin” track.
When do you need a commercial invoice alongside the packing slip?
A commercial invoice is the seller’s bill for the goods: parties, line values, currency, tax treatment, payment terms and often delivery terms. You need it for every wholesale sale as the financial document; you need it with the goods especially when the shipment crosses an export customs boundary, when the carrier or broker must present value and seller/buyer data, or when the buyer’s process requires invoice and delivery note together at receipt.
For many pure intra-EU truck deliveries the invoice may travel electronically while the packing slip or delivery note rides with the pallet. For export, assume customs and the carrier want a commercial invoice that aligns line-by-line with the packing list. Delivery terms agreed on the order should stay consistent on packing and invoice templates so both documents show the same term without manual edits—clarify Incoterms for wholesale delivery up front. They do not remove the need for an accurate content list.
How do HS codes, GTINs and case packs show up on shipping docs?
HS codes (harmonised system classification) belong primarily on customs-facing documents and export commercial invoices. They are less often mandatory on a domestic-style packing slip, but your product master should still hold them so export packs and invoices stay consistent. Misaligned descriptions and codes between packing list and invoice create inspection friction. Practical classification discipline is covered in our guide to HS codes for wholesale EU shipments.
GTIN / EAN identifiers should appear on packing slips and carton labels at the level the buyer scans. If you sell in case packs, the case GTIN and units-per-case must match both the catalogue and the slip. Outer cartons may also carry logistics labels (for example SSCC) that the packing list references by handling-unit ID. Under GS1 standards, GTIN identifies the trade item and SSCC identifies the logistic unit on the logistics label.[4]
Case pack / outer carton structure is where many wholesale disputes start. If the order was placed in cases but the slip shows loose units without conversion, receiving systems flag variance. State shipped quantity in the same unit of measure as the PO, and show pack hierarchy when mixed cartons or assortments are used.
| Document | Primary job | Typical extras on EU wholesale |
|---|---|---|
| Packing slip / packing list | What is in the packages | Carton counts, GTIN/SSCC, weights |
| Delivery note (följesedel / Lieferschein) | Buyer goods receipt vs PO | PO ref, ship-to, signature/stamp area |
| Commercial invoice | Value, tax, payment | VAT IDs, delivery terms, HS codes on export |
| Bill of lading / CMR | Contract of carriage / road consignment | Vehicle, places of taking over and delivery |
How do you generate packing slips cleanly from wholesale orders?
Most packing-slip errors are copy errors: someone re-types lines into a shipping template, adjusts a short-ship in one place and not another, or pastes yesterday’s VAT and address block. The durable fix is order-to-document flow.
- Capture the order once in a system of record (portal, ERP, or both) with SKU, pack size, prices, currency, VAT treatment, ship-to and delivery terms.
- Confirm and allocate stock so shipped quantity is explicit.
- Generate the packing slip and delivery note from that allocation—not from a parallel spreadsheet.
- Generate the commercial invoice from the same lines and tax logic so values cannot drift from what was packed.
- Only then hand carrier labels and transport documents the package counts and references already fixed on the slip.
A branded B2B storefront helps because retailers place orders with the identifiers you actually stock and ship. Order-to-invoice automation then carries those lines through fulfilment documents without re-keying. Brandgate is built around that path: approved retailers order on your branded portal, and packing- and invoice-ready data stays attached to the live order instead of living in disconnected templates.
Order form flowing into a packing slip and invoice as one continuous path
What packing-slip mistakes cause delays, claims or chargebacks?
Common failure modes in wholesale shipping documents:
- PO mismatch — wrong, truncated or missing purchase-order number
- Quantity drift — slip shows full order after a partial pick; invoice later shows something else
- Unit confusion — cases vs pieces not labelled; mixed inner packs undocumented
- Identity errors — wrong ship-to, outdated warehouse gate, missing buyer account refs
- Export gaps — packing list totals that do not match commercial invoice lines; vague descriptions; missing party identifiers for customs
- Silent substitutions — alternate SKU shipped without note on the delivery note
- Missing short-ship flags — retailer closes the PO as complete and later disputes the invoice
Each of these shows up as dock time, refused freight, claims files or chargebacks. Preventing them is less about prettier PDF design and more about one data path from order to pack to invoice.
Practical checklist before the truck leaves
Use a short gate check on every wholesale shipment:
- PO, order and shipment numbers printed and scannable where required
- Lines and quantities match the pick confirmation
- Case packs and GTINs match carton labels
- Intra-EU vs export document set selected correctly (delivery note focus vs commercial invoice + packing list + transport doc)
- VAT IDs on the invoice; EORI available when customs will ask
- Delivery terms and ship-from address consistent with the order
- Short-ships and backorders explicitly stated
When packing slips, delivery notes and commercial invoices are generated from the same wholesale order, EU shipments stay explainable to retailers and to border processes alike. If your team still builds shipping PDFs by hand from email orders, it is worth tightening the order path first—then the documents largely write themselves.
Book a demo of Brandgate if you want packing- and invoice-ready documents flowing from a branded distributor portal: https://www.brandgate.dev/contact. You can also see pricing.