Who can approve a change to a branded merchandise order?
Give each decision an owner before an artwork revision becomes a cost or delivery dispute.
A brand manager can approve a logo without having authority to increase an order budget. A distributor can collect customer comments without authorizing a factory to start production. A supplier can confirm that a change is technically possible without confirming the original delivery date. Treating these responses as interchangeable creates an avoidable gap between what each business believes it agreed to.
For a branded merchandise project, establish a short approval map before the order is released. It should identify who owns each decision, which version they are approving, and who can authorize the resulting commercial change. The map below is a planning tool to agree with the parties, rather than a statement of any supplier's standard terms.
Separate four decisions
Decision
The question it answers
Record to keep
Brand approval
Does this artwork represent the intended brand?
Named reviewer and exact artwork revision
Product approval
Is this the agreed product, decoration and packaging configuration?
Product reference, specification and relevant sample reference
Commercial approval
Can the buyer accept the price, quantity and timing implications?
Revised quote or change confirmation from an authorized person
Production release
May the supplier proceed with this version?
Related products
Explicit release identifying the complete approved package
Keep internal approval and external instructions as separate records. Clearing a decision inside a company does not automatically establish who may communicate acceptance or commit it to a contract change. Identify the person authorized to issue that instruction under the parties' agreement.
One person may own several decisions in a small company. The distinction still matters: a reply saying that a logo looks good does not explain whether the person reviewed packing instructions or an additional setup charge. Ask the reviewer to state the decision being made, rather than infer it from an enthusiastic message.
The Association for Project Management describes change control as evaluating changes to an approved project baseline before deciding whether to proceed, reject or defer them. Applied to merchandise purchasing, that suggests a useful discipline: assess the effect of a revision before replacing the previous approval.
Agree how the distributor represents the customer
If a distributor or agency sits between the brand and supplier, agree which messages are instructions and which are requests for review. Name the project contact, their backup, and the person who can approve changes affecting money or timing. Decide how the end customer's comments will be consolidated so that the supplier receives one current instruction set.
Trade.gov's guidance on foreign representative agreements discusses representative authority and protection of confidential information. It concerns cross-border representation agreements, with legal requirements that vary by jurisdiction; it is not a universal merchandise-order contract. The useful operational question is narrower: can this intermediary bind another party, or must it first obtain that party's approval?
Record the agreed communication route and any customer-information restrictions in the project arrangement. Do not infer an exclusivity, confidentiality or non-circumvention commitment from someone merely acting as an intermediary. Where those protections matter, confirm their scope through an appropriate agreement.
Make a change request easy to evaluate
A usable request identifies the old version, the proposed version and the reason. Ask the supplier to confirm the affected product lines and whether production, purchasing or packing has already begun. Request a written impact on cost and timing, including any renewed sample or proof review.
For example, suppose an event team asks to add a sponsor logo after approving a tote bag. This is an illustrative scenario. Before forwarding a new image with “please use this,” establish whether the change alters decoration area, color count, artwork preparation, packaging or the event delivery plan. The supplier's answer may be a revised option rather than a simple yes.
If only one item in a kit changes, identify whether the remaining items can proceed independently. A blanket instruction to stop everything may create unnecessary delays; a blanket instruction to continue may release an unapproved component. Agree the exact affected scope and hold points.
Keep an approval record that survives a handoff
Store one current release package containing the quote reference, product references, artwork filenames and revisions, decoration specifications, quantity breakdown, packing requirements, destination and approved schedule. Link the decision record to that package. Keep superseded files separately identifiable so that they cannot be mistaken for the current version.
For each subsequent change, record the requester, affected items, supplier response, authorized commercial decision and replacement release. Distinguish a requested date from a supplier-confirmed date. If the change is still being assessed, leave its status pending rather than silently updating the order summary.
ASQ's supplier-quality guidance emphasizes collaboration and understanding each party's role. This does not require a complicated approval system. A shared record with clear ownership is more useful than a large spreadsheet that no participant maintains.
Resolve conflicting instructions before work proceeds
When two contacts disagree, send a concise comparison of the competing instructions to the designated decision owner. Ask which version controls and what work may continue while the difference is resolved. Preserve the resolution alongside the release package.
For your next project, send the supplier the proposed decision owners and ask them to confirm their release requirements. If you are still preparing the product details, start with the custom product inquiry guide, then attach the approval map when the project moves toward a formal order. The aim is a shared understanding of what has actually been authorized.
Apply this to a product brief
An office gift set is one possible starting point for this planning method. Review the catalogue example LP3362 for the product reference, then confirm the project-specific configuration and commercial terms.
