Can I promise next day delivery from a small store?

You can promise next day delivery only where the order beats your dispatch cutoff and the carrier's published transit time for that postcode is a single business day. If the cutoff is missed or the transit time is slower, the promise cannot be kept, and the Australian Consumer Law treats a promise you cannot keep as a risk.

Three things have to line up for a next day promise to be true: the order must beat the dispatch cutoff, the order must be dispatched on a day the carrier collects, and the transit time the carrier publishes for that postcode must be a single business day. Where a carrier publishes a range, the range has to support one day at its slower end, because a next day verdict only stands if the whole range supports it.

What has to be true for a next day promise?

The cutoff, the collection day and the transit time are all part of the same promise. A store that publishes a two in the afternoon cutoff but hands parcels to the carrier at three can keep the cutoff on the page and miss it at the bench. The transit table has to name the service tier as well as the zone, because an Express Post row and a Parcel Post row for the same postcode publish different days.

What does the law say about a promise you cannot keep?

The Australian Consumer Law prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct in trade or commerce at s 18, and false or misleading representations about the time goods or services will be supplied at s 29. Section 36 requires supply within the time you promised, and s 62 requires supply within a reasonable time where no time is fixed. A next day promise a whole postcode cannot support is exactly the representation the law is about.

How do you promise next day safely?

Promise it only for the zones the map supports, and give every other zone a fallback line for orders placed after the cutoff. Cutoff Promise Checker returns a suburb by suburb verdict, the service tier and the transit days the verdict came from, and a corrected cutoff clock per zone, so the promise on your page matches what the carrier's published table can meet.

Build my promise map What is a dispatch cutoff? Delivery time by postcode

Frequently asked questions

Can I promise next day if the carrier publishes 1-2 days?

Not as a next day promise. Where a carrier publishes a range, the map uses the slower end, so a zone published as one to two business days does not support a next day verdict.

Does the tool guarantee the date?

No. It maps whether the transit table supports the promise. Carriers publish transit times as estimates and exclude a guarantee, so no date is ever shown as guaranteed.

What if I miss the cutoff on a busy day?

The order moves to the next dispatch day and the promise moves with it. The tool names that next dispatch day, walking past a weekend and a public holiday at your origin.