What is a dispatch cutoff, and how do you set one?

A dispatch cutoff is the latest time an order can be placed and still be picked, packed and handed to the carrier that same day. Anything after it moves to the next dispatch day, so the promise you show has to change with the clock, not the calendar date.

The cutoff is set by the clock in your own pack room, not by the customer. Work backwards from the carrier pickup: the latest time a normal order can be picked, packed and handed over. On a peak day, when packing takes longer, an earlier cutoff applies. Cutoff Promise Checker reads the dispatch cutoff, the timezone it is meant in and the carrier pickup time, and returns the corrected cutoff clock per zone.

What decides the cutoff time?

The carrier pickup sets the hard stop, and your pack time sets the softer one. If a standard order needs forty five minutes at the bench before it can be handed over, the cutoff is the pickup time minus that. A store that packs and posts every order itself cannot promise a later cutoff than the pack room can meet, so the number on the page should match the number the bench can keep.

How do you set a cutoff for each zone?

A single cutoff for the whole country is where most promises break. A zone served by a one business day transit time behaves differently from a remote zone served at three to six, and a postcode the carrier publishes as a range behaves like the slower end of that range. Set the cutoff so every zone gets a dispatch day the carrier table can meet, and let the map show a fallback line for an order placed after the cutoff.

What happens to an order placed after the cutoff?

It moves to the next dispatch day, and the promise moves with it. The tool names that next dispatch day in plain words, walking past a weekend and past a public holiday at your origin, so the fallback line is a real day and not a blank. A cleared cutoff, a missing transit table or an unknown postcode returns scope incomplete and names what is missing rather than defaulting to the optimistic promise.

Build my promise map Can I promise next day delivery? Audit my delivery promise

Frequently asked questions

Is the dispatch cutoff the same as the carrier pickup time?

No. The pickup is when the carrier collects. The dispatch cutoff is earlier, because it must leave time to pick, pack and hand the parcel over before the pickup, and it is the cutoff the customer sees.

Can one store have more than one cutoff?

Yes. A different cutoff can apply per service tier, for example an earlier cutoff for Express Post, and a seasonal window can add extra days inside a peak period.

Does the tool set the cutoff for me?

No. It reads the cutoff you type and shows whether the transit table supports the promise that cutoff implies for each zone. The decision stays with you.