The Shipping Cut-Off setting on the Shipping > Methods page is used to calculate an order's Required Ship Date. It defines the latest time ShipHero can receive an order and still ship it the same day, based on your team's processing turnaround time and carrier pickup schedule. You can configure different cut-off times for each shipping method based on your business requirements and service level agreements (SLAs).
The required ship date can also be set using Automation Rules or adjusted manually on the order details page or in bulk using the Manage Orders feature.
Depending on your account settings, ShipHero allows you to sort orders by their required ship date, prioritizing the most urgent orders. If your warehouse capacity allows, you can always ship orders that are less urgent earlier. The dashboard also conveniently displays all orders due today based on their required ship date.
Important
Shipping cut-off times are NOT the estimated delivery window set by a carrier service level.
Cut-off times are strictly enforced. Orders received after the cut-off will be assigned a required ship date for the next available shipping day, regardless of urgency, unless manually overridden.
Shipping Cut-Off Time Examples
Cut-off settings are usually configured in conjunction with carrier pickup times to ensure processing goals are attainable. The examples below illustrate how cut-off times work in practice.
Example 1: Standard Shipping Cut-Off
Suppose a team's standard turnaround time from order inception to label generation is 6 hours, and the carrier pickup is at 4 PM. In this case, the shipping cut-off should be set to 10 AM for same-day shipping to ensure those orders are complete by the carrier pickup at 4 PM.
Any orders imported after 10 AM will have a required ship date of the next day.
Example 2: Expedited Shipping
Some companies offer expedited shipping and processing times, usually with an associated fee at checkout. For these orders, the shipping cut-off is extended later, and custom order statuses are utilized to ensure operations teams can quickly identify the orders.
In the example below, the shipping cut-off time is changed to 1:00 PM so that the order can be processed on the same day using an expedited shipping method to ensure a speedy delivery.