A cut-off time is the promise most quietly made. Customers never read it, and they always feel it.
What the customer sees
A 3.30pm order that leaves the same day arrives a day before a 3.30pm order that waits for tomorrow's sort. The difference is not an hour; it is a whole day.
What the warehouse sees
- Picking has to finish before the courier arrives, not before the shift ends.
- A packing station idle all morning usually means the cut-off is set too early.
- Weekend peaks need a different cut-off from an ordinary Tuesday.
Moving a cut-off by an hour rarely takes a new warehouse. It usually takes a different order of work.