At a glance
Late Dispatch Rate (Partner Penalty) is the percentage of Target Plus orders dispatched after their committed deadline, measured period over period. Target holds partners to enterprise-grade fulfilment SLAs with on-time dispatch around 99%, so even a low single-digit late rate erodes the SLA compliance that feeds partner-status reviews. Sustained breaches risk partner-status loss, which on an invite-only marketplace means offboarding. This is the rate that sits behind the late-dispatch alert, so treat any upward drift as a direct threat to your seat on the platform.
| What it counts | The share of orders shipped after their committed dispatch deadline, period over period. |
| Sample type | Backend API data from Target Plus, refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Why it matters | Late dispatch eats into the SLA compliance Target uses to review partner status, and sustained breaches risk offboarding. |
| Reading the value | Lower is better. Stay well under the SLA tolerance; rising figures are an early offboarding signal. |
| Currency | percent |
| Time window | 30D vsP |
| Alert trigger | >1% |
| Sentiment key | tgt_late_dispatch_rate |
| Roles | owner, operations |
Calculation
Vortex IQ takes the count of orders dispatched after their committed deadline over the last 30 days and divides it by total dispatched orders in the same window, then expresses the result as a percentage. The card compares that figure against the prior comparable period so you can see whether your fulfilment discipline is improving or slipping. Because Target’s on-time expectation sits near 99%, the alert is tuned tightly and fires once the late rate climbs above 1%. The metric pairs naturally with the on-time dispatch rate, which is simply its inverse. The worked example below shows how a warehouse hiccup pushes the rate past the alert line.Worked example
A representative reading of Late Dispatch Rate (Partner Penalty) for a typical Target Plus partner. In the 30 days to 12 Jun 26 a sporting-goods partner dispatched 980 orders and missed the committed deadline on 6 of them, giving a late dispatch rate of roughly 0.6%, comfortably inside tolerance. Over the next fortnight a carrier pickup change left a batch of orders sitting on the dock, and by 23 Jun 26 the trailing rate had climbed to 1.4%, tripping the alert. Left unchecked, two more weeks at that level would have started weighing on the SLA component of their partner review. Vortex Mind traced the rise to the specific days the carrier window slipped, and Ask Viq summarised “why has my late dispatch rate gone up this fortnight” in one plain-English answer the operations lead could act on before standup.Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why merchants reach for it |
|---|---|
on-time-dispatch-rate-partner-sla | The direct inverse, so the two should always sum near 100%. |
late-dispatches-risking-partner-status | Names the specific orders driving the rate up. |
pending-dispatch | The forward queue; a backlog here often becomes late dispatches tomorrow. |
cancellation-rate | Another fulfilment-quality signal Target weighs in partner reviews. |
partner-health-composite-crossed-threshold | The composite that late dispatch feeds into and can tip over. |
Reconciling against Target Plus Partners
Where to look in the Target Plus Partners portal: Open the SLA reports section of the partner scorecard, where Target publishes your on-time and late dispatch figures over its own review window. Compare the late percentage and the underlying order counts against this card. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:| Reason | Direction | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Period boundary (rolling 30D vs portal window) | Either | Align the date ranges; the portal may use a fixed review window rather than a rolling 30 days. |
| Time zone of the dispatch timestamp | Either | Confirm whether deadlines are evaluated in your zone or Target’s, which can shift a borderline order’s status. |
| Filter scope (which order states count) | Vortex IQ may differ | Check whether cancelled or partially shipped orders are included on each side and align the definitions. |
Known limitations / merchant FAQs
Q: How often does this number update? It refreshes on the standard Vortex IQ data refresh and is calculated over a rolling 30-day window compared with the prior period. Q: Why does the Partners portal show a different rate? Target’s scorecard may use a fixed review window and its own time zone for evaluating deadlines, so a rolling 30-day figure can differ slightly. Align the windows and zones before reconciling. Q: How does this relate to the sibling cards? It is the inverse ofon-time-dispatch-rate-partner-sla, is driven by the orders listed in late-dispatches-risking-partner-status, and feeds the partner-health-composite-crossed-threshold.
Q: Can I change the alert threshold?
Yes. The default fires above 1%, but you can tune the trigger for this card on the Sensitivity tab to match your own SLA tolerance.