At a glance
On-Time Dispatch Rate (Partner SLA) is the share of Target Plus orders dispatched on or before their committed deadline, and it is the headline fulfilment-health number for a partner. Target holds Target Plus partners to an enterprise-grade on-time SLA around 99%, and sustained performance below roughly 97% can trigger a partner-status review. On an invite-only, curated marketplace where partner status is reviewed periodically, this single percentage carries more weight than almost any other operational metric.
| What it counts | The percentage of orders dispatched on or before their committed deadline. |
| Sample type | Backend API data from Target Plus, refreshed on the standard data refresh. |
| Why it matters | Target’s partner SLA sits around 99%; sustained dips toward 97% put partner status under review and can lead to offboarding. |
| Reading the value | Read it against the 99% bar and the prior period; small slips matter because the SLA tolerance is narrow. |
| Currency | percent |
| Time window | 30D vsP |
| Alert trigger | <99% (Target partner SLA) |
| Sentiment key | tgt_sla_compliance |
| Roles | owner, operations |
Calculation
Vortex IQ divides the number of orders dispatched on or before their committed deadline by the total dispatched in the trailing 30 days, expressed as a percentage and compared against the prior 30-day period. An order counts as on-time when its dispatch confirmation lands before the deadline Target sets for it. The alert fires when the rate drops below the 99% partner SLA, with sustained readings nearer 97% being the level at which partner status typically comes under review. See the worked example for how this reads on a typical partner.Worked example
A representative reading of On-Time Dispatch Rate (Partner SLA) for a typical Target Plus partner. On 17 Jun 26 a houseware partner’s 30-day on-time dispatch rate reads 98.4%, down from 99.2% in the prior period, and the card flips amber against the 99% SLA bar. Out of roughly 1,800 orders dispatched, about 29 missed their deadline, most clustered in a single week when a carrier collection slipped and a bank-holiday rota left the pick team short. The partner is still above the ~97% review threshold but the downward step is the warning. The team prioritises the oldest pending orders to stop the rate sliding further. Vortex Mind traces the misses to the carrier and rota gap, and Ask Viq answers “why did my SLA drop below 99% this month” in plain English so leadership can act before a partner-status review is triggered.Sibling cards merchants should reference together
| Card | Why merchants reach for it |
|---|---|
late-dispatches-risking-partner-status | Names the specific late orders pulling this rate down. |
late-dispatch-rate-partner-penalty | The inverse view, framed around penalty exposure. |
pending-dispatch | The live backlog that becomes late dispatches if left unworked. |
partner-health-composite-crossed-threshold | Alerts when SLA slips push the overall composite past a limit. |
target-plus-partner-health-score | The overall standing this SLA rate feeds into. |
Reconciling against Target Plus Partners
Where to look in the Target Plus Partners portal: Open the partner scorecard and the SLA reports, which show your on-time dispatch performance and the review thresholds Target applies. This is the closest direct equivalent to the card. Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:| Reason | Direction | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Period boundary | Either | The card uses a rolling 30-day window; the scorecard may report a fixed period, so totals diverge at the edges. |
| Time zone | Either | Dispatch deadlines run in Target’s reference time zone; an order judged on-time there may look late in a local report, and vice versa. |
| Filter scope | Either | The card includes all dispatched orders, while a scorecard view may exclude certain cancelled or amended orders from the denominator. |