Order Operations
How to set an SLA and escalation path for delayed orders
Define order states, alert thresholds and customer updates before a shipping delay becomes a support crisis.
· Digital Department
Define states, not only hours
An order should move through clear states such as received, preparing, shipped, delivered and exception. Assign a data source and owner to every transition. Do not confuse a marketplace delivery promise with the team’s actual fulfillment capacity.
Set escalation thresholds
When preparation runs late, notify operations first and then a manager who can authorize a decision. If stock is missing, do not send a shipped message before support knows the situation. Thresholds can differ by product and channel.
- Order acceptance time
- Promised preparation and delivery window
- Reason for delay and revised estimate
- Last customer update and responsible person
Report causes every week
Track whether delays came from stock, warehouse, integration, carrier or approval problems. If the same cause repeats, improve the underlying process instead of only rewriting the customer message.