Skip to main content
Nerve Centre KPIs · Audit Profile · Sentiment Settings Australia Post is the dominant AU domestic carrier - Tier-1 for every Australian merchant. The distinctive risk surface is the Express Post next-business-day guarantee (misses trigger an automatic-refund clause), international customs clearance on outbound parcels (B374 customs declaration paperwork, AU export holds, destination-country backlogs), and tracking-event completeness across the AusPost Article lifecycle. Findings either cost a merchant directly (Express Post refund exposure, lost/damaged parcels) or erode CS visibility (tracking gaps that surface as “where is my order” tickets). Cross-references commerce siblings via order_ref and tracking_number; Sendle via zone cost comparison.

​
What this audit checks

​
Authentication & access

  • API-KEY header + api_password Basic auth still issue 200s against /shipping/v1/accounts (no 401)
  • Account number resolves to an active contracted rate-card (no ‘unknown account’ on shipping endpoints)
  • Merchant is on production tier, not sandbox - sandbox responses return mock data and must not be charted
  • Auth failures in last 24h within tolerance (rotated or expired API key signal)

​
On-time delivery & transit

  • Express Post next-business-day OTD < 95% rolling 30D (refund-clause exposure)
  • Express Post address-eligibility rate < 90% (postcode reclassification at annual review)
  • Standard / Parcel Post OTD vs published AusPost delivery estimate per zone
  • Avg domestic transit days drifting above zone baseline (5 metro + 4 regional zones)

​
Exceptions & failed deliveries

  • Exception rate > 3% rolling 30D (status = Exception across tracking events)
  • AttemptedDelivery / Refused events with no follow-up redelivery within 48h
  • ReturnedToSender rate climbing vs prior period (address-quality or refusal signal)
  • Out-for-delivery shipments stuck >24h with no Delivered or Exception event

​
Damaged / lost parcels

  • Lost-parcel rate > 0.2% (status = Lost) rolling 90D
  • Damaged-parcel claim rate > 0.5% rolling 90D
  • AwaitingCustoms parcels aged > 14d with no clearance event (lost-in-customs candidate)
  • Claim value as % of AusPost spend > 1% rolling 90D

​
Tracking data completeness

  • Shipments with a tracking_number but zero TrackingEvent records (tracking gap)
  • Domestic tracking-event gap > 24h with shipment still InTransit
  • International tracking-event gap > 5d (customs grace window) then stale
  • Article number not in expected AP[0-9]AU format (mislabel / mismatch signal)

​
Cross-platform fulfilment SLA

  • Cross-platform: AU ecom order with no AusPost shipment after 48h -> dispatch SLA breach per channel
  • Cross-platform: Express Post shipment delivered later than next business day * sibling.order.total -> revenue at risk
  • Cross-platform: AusPost cost per zone vs Sendle cost per zone (carrier-mix savings candidates)
  • Cross-platform: ReturnedToSender / lost shipments joined to commerce orders -> refund-propensity exposure

​
Severity thresholds

​
Data sources

  • GET https://digitalapi.auspost.com.au/shipping/v1/accounts - Account validation + rate-card / tier check
  • GET https://digitalapi.auspost.com.au/shipping/v1/shipments - Shipment list (OTD, cost, service mix, eligibility)
  • GET https://digitalapi.auspost.com.au/shipping/v1/track - Tracking events (transit, exceptions, customs)
  • POST https://digitalapi.auspost.com.au/shipping/v1/returns - Return labels (reverse-logistics volume, write-side)