On-Time Dispatch Rate, Walmart Marketplace

On-Time Dispatch Rate for Walmart Marketplace stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

Metrics type: Key Metrics • Category: Marketplace

At a glance

On-Time Dispatch Rate is the share of Walmart Marketplace orders you ship by the expected ship date. It is one of the metrics Walmart watches most closely, because it feeds directly into your Seller Scorecard and Pro Seller eligibility. Slipping below the SLA quietly cuts your search visibility long before any suspension notice arrives.

What it counts	The percentage of Walmart Marketplace orders dispatched on or before the expected ship date in the window.
Sample type	Backend API data from Walmart Marketplace, refreshed on the standard data refresh.
Why it matters	Walmart treats on-time dispatch as a core SLA; a falling rate reduces algorithmic visibility and, if sustained, puts Pro Seller status and account standing at risk.
Reading the value	Higher is better; a value trending down toward the SLA floor is an early warning that fulfilment is slipping.
Currency	percent
Time window	30D vsP
Alert trigger	<99% (Walmart SLA)
Sentiment key	wal_sla_compliance
Roles	owner, operations

Calculation

The value is derived by comparing the number of Walmart Marketplace orders dispatched on or before their expected ship date against the total number of orders due to ship in the selected window, then expressing the result as a percentage. Orders are aligned to the merchant reporting time zone before the comparison. See the At a glance summary for the window and unit, and the worked example below for how the figure reads in practice.

Worked example

A representative reading of On-Time Dispatch Rate for a typical merchant on Walmart Marketplace. On 12 Mar 26 a seller shipping around 1,200 orders in the trailing 30 days sees the rate slip from 99.4% to 98.1%, with roughly 23 orders dispatched a day late. That is still above a hard suspension line but already below the SLA the card watches, so Walmart begins trimming search placement on the affected items. The action is to check which carrier or warehouse cut-off caused the late batch and tighten the pick-and-pack schedule before the rate erodes further. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to trace upstream causes; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq.

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

Card	Why merchants reach for it
wal_late_dispatch_rate	The inverse view; shows exactly how much volume is missing the ship-by date.
wal_pending_dispatch	Surfaces orders still waiting to ship that could tip the rate down.
wal_alert_dispatch_sla_miss	Flags late dispatches that directly threaten Pro Seller status.
wal_cancellation_rate	Cancellations and late dispatch often share the same fulfilment root cause.
wal_marketplace_health_score	Rolls dispatch performance into the overall account health picture.

Reconciling against Walmart Seller Center

Where to look in Walmart Seller Center:

Open the Performance / Scorecard area, where Walmart reports on-time shipment alongside the other SLA metrics, and cross-check against Order Management for the underlying dispatch timestamps.

Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:

Reason	Direction	What to do
Period boundary. Vortex IQ uses 30D rolling by default; Seller Center may use calendar periods.	Variable	Match the period range.
Time zone. Seller Center uses the account time zone; Vortex IQ aligns to the merchant reporting time zone.	Marginal	Confirm time zone match.
Filter scope. Profile-level filters (fulfilment type, test orders) may narrow the Vortex IQ view.	Variable	Match filter settings.

Cross-connector reconciliation: complement with sibling cards in the same category for the full diagnostic picture. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

Q: How often does On-Time Dispatch Rate update? The card refreshes on the standard data refresh (typically every 30-60 minutes for live integrations). For real-time signals, force a manual refresh from the dashboard.

Q: Why does my Walmart Seller Center show a different number? Seller Center often reports on-time shipment over a fixed calendar window and in the account time zone, while Vortex IQ uses a rolling 30-day window aligned to your reporting time zone. Matching the period and time zone usually closes the gap.

Q: Does WFS fulfilment count toward this rate? Walmart Fulfillment Services orders are handled by Walmart, so seller-controlled dispatch timing applies mainly to seller-fulfilled orders. Use profile filters if you want to isolate seller-fulfilled performance.

Q: Can I customise the alert threshold? Yes, alert thresholds are configurable per profile in the Alert Rules tab. Adjust to match your business baseline rather than relying on the generic default.

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Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

On-Time Dispatch Rate is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Walmart Marketplace and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

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