Fulfilment
Part of Subscription fulfilment
Checking address changes before the dispatch cutoff
An address change must reach the order that will ship, not merely the customer's profile.
Verify the destination on the order that will be fulfilled, not just on the customer’s profile or subscription contract. Set and use an address-change cutoff early enough to check and correct that order before dispatch.
Make the cutoff visible
Set the cutoff by working backwards from the final carrier handover. Allow the time your operation needs for order release, checking and correcting the address, picking, packing, staging and expected exceptions; the cutoff is the latest point when a correction can still be completed before handover.
Use your actual carrier and depot schedule rather than assuming a universal time. Cutoffs vary by operator and depot, and a changed handover schedule can change the relevant cutoff.
Tell subscribers when an address change will affect the next dispatch and how to contact support. Make the deadline clear, including which dispatch it applies to.
Key Address Change Cutoff Considerations
- Cutoff timing depends on carrier and depotNo universal cutoff time – use actual carrier schedules
- Time required for internal processesAllow buffer for order release, checking, picking, packing, staging, and exceptions
- Customer communication is mandatoryInform subscribers when a change affects next dispatch and how to contact support
Prove the change landed
Before billing, review the subscription contract against the subscriber’s most recently confirmed address. Once the order exists, check its shipping address too: a change visible only on the profile or contract does not prove that the order changed.
In Shopify, open the individual order in the Shopify admin and compare its full shipping address with the confirmed address. A billing cycle represents one period of billing and delivery; changes to it can affect an upcoming order without changing the source contract, so check the order itself rather than assuming the cycle change carried through.
After billing but before release, check the relevant billing-cycle information and the order. If the order does not show the intended destination, do not fulfil it or attach a shipping label until it is corrected; reopen the order and check the address again.
After label creation, compare the label destination with the order’s shipping address before handover. If they differ, hold the parcel and resolve the mismatch under the applicable fulfilment and carrier process; after handover, do not promise an address change until the carrier confirms it.
For example, if a subscriber confirms a new address but the order still shows the previous one, stop before fulfilment and label creation. Correct the order, reopen it and verify the destination; if a label already exists and differs, hold the parcel before handover.
Assign the check to the person responsible for releasing the order. Record who checked, when, whether the address matched, any correction and the result of the recheck; also record what can be corrected at each stage and who will contact the customer.
