A delivery window is the agreed date range within which an order must ship, defined by a start date and a cancel date.
Sep 24, 2026
A window has two ends. The start date is the earliest the retailer will accept goods, because shipping too early occupies floor space and cash before the season begins. The cancel date is the point after which the buyer may refuse the shipment outright.
Everything between those dates is acceptable. Anything outside them is a negotiation, and in practice a missed cancel date is one of the most expensive events in wholesale: the goods are produced, the buyer is no longer obliged to take them, and the brand is holding season-specific stock.
Large orders are frequently divided across several windows so that a retailer receives a collection in phases rather than all at once. Partial shipments against those windows are what fill rate measures. Each split carries its own dates and can be cancelled independently.
This is why order documents record dates per line or per delivery rather than per order. A single order can be simultaneously shipped, in production, and cancelled depending on which window each part belongs to.
This one is different.
Have a look around and see what you think.We use cookies to measure and improve your experience. For more information, please read our cookie policy.