Delivery time and shipping on Kaufland: shipping groups, delivery windows and on-time rate

How the delivery time is made up

Kaufland adds the transport time you set via the shipping group to the processing time you enter when listing the offer. The result is the delivery window customers see on the product page and against which your punctuality is measured. Setting the processing time too tight to look more attractive produces late deliveries – and those count against you.

Shipping groups: costs, shipping type, countries, transport time

You create shipping groups in the Seller Portal under Settings › Shipping settings – before the offers, because every offer needs one. A shipping group bundles shipping costs, shipping type (parcel, hauler), destination countries and transport times. Kaufland is currently moving shipping groups to a simplified design with a guided step-by-step setup; new is a switch per region for shipment to a Packstation/parcel shop ("out-of-home") with its own shipping costs. For kaufland.cz and kaufland.sk there is also shipping with Packeta.

The on-time rate and its counterparts

The on-time delivery rate is the percentage of order units delivered within the delivery window. Everything else is "off-time" – late or early. The late delivery rate refers to the order units of the last calendar week. Each order unit counts individually: an order with ten items enters the rate as ten units. Also measured is the rate of trackable shipments – so store a tracking number for every order unit.

What Kaufland does when you fall short

If your delivery performance in the previous week did not meet the marketplace requirements, Kaufland says you receive an e-mail on the following Monday with your current service level and a report of the affected order units – if needed with delivery window recommendations based on the last 30 days. Persistent shortfalls lead through warning levels up to hiding your offers (service KPIs explained).

Choosing the right delivery window

• Realistic rather than optimistic: according to Kaufland, delays caused by your carrier should be factored into the delivery time immediately – customers need a reliable figure.
• Not too wide: for delivery windows under ten days Kaufland recommends a span of at most three days, such as "2–4 days". Wide windows lead to queries.
• Plan for holidays: adjust processing times before public holidays and in peak season (season checklist).

Delivery time, BuyBox and ranking

Kaufland names price, shipping costs and delivery time in one breath when it comes to more sales – and with the same minimum price, the faster delivery time decides the BuyBox (winning the BuyBox). Because only the BuyBox offer appears in the results list, delivery time is indirectly a ranking question too. When you change your delivery time, watch the positions of your most important search terms in the days after.

Frequently asked questions