Before a purchase, an agent needs the merchant’s delivery promise for the specific variant, address and shipping option. The merchant can use carrier information to calculate it, alongside stock, warehouse location and handling time. After handover, tracking adds evidence about what actually happened to the parcel.
A suitcase for Friday
The customer leaves on Friday. The feed says “two working days”. The merchant checks the postcode, stock at the fulfilment location and the cutoff for the chosen shipping option. If today’s dispatch cutoff has passed, the agent shows the revised promise. If all it has is an estimate, it presents the range as an estimate and makes clear whether delivery before Friday is still uncertain.
What if the shipment gets stuck later?
The order confirmation records the promise made at purchase. The current order status shows whether the item has been packed, handed over or split into several shipments. A carrier update can explain a delay for a particular parcel. The agent should show when the last update arrived and where it came from, then hand off to support if the records conflict. A printed label alone does not establish handover.
UCP distinguishes fulfilment expectations from actual shipment events. Test both sides using an order that is split into two parcels.
Book chapters, articles and sources
- Chapter 5 · Being found before anyone visits the shop
- Chapter 8 · From the offer to the service that follows
- When product data ages: A field contract for shopping agents
- Stefan Hamann · Good-bye Click-Path, Hello Thought-Chain: Unlocking the Upside of Agentic Commerce 2025
- Universal Commerce Protocol · Order Capability