Best eCommerce Fulfilment Courier Service

If you’re running an eCommerce business, you may have noticed that your customers are becoming ever more demanding about your eCommerce Fulfilment Courier Service. Well, you’re not alone – research shows that 67% of UK customers rate flexible delivery as highly important to them. What this means, of course, is that for the eCommerce business owner, choosing an eCommerce Fulfilment Courier is a very important aspect of their business but, frustratingly, one that is not always easy to do.

Picking the best eCommerce fulfilment carrier is vital.

If you are running a successful eCommerce operation, then you’re already using an eCommerce Fulfilment Courier and you’ve picked them for a reason. Perhaps you even tried some others. However, with the market changing all the time it can be tough to keep on top of the right option for your business. Certainly, as your business grows, your fulfilment needs will change, as will the needs and expectations of your customers.

At fulfilrr we use most of the eCommerce Fulfilment Couriers

The reason we use most of the major couriers is because their suitability varies according to our clients’ needs. So, this review is not biased towards an overall ‘winner’ but aims to show some of the reasons we choose certain couriers over others for certain types of tasks.

To give you an idea, we’ve shipped over 1 million packages by Royal Mail in the last year and over 250,000 by Hermes (now Evri). We’ve also used all the other major eCommerce Fulfilment Couriers for similarly large numbers. So it’s safe to say we know them all well!

What do customers think of the UK eCommerce fulfilment courier services?

A good place to start when looking for your ideal courier partner is to understand customer satisfaction levels. Which Magazine surveyed 4002 UK residents in 2021 and came up with the table below to show the customer satisfaction levels provided by each eCommerce Courier company.

While overall satisfaction levels are a great indicator for general courier suitability, it’s also important to consider a range of additional factors when narrowing down which courier to use for your eCommerce fulfilment needs.

Factors to consider:

Six of the biggest eCommerce Fulfilment Couriers rated by our team

We spoke to the expert team at fulfilrr’s HQ to explore some of the strengths and weaknesses that each eCommerce fulfilment courier has. After all, not everyone can be good at everything. Except for you, reader. We urge you to shoot for the stars!

Royal Mail

Royal Mail seems to be the general all-rounder when it comes to ticking all the boxes we would consider when choosing an eCommerce fulfilment courier. Perhaps most importantly, the range of delivery services offered by Royal Mail ensure a suitable option is available to meet most needs.

A quick point on their reliability – it’s worth noting that over the past four years (and even in the midst of a pandemic), Royal Mail exceeded their target of correctly delivering at least 99.5% of all items, however, not all of these items were delivered on time.

Deutsche Post

Deutsche Post is a viable option for those who need to ship small products internationally. There are currently no options for shipping parcels globally.

Evri

Prior to a recent, well-timed rebrand, Evri was known as Hermes. We suspect the rebrand was set in motion to change customer perceptions of the Hermes brand, whose occasionally errant delivery services caused them to be seen by many as an unreliable eCommerce fulfilment courier.

However, Evri are making commitments and significant investments to improve their customer service and parcel mishandling mishaps.

Where some couriers favour smaller parcel sizes, Evri provides good delivery options for larger items. If the products you sell aren’t particularly fragile or hard to replace, this could be the courier for you.

Yodel

Yodel is one of the newer players in the eCommerce fulfilment and delivery service industry, having been founded in May 2008. It’s important to note that their services don’t extend internationally, although they will ship to the Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands (but the services here are limited).

Yodel is a suitable option if you are selling domestically.

DPD

DPD is another example of a well-established, credible eCommerce fulfilment courier with a wide range of service options (both international and domestic). DPD offers SMS and email delivery confirmations, with the ability to change delivery slots, in general helping to ease the process for consumers.

For the environment-conscious eCommerce business owner, DPD have pledged to become the UK’s most sustainable delivery company. Whether this is another case of green-washing, we cannot say.

Solid service options
Ease of use features
All services are fully tracked, including driver tracking
Ability to change your hour delivery slot
Services are comparatively expensive, making this service less viable for low-priced products

DHL

DHL is part of the Deutsche Post DHL Group, and is a reliable and credible courier choice, with a good amount of service options for both domestic and international markets. For those selling to mainland Europe, both air and road freight options are available.

Highly reliable, credible
Solid service options
All services fully tracked, SMS/email updates
Excellent customer service
Services are comparatively expensive, making this service less viable for low-priced products
Pricing model changes weekly

Choosing the best eCommerce fulfilment courier for your Business

There’s really no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing an eCommerce fulfilment courier. Your individual business needs, along with the expectations of your customers will determine which is the best option for you. We’ve outlined some of your key considerations below:

Questions to Ask Yourself as an eCommerce Business Owner

Do I ship my products domestically or internationally?
Can I afford to replace damaged or lost items?
How quickly do my customers need to receive their products?
Do my customers require either a tracked or ‘signed for’ service?
What is the size of the products I ship?
Will my customers need to change delivery slots and/or receive SMS/email confirmations?

Working with fulfilrr will take the headache out of courier selection, as well as your fulfilment process as a whole – our team of experts will make sure your customers get the best possible service while you get on with more important aspects of running your business.

Contact us today at sales@fulfilrr.com to help us better understand your eCommerce growth plans and fulfilment requirements.

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