The UK carrier mix and why one carrier is rarely enough
Each of the carriers we use has its own strengths. Royal Mail is the familiar choice for letter-sized and small parcels that suit a letterbox. Parcelforce, part of the same group, is often used for larger items. DPD and Yodel are parcel networks many shoppers recognise from their delivery notifications, Evri is widely used for lightweight consumer parcels, and DHL, UPS and FedEx are established express and parcel operators.
No single carrier is the right answer for every parcel a brand sends. A slim beauty order, a bulky homeware item and a multi-carton retail delivery all have different needs, and a brand locked into one account ends up overpaying on some orders and under-serving others.
How we choose a carrier for each order
Carrier selection happens per order, based on cost, speed and destination, rather than a blanket rule applied to everything you sell. That keeps the shipping cost in line with what each order actually needs, instead of paying for a premium service on parcels that don't call for it.
Every order ships tracked as standard, with proof of delivery. That tracking flows back to your store or marketplace through your platform integration, so customers can follow their parcel and your team can answer a where-is-my-order query without logging into a carrier site.
If something goes wrong in transit, you speak to your named contact, Andy Paine, and a team who already knows the order, not a carrier call centre.
Collections built around dispatch, not the other way round
Carrier collections at our Scunthorpe site are built around our dispatch schedule rather than a fixed pickup time that forces packing to stop early. Orders placed before 9pm are dispatched the same day (cut-offs vary by carrier, service and daily order profile).
Because the carrier accounts, labels and collections are handled on our side, onboarding a new brand does not mean negotiating contracts or installing label software. Your orders arrive from your store or marketplace, we pick and pack them at 99.9% accuracy, and the carrier is chosen and booked as part of that same flow.
