In the emerging eCommerce trend recently, fast delivery at reasonable prices is necessarily taken into consideration when choosing a shipping and mailing service provider. In fact, there are numerous shipping companies in the UK, which may cause businesses difficulties to choose suitable ones. It is necessary to bear in mind that choosing a delivery partner plays a crucial role in smoothening your retail process.
In this article, we will provide you a detailed understanding about the most prominent shipping services in the UK.
Overview
Royal Mail
Royal Mail was founded in 1516 and operated under the UK government control until 2013. With many years of experience in the shipping industry, this company has now become the most popular shipping service provider in the UK.
Although Royal Mail offers both domestic and international delivery services, it is reported to mainly focus on the UK market. This company delivers up to 20kg packages and two service classifications. Depending on the package classifications and package weight, delivery costs may range from £2.25 to £34.40.
Hermes
Hermes was established in 1972. In 2019, Hermes recorded their annual revenue of approximately $3.7 billion and positioned it as the second most profitable shipping provider in the UK. This company not only focuses on the UK market but also the European market in general. Until now, Hermes has created more than 40.000 pick-up points in Europe and 4500 points in the UK.
Hermes offers two types of delivery services which are delivered on the next day or stated day. Depending on the parcel weight and delivery method the delivery fees range from £2.66 to £10.70.
Yodel
Yodel is a privately owned British company founded by Barclay brothers in 2008. It is reported that Yodel delivers over 140 million parcels on average each year.
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Yodel offers two basic types of delivery which are next-day delivery and two-day delivery. Both of these services include free doorstep collection that saves businesses time and money by picking up their parcels.
The shipping costs of the two services are a bit different. The 24h delivery service cost ranges from £6.24 up to £2,500 (not including VAT) based on the characteristics of each parcel. And the 48h delivery service can start from at least £5.99 per package (not including VAT)
UPS
UPS was an American company in 1907 and headquartered in Atlanta. However, nowadays, UPS is ranked 7th most popular shipping service provider in the UK.
There are four shipping options that suitable with both B2B and B2C customers:
- Door-to-door delivery: Businesses have parcels picked up at their office and delivered straight to customers.
- Door to UPS Access Point: Parcels are picked up at the business office and delivered to a collection point (UPS Access Point), where customers can come and pick up their orders.
- UPS Access Point to door: Businesses have to bring their parcels to a drop-off point and UPS will deliver them to customers’ addresses.
- Access Point to Access Point: Businesses have to bring their parcels to a drop-off point and customers will come to pick them up.
In particular, being a partner with the American company GreenBiz, UPS also offers businesses UPS carbon neutral shipping service for sustainable delivery.
The UPS shipping cost starts from £3.88 including VAT. The shipping costs may vary depending on each type of service, shipping speed as well as characteristics of each package.
Bottom line,
Businesses can easily find an array of shipping services in the UK at different prices. Choosing a suitable shipping service company can make considerable contributions to your retail in terms of order fulfillment. Hence, companies should carefully consider a delivery company to raise their convention rate.
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