Choosing a Same-Day Courier in London in 2022 (5-Step Guide)

There’s no doubt about it:

Same-day delivery has become THE most important part of business in London.

In fact, over half of UK consumers (56%) expect same-day delivery in 2022.

(And most of them are living in London.)

Your business having (or not having) the ability to book a same-day courier on demand is so important that it can make it, or break it.

Thankfully, there are a lot of them.

But:

To succeed with delivery, you need to choose the right same-day courier in London.

What makes a courier “right” for that job, exactly? Keep reading…

How to Choose a Same-Day Courier in London

From pricing to customer service, here’s the exact process for finding the best same-day courier in London.

Step #1: Identify What You Need

There are a lot of couriers in the UK. And most of them do operate in London.

So you need to narrow down your search.

To do that, you need to identify three things:

• Delivery requirements
• Business constraints.
• Service expectations

Here is a quick checklist to help you determine your delivery requirements:

• What kind of items will you need delivered? - This will help you determine what kind of vehicle you’ll need. For example, if you deliver small parcels then bicycle couriers in London will work for you. If you’re delivering furniture, you’ll need couriers that have vans in their fleet.
• What kind of delivery services do you need? - Yes, you need same-day delivery. But does your business require any other delivery options like next-day or future date delivery? Can the courier handle curbside delivery, as well?
• Where does your target audience live? - Will the couriers’ delivery area match your own? Are you looking to deliver exclusively to people living in London? Or do you want to reach customers all across the UK?
• Do you want to offer in-store or online delivery? Or both? - If you want to offer a delivery service to customers at physical locations and on your online store, make sure the courier’s booking platform can integrate with your web store.
• How many deliveries do you plan to have? - It’s difficult to know what your delivery order volume will be. But planning around a specific number of deliveries can help you to determine whether the courier can handle your order volumes. (Especially if you plan to sell items online.)
• Will you offer returns to customers? - Some businesses don’t offer return delivery. And some courier companies can’t handle returns and reverse logistics.
• Will you need delivery between your stores? - Some courier companies can handle movement of goods between different retail locations, and some don’t.

When it comes to business constraints, here’s what you need to consider:

• What products will be eligible for delivery? - You can’t deliver all of your product listings. If you offer delivery on low-cost goods, you won’t be able to cover the cost of delivery. Or worse, you’ll be running at a loss. You may want to transfer the cost of delivery onto the customer. Or, create a limit for them to qualify for delivery.
• What is your budget for delivery? - If you’re running on a tight budget, you don’t have to offer delivery straight away. Or you can hire a freelance courier. They usually do the job. That said, a professional courier service is usually more reliable and efficient in the long run.
• How much does the delivery cost? - Does it include VAT? Are there hidden service fees? Is the price the same for the entire metropolitan area of London or does it change? Staying on top of these questions ensures you stay within the budget. And that you’re transparent about the cost of delivery with customers.
• How do you want to pay for deliveries? - Do you want a pay-as-you-go plan? Or do you prefer receiving a monthly invoice? Or do you have to pay upfront for the delivery? You need to know what kind of payment plans the courier company offers.
• Will you require additional infrastructure? - Do you need storage for your goods? Not all couriers provide this service.

And this is the checklist for your service requirements:

• When can you book a same-day courier? - Some couriers have time windows when you can book a same-day delivery. You need to be aware of this, when offering this service to customers.
• Do you need pick-up as well as drop-off? - Some courier companies have parcel centers in London, and don’t pick up for delivery at your location.
• Can you book online? - Most courier companies in London offer same-day booking online, but there are a few that don’t support this option.
• How hard is it to use the booking platform? - Can you book deliveries on any device or browser? Do you have to open up an account? Can you book multiple deliveries at once? Do you have to do it manually or can you do it with one click? This ensures all of your staff will quickly learn how to book a same-day delivery.
• Do you need status updates? - How long does it take to pick and pack items for delivery? If you receive confirmations and status updates, you’ll know exactly when the courier is ready for pick-up, and when the package is delivered to the customer.
• Do you need delivery tracking? - Modern customers like to know where their package is in real-time. So having live, on-map tracking makes it possible to monitor the delivery progress and ETAs for you and your customers.
• Do you need reporting? - Receiving reports helps you to know whether the delivery attempt was successful. If the customer has confirmed this via proof of delivery, and if you can verify it easily. (Especially if you want to offer payment on delivery.)

Step #2: Create a List of Couriers

Your second step is to create a giant list of courier companies in London.

Right now you don’t need to worry about pricing, their list of services, or any of that.

The goal is just to get a bunch of courier providers on the list that offer same-day delivery.

(We’ll show you how to pick the best couriers from your list in steps #3-#6.)

You can do this by typing the search terms “same-day couriers in london” or “s_ame-day delivery in london_” into:

• Google Search
• Reddit
• Qoura

And you’ll get millions of results.

In fact, when we received almost 4 million hits on Google:

That’s a lot. But right now just grab as many providers related to your business as you can. And add them to your list.

(As you can see, we like to use Google Sheets for our courier list. But you can use anything that works for you.)

Step #3: Find Suitable Couriers

Now it’s time to size up the competition.

You want to identify couriers that are the best match with what outlined in step #1.

Specifically, you want to focus on three things: convenience, pricing, and service quality.

Here’s how:

Convenience

This is where you determine how easy it is for you to book a same-day delivery.

Some courier companies in London, like Addison Lee, have easy booking:

This lets you book a same-day delivery without having to create an account.

And you can do it directly over their website.

But if you want same-day delivery as a regular deal, this isn’t very convenient.

Chances are that you’ll start receiving multiple same-day orders, at some point.

And at that point, booking them one at a time isn’t effective anymore.

So the courier you end up choosing has to allow you to schedule multi-drop deliveries.

Here’s how that looks with Brisqq:

But convenience doesn’t stop when it’s just convenient for you to book same-day deliveries.

Especially if you sell products online.

In e-commerce, booking deliveries online also has to be convenient for your customers.

That’s why you should also consider if the courier provider offers API Integration with your site.

This enables customers to self-book same-day deliveries.

(But more on the benefits of that in step #4.)

Pricing

Price per delivery is important for your bottom line.

And your customers’ wallets. (If they’re the ones paying for it.)

While same-day delivery is convenient, it’s also expensive.

In fact, most post and parcel carriers in the UK put a premium price on it.

For example, Royal Mail offer same-day delivery by 9am that starts from £22.95 up to £39.65:

On the other hand, smaller courier services like Brisqq and Gophr are much more affordable.

The average price for same-day delivery in London is £10.50.

NOTE: These prices are typically without VAT which is added onto the price of delivery.

Service Quality

Most couriers in the UK are listed and reviewed by their users.

This is a good way to evaluate the quality of their same-day delivery service.

The best places to review their ratings and scores on:

• Google Reviews
• Yelp
• Turstpilot

You should always target companies with a rating of at least 3.5/5.

But reading comments about them will also help you to see what customers actually think about their service experience:

Step #4: Assess Earning Potential

It’s one thing for a courier to have a lot of good reviews and an affordable price per delivery.

But the more important question is:

Will their same-day delivery service make you money?

Here are two ways to figure that out:

Conversion Rate

This is your way to estimate how many customers will use your same-day delivery service.

It converts potential customers into actual users and buyers.

The higher your conversion, the more a courier company is worth to your business.

For example, Brisqq offers courier services for e-commerce.

You can integrate your online store with Brisqq to let customers self-book delivery at checkout (regardless of whether you use a platform like Magento or Woocommerce):

But how does this translate into choosing a courier?

Let’s say a customer wants to buy the best-selling product on your website.

And they want it delivered today, by 5PM.

If a courier on your shortlist doesn’t offer API integration, then that customer can’t book the delivery.

They can ring you up to check whether it’s possible, but…

This isn’t convenient.

And may lead them to abandon their cart.

On the other hand:

You can’t capitalize on showrooming on your site.

Potential customers on your site may want to buy something. But if they can’t order it straight away, they may not want to do business with you anymore.

The bottom line:

You lose out on valuable opportunities.

Availability of couriers

It’s one thing to offer same-day delivery at checkout.

It’s quite another to make good on your promise.

And customer disappointment has a serious impact on your earnings.

But:

Not all courier companies are available all the time.

So how do you solve this problem?

One way is to look for delivery companies in London that have a wide network of couriers.

This means choosing one of the bigger post and parcel deliveries, like Royal Mail or Hermes.

But this can be a risk, as The Times found out when it exposed Hermes’ delivery staff throwing packages against walls at their facilities.

You can also look for slightly smaller courier companies.

For example, Gopher has 9000+ registered couriers across 25 cities in the UK:

But what happens when seasonal demand is high, like during Christmas.

Then, your customers may book a delivery but they won’t be able to handle it.

Again, the best solution is to let customers self-book deliveries within determined timeslots.

Here’s how that works with Brisqq:

You can also limit this based on their address vs. your delivery area.

This way, customers see when a courier is available to deliver their order.

And whether or not they qualify for delivery at all.

Which minimizes your chances of losing any future business with them.

Step #5: Choose the Best Courier in London

Last up, it’s time to see how the couriers on your shortlist perform.

Obviously, you want to pick the best courier in line with your business.

And the only way is to use their same-day delivery service.

That way, you get an actual sense of the results you’ll receive over time.

Create an account with all of them.

Start booking deliveries.

Set the test range to 5-10 deliveries.

Keep a close eye on:

• How easy or difficult it is to book same-day deliveries
• How much do you actually pay per delivery (with VAT)
• What features do you have access to on your account
• What your customers say about the quality of service

This makes it SUPER simple to evaluate your top choices.

If a courier doesn’t score high on one of these points, you can go with a different one.

Until you find the right one for your business.

And if Brisqq is an obvious choice, then…

Get in touch with us

Get in touch with Brisqq. Fill out a quick form and we’ll get back to you in less than 2 minutes.

One of our support staff is always on call with a tailor-made offer for your business or a quote that’s in line with your delivery needs and your budget.

Imagine what you want your delivery to look like…

And start delivering that experience to your customers today!