The delivery company you ship with impacts more than just your business’s day-to-day performance and costs. 14% of customers will abandon a checkout if they can’t choose their preferred delivery company. And on top of that, 23% of customers say a past bad experience with a parcel delivery service is a major reason to abandon a checkout.
It’s essential to know which courier your customers like and trust. In this article, we reveal which delivery company is the favourite of UK online shoppers. Drive your conversions up and keep customers coming back by not only offering them the delivery company they love, but also the shipping services they want the most.
So make sure to keep reading to discover:
- The most popular UK courier
- Which shipping services online shoppers love most
- How delivery companies can increase your e-commerce conversions
The top UK parcel delivery companies
Sendcloud’s 2023 E-commerce Delivery Compass revealed that, once again, Royal Mail is the favourite delivery company of UK consumers.
When asked to rank their top 3 couriers, a whopping 37% of customers placed Royal Mail in 1st position and a further 22% placed the delivery company in 2nd place.
Though, it’s good to note this research was conducted before the recent strikes. This may have impacted Royal Mail’s popularity and customers’ willingness to trust their service.
So, which other e-commerce delivery companies are favoured by UK customers?
The top 10 parcel delivery companies UK
We asked 1000 UK online shoppers to rank their top 3 preferred couriers and these are the results.
| Top 3 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
| Royal Mail | 74% | 37% | 22% | 15% |
| DPD | 47% | 18% | 15% | 14% |
| Evri | 35% | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| DHL | 35% | 10% | 12% | 14% |
| Parcelforce | 30% | 5% | 13% | 12% |
| Yodel | 23% | 5% | 7% | 11% |
| FedEx | 21% | 4% | 7% | 9% |
| UPS | 19% | 6% | 6% | 7% |
| TNT | 5% | 1% | 1% | 3% |
| Other | 6% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
Why can you trust this data? All insights in this article are sourced from Sendcloud’s E-commerce Delivery Compass 2023. This extensive consumer research was conducted by renowned research agency Nielsen, surveying over 9,000 shoppers across Europe and the US.
Delivery preferences: the best courier services UK online shoppers want
More than just knowing the top UK delivery company, we wanted to know why customers love their favourite courier. What makes online shoppers choose one delivery company over another, and which shipping services do they appreciate the most?
Surprisingly, the services did not vary a lot between couriers, and common reasons often included:
- Better tracking options
- Faster and on-time delivery
- And interestingly, friendly personnel
| Delivery company | Favourite service | Other top reasons |
| Royal Mail | Better tracking | On-time delivery and friendlier personnel |
| DPD | Better tracking | On-time delivery |
| Evri | Friendlier personnel | Cheaper shipping costs |
| DHL | Better tracking options and cheaper shipping costs | Faster and on-time delivery |
| Parcelforce | Faster delivery times | More convenient delivery times |
| Yodel | Faster delivery times | Friendlier personnel |
| FedEx | Better tracking and faster delivery times | More convenient delivery times |
| UPS | Faster delivery times | Friendlier personnel |
Sendcloud Insight: Although customers like fast delivery, consumers still reported high delivery costs as the #1 reason to abandon a checkout. The want for cheap shipping wins over the want for fast delivery in the purchase-decision phase. Read more on the top reasons customers abandon a checkout in Sendcloud’s E-commerce Delivery Compass.
Increasing e-commerce conversions with a multi-courier strategy
With 1-in-4 customers abandoning a shopping cart because of a bad experience with a delivery company, OR because they can’t choose the shipping method they want, offering customers choice will reduce the likelihood of them jumping ship.
That’s why, if you’re really serious about increasing your conversion rates and customer retention, it’s vital to implement a multi-courier strategy (if you haven’t already).
A multi-courier strategy will help increase your conversion rate by:
- Decreasing costs by offering different carriers for different destinations.
- Allowing shoppers to pick the delivery company they like and trust the most. This is especially important for those “bad experiences”.
- Providing the shipping services customers are looking for. Customers who want their package ASAP are willing to pay for express delivery, and those with busy lives will appreciate the option to collect their parcel from a PickUp point.
The good news doesn’t just stop at pleasing your customers though. A multi-courier strategy will ultimately help you as an e-commerce retailer save money as well.
You’ll be able to mix ’n’ match delivery methods from different couriers to get the best shipping rates for each particular scenario. For example, if you sometimes ship heavier packages, you can switch to ship with a service better suited for those bigger orders (and with better rates).
Getting started with a multi-courier strategy
Shipping software is a huge life-saver when you want to ship with more than one delivery company. The right platform makes integrating couriers directly into your e-commerce store as easy as just a few button clicks. You’ll then be able to centralise all of your orders – no matter the delivery company or shipping method – from just one platform, keeping your day-to-day process simple and streamlined.
