Compare courier services for businesses. Australia Post, Couriers Please, DHL Express, Fastway, StarTrack and Toll compared on factors including delivery reliability, pick up and drop off options, booking process, tracking services and value for money.
Toll leads the field in our annual review of courier services for business. Toll achieved five-star ratings in most research categories, leading the way from Fastway, StarTrack, Australia Post, DHL Express and Couriers Please with five stars for overall customer satisfaction.
If a small to medium-sized business is to prosper, its customers, clients and partners need convincing of its efficiency and reliability. If they can’t rely on that business to do what it promises it is going to do, and when, they’ll go elsewhere. That’s why courier services are hugely important to many businesses across Australia. They provide an essential service that keeps the world of small business turning. But which courier services can businesses rely on to deliver the efficiency and reliability they need, especially when their delivery is time-critical? That’s where Canstar Blue’s business customer satisfaction ratings can offer some guidance.
Each year, we survey hundreds of small to medium business owners and key decision-makers across the country to find out how they rate the courier service they most recently used for business purposes. In 2015, it was a straight shootout between DHL Express and Australia Post, with the latter coming out on top in terms of overall satisfaction. Then in 2016 we saw StarTrack lead a tough field of five major brands to take out top spot. This year, however, is a different story altogether, with Toll emerging victorious from an even larger field of six courier services. Brands must receive a minimum of 30 responses to be included.
This year’s ratings were determined by the feedback of more than 670 small to medium business owners and key decision-makers across Australia.
Our survey identified service reliability as being the most significant driver of customer satisfaction, but other factors such as delivery timing, pick up/drop options and value for money are also crucial.
Providing a reliable service is of the utmost importance regardless of what industry your business is in, but particularly so when your business is all about delivering items in a timely fashion. More than a third (37%) of survey respondents told us they have previously couriered an item that was not delivered. Just getting an item from A to B is the minimum requirement of courier services, but our ratings show some are more reliable than others. Only Toll rated five stars on reliability.
Providing a reliable service is crucial – not many customers are going to stick with a courier that fails to deliver items correctly. However, small businesses also demand value for money when they courier an item. That of course means paying a reasonable price for delivery, but also receiving an overall quality service which justifies the cost. This could mean having a helpful website, tracking process, or friendly call centre staff to assist with your queries. It seems this is an area where most courier services could improve, with Fastway the only brand to rate five stars on value.
The pick-up will likely be the paying customer’s only face-to-face contact with their courier, so it needs to go well. This means turning up promptly and portraying a professional image. Good customer service can go a long way. You may also want your courier service to offer flexible pick up and drop off options, such as being able to leave parcels at another address, retail store or post office. Almost a quarter of respondents to our survey (24%) have used a courier-owned locker as a delivery option. The industry seems to be becoming more diversified in this regard, but for now Toll was the only courier to score five stars for its pick up/drop off options.
Time is money in the world of business, so chances are the item you want couriered needs to reach its destination in a hurry. However, not all deliveries need to get from A to B in a flash – sometimes just turning up at the required time is good enough. Failing to make this time will lead to disappointment. Toll was the only courier to rate five stars in this area.
Being able to track your order once it leaves the safety of your business has become an important part of the overall courier service experience. A courier company that doesn’t offer some form of tracking is well behind the times. But the tracking also needs to be accurate and reliable. For tracking services, Toll once again came out on top with five stars.
For many small business customers, a courier service’s website will be the first step on the road to an item being delivered, so it’s hugely important that a courier can deliver an informative and easy to use booking process, in addition to other online tools and over the phone support. Toll was the only courier to rate five stars for its booking process.
You can provide the best courier service in the world, but from time to time things will always go wrong. If you’re the customer unlucky enough to experience a problem, you’ll want it to be handled promptly and seriously. You can forgive one mistake, but if it’s followed by the mistake of bad customer service, you won’t be happy at all. Only Fastway rated five stars in this area.
Just 57% of small businesses told us they always use the same courier service, which suggests they don’t mind taking their money elsewhere – and rightly so. Small businesses shouldn’t settle for a below-par courier service, yet 53% of survey respondents think they could probably get a better deal with another courier company. If you find you’re not getting a reliable service that represents good value for money, you should consider your options.
Canstar Blue commissioned Colmar Brunton to survey 800 small business owners or decision makers (i.e. the main decision maker for a small business) across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction. The outcomes reported are the results from customers within the survey group who have used a courier for work purposes in the last year – in this case, 672 people.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then alphabetically. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criteria.
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