DPD shipping guide for online shops in the UK

If your online shop sends parcels around the UK, DPD is almost certainly on your shortlist. It is one of the country's best-known carriers, part of the Geopost group, delivering over 360 million parcels a year. It covers next day delivery nationwide, timed deliveries by 10:30 or 12:00, weekend delivery and international shipping to Europe and beyond, all backed by its one-hour Predict delivery window.

The carrier you choose shapes a large part of your customers' experience: delivery times, the options they see at checkout, how they track their order and how easily they can send it back. Knowing which DPD service fits each type of order helps you keep shipping costs under control and cut failed deliveries and "where is my order?" enquiries.

In this guide, we cover who DPD UK is, which domestic and international services you can offer in your online shop and how long they take. We also explain how tracking, Predict, Pickup shops and returns work, how pricing and business accounts work, and how to automate your DPD shipments from one dashboard.

What is DPD UK?

DPD UK is the British member of Geopost, the parcel delivery group of France's La Poste. Its history goes back to 1970, when it started as Courier Express; it became Parceline in 1984, was bought by La Poste in 2000 and has traded as DPD since 2008. Today DPD UK operates more than 10,000 vehicles from 85 locations and delivers over 360 million parcels a year, with its national Superhub in Hinckley sorting up to 72,000 parcels per hour.

DPD also has a sister company in the UK, DPD Local, a franchised network that focuses on express parcel services for small and medium-sized businesses. Both share the same login platform for business customers.

What this means for your online shop

For an online shop, DPD UK covers the three most common shipping needs under one account: next day delivery to homes and businesses across Great Britain, deliveries to Northern Ireland and the offshore islands, and international orders through the Geopost network. On the customer side, DPD offers Predict notifications, live driver tracking and a large Pickup network for collections and returns.

DPD services and prices for UK online shops

Most shops combine a standard next day service for the bulk of their orders, a paid timed or weekend option and an international service. These are DPD UK's main options and delivery times:

Next day, timed and weekend delivery

• DPD Next Day: delivery before close of business on the following working day.
• DPD 10:30 and DPD 12:00: delivery by 10:30am or noon on the next working day.
• Saturday and Sunday delivery: by 10:30, by 12:00 or next day options on Saturdays, plus a nationwide Sunday service.

Timed and weekend services work best as paid options at checkout or for B2B orders where every hour counts. Specific services apply to parts of Scotland and Cornwall, and DPD's postcode lookup shows which services are available for each delivery address.

Exchanges, collections and special services

• Swap It: a one-for-one exchange, delivering the replacement and collecting the old item in the same visit.
• Reverse It: combines delivery and collection in one, useful for moving goods between stores or sites.
• ContractPak: delivers, obtains a signature and returns a contract, checking the customer's ID.
• Logistics Solutions: warehousing and distribution with later order cut-off times.

International shipping from the UK

• DPD Classic: road delivery to Europe and beyond, up to 31.5kg with a maximum length of 175cm and girth of 300cm. It splits continental Europe into simple delivery zones and includes Predict notifications, the European Pickup network and individual parcel tracking with proof of delivery.
• DPD Express: DPD's global air express network for urgent parcels up to 31.5kg, with liability cover as set out in DPD's terms and full online tracking.
• Air Classic: extends DPD Classic by air to 230 countries for shipments that are not time-sensitive but still need full tracking, with flexible duty payment options.
• DPD Direct: international home delivery designed for online retailers, to destinations including the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, the UAE and many EU countries. Parcels are delivered duty paid, customs paperwork is handled electronically and a returns service is included.
• International Mail: a cost-effective option for lighter, less urgent items.

Since Brexit, orders shipped from Great Britain to the EU need customs paperwork. DPD provides a commercial and pro-forma invoice template, and you should decide who pays duties and taxes before you promise a delivery date at checkout.

DPD shipping conditions: size, weight and liability

Before you set up DPD services in your shop, check the limits for each one. Parcels above them are treated as freight or oversize and cost more:

DPD's terms treat heavier or larger UK items, from 31kg up to 99kg, as Freight Parcels and may add a handling charge. Internationally, length plus girth is length + 2 × width + 2 × height.

Delivery attempts: if the customer is not in, they can use Predict to choose another day, a neighbour, a safe place or a DPD Pickup shop before the driver arrives. That reduces failed attempts and returns to your warehouse.

Liability, claims and prohibited items: DPD limits its liability and sets claim deadlines and excluded goods in its Standard Terms and Conditions of Carriage. Check these, and your account's cover, before you ship high-value goods.

DPD prices and business account

Prices depend on weight, dimensions, service level, origin and destination. You can get an approximate price for a single parcel on DPD's website, but online shops shipping regularly usually open a DPD business account through a sales enquiry. Rates are then agreed with DPD's sales team based on your volumes, destinations and parcel profile, and you get access to MyDPD, DPD's free shipping platform for account holders, to create labels, book collections and track consignments.

When you compare quotes, check surcharges such as fuel and energy, remote areas and international add-ons, as well as the cut-off times for collections from your warehouse.

DPD tracking, Predict and customer service

Tracking questions are one of the main reasons customers contact your shop. The clearer tracking is, the fewer "where is my parcel?" messages your team has to answer.

How to track a DPD parcel

Your customers can track a parcel on DPD's Follow My Parcel page by entering the reference number and the delivery postcode. As an account holder, you can search your consignments in MyDPD by consignment number, parcel number, card reference, collection request number or partner carrier reference, which saves your team calls to customer services.

Predict and Follow My Parcel

With Predict, your customers receive a one-hour delivery window by SMS and email, so they don't have to wait in all day. Follow My Parcel lets them watch the driver's progress on a live map, down to a final 15-minute slot. If they won't be in, they can choose another day, a neighbour, a safe place or a DPD Pickup shop, or upgrade to a timed or weekend delivery.

DPD customer service and contacts

• Customer Service: 0121 275 0500, Monday to Friday 8am-6:30pm, Saturday 8am-4pm and Sunday 9am-3pm (excluding bank holidays), plus 24/7 chat about deliveries.
• MyDPD technical support: 0121 500 2510, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• New business accounts: through DPD's sales enquiry form, or your Account Manager if you are already a customer.

DPD also publishes a delivery schedule with service changes around bank holidays and peak season. Check it before you set cut-off times in your shop.

DPD Pickup, collections and returns

DPD's Pickup network is useful both for deliveries and for returns.

Collections from your warehouse

With a business account, DPD collects parcels from your premises, and you can book collections and print labels in MyDPD. For occasional shipments, you can also drop parcels at a DPD Pickup shop.

DPD Pickup shops

DPD Pickup lets your customers choose one of more than 10,000 Pickup shops in the UK at checkout, or divert a parcel there in flight through the Predict notifications if they won't be at home. For shoppers used to click-and-collect, it is a convenient alternative to home delivery that also cuts failed delivery attempts. If you are an existing customer, your Account Manager can add the Pickup option to your checkout.

Returns with DPD

Customers can manage their returns through their local DPD Pickup shop, and DPD also offers an online returns service. Set out in your returns policy who pays for the return and the deadline, and point customers to a Pickup shop as the simplest way to send items back.

How to manage your DPD shipping with Outvio

As order volumes grow, the challenge is rarely the carrier itself. It's everything around it: picking the right service for each order, printing labels, keeping customers informed and handling returns and exchanges.

With Outvio's DPD integration, you manage DPD and more than 90 other carriers from one dashboard:

• Automated shipping rules by destination, weight or order value.
• Bulk label printing or printing with a barcode scanner.
• Branded tracking page and notifications in your customer's language.
• Self-service returns portal where customers register returns and exchanges and the DPD return label is generated automatically.

If you want to offer more than one carrier at checkout, read our guides to FedEx in the UK and UPS shipping. Outvio is multicarrier shipping software that brings DPD and every other carrier your online shop uses together in one place.