For many, courier services keep the business world turning, helping deliver goods, letters and contracts to where they need to be. With many small New Zealand businesses moving to a more online presence, courier services have become even more influential and necessary in recent years – allowing businesses to reach all corners of the country. But when it comes to selecting a courier service to trust with your customer’s orders and client contracts, it can be a tricky decision, as the wrong one may not only leave you with an empty wallet, but impact on your business relations and reputation.

There’s plenty to consider when selecting a courier service, because while you’ll want your package to arrive safe and sound – and in a timely manner – you won’t want it to cost you an arm and a leg. To help narrow down the options, Canstar Blue has produced an annual review of courier services for small business, surveying 465 business owners and key decision-makers about their experiences with the big-name providers listed above.

Respondents rated the courier service they used in the past year on various factors, including overall satisfaction. The results of the survey determined the winner of this year’s Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customers Award, with the biggest factors of satisfaction being:

• Reliability of service
• Value for money
• Tracking services

CourierPost is the winner, rated 5-stars for all but one factor! CourierPost was the only courier service to be rated 5-stars for reliability of service, tracking services, delivery of timeliness options, problem resolution, pick up and drop off options, booking process and most importantly – overall satisfaction. The only other 5-stars given out was to FastWay Couriers for value for money, while it was New Zealand Post that came runner up, rated 4-stars across the board, except for booking process where it received 3-stars. Given the rarity of the renowned 5-stars, CourierPost is one lucky provider, as the customer favourite couriers!

Couriers

While there are a number of operators in New Zealand, CourierPost, Fastway Couriers, New Zealand Couriers and New Zealand Post are the main ones based on our survey results. It may seem like the easier approach to jump the gun and pick the first one that pops up in your Google search, however, Canstar Blue recommends you compare couriers first. The one you pick may not suit your needs, potentially having negative effects on you and your business. So, keep on reading to find one you’re satisfied with, and more importantly, your consumers can be satisfied with!

CourierPost

Owned by New Zealand Post, and with the approach that delivering parcels is about more than just delivering from A to B, CourierPost strives to be there for anywhere your business wants to go. Focusing on both rural and urban delivery, CourierPost delivers to every PO box in New Zealand. This courier can work with you to determine a delivery strategy that works best for your business. CourierPost is the winner of the Canstar Blue Most Satisfied Customers Award, in this year’s star ratings.

For business services, Courier Post offers a range of options to suit your business needs:

• Same day local delivery
• Evening delivery
• Overnight delivery
• Economy delivery
• Saturday delivery
• Rural delivery
• Private bag and box clearance
• Scheduled pick ups
• Signature required option
• After hours/weekend pick ups
• CourierPost online
• Satchels
• Scheduled courier pick ups

Fastway Couriers

Since its humble beginnings in Napier, Fastway Couriers has since gone global, taking the reigns of the courier industry in Australia, Ireland and South Africa. Fastway Couriers has a customer-centric approach to deliveries – it states to be cost-effective and reliable, up-to-date with the latest technologies and ideal for businesses of all sizes. Fastway Couriers came third in Canstar Blue’s 2019 sta ratings, rated 3-stars for overall satisfaction. It did, however, receive 5-stars for value for money.

Fastway Couriers states it knows what customers want, when it comes to online retail, and develops services to suit. This has seen it work with some of New Zealand’s largest online retailers.

Here are more of Fastway Courier’s stated notable features for businesses:

• Affordable prices – no hidden fees
• Same day local delivery
• 24/7 track and trace function
• Assistance with inbound shipping and customs clearance
• Face to face business relationship with your local franchisee
• On-call customer service centre

New Zealand Couriers

New Zealand Couriers is a results focused courier service, with an emphasis on innovative systems, stating it doesn’t just deliver packages, it delivers reliability. This courier service has been delivering for more than 50 years and its network and service is market leading.  New Zealand Couriers came fourth in Canstar Blue’s satisfaction ratings. True to its reliability focus, it was given 4-stars for reliability of service, as well as 4-stars for booking process.

Here is what New Zealand Couriers promises for small businesses:

• Overnight delivery covering 99.9% of New Zealand
• Over 1000 same day local and regional services
• Cost-effective international freight service
• On-call customer service at your local branch
• A.N network, allowing you to make a booking in under 10 seconds
• Access services, book, buy tickets and packs, and track items online

New Zealand Post

New Zealand Post is the state-owned postal service – established 32 years ago, in 1987. New Zealand Post states it offers the largest and most reliable range of delivery options in New Zealand. With the aim to ensure a greater customer experience, New Zealand Post focuses on making life easier for Kiwis every step of the way – from purchase to delivery. New Zealand Post ranked second in Canstar Blue’s satisfaction ratings, rated a 4-star courier across the board, except for booking process, where they scored 3-stars.

Focusing on enabling ease for everyone involved, New Zealand Post can streamline processes with its innovative technology solutions. It also strives to build closer relationships for businesses and their customers, through direct marketing. New Zealand Post offers these options for small business and large businesses, alike:

• Overnight delivery
• Evening delivery
• Parcel notifications informing customers with their parcel’s location, throughout the journey
• Option to print your own postage
• Online account discounts
• Online store
• Parcel collect
• Parcel redirect