Your own couriers
More control and direct contact with the customer; fixed cost.
own couriers or carrier
Your own couriers or a carrier: how to decide
Criteria to decide how to deliver your orders: volume, coverage area, delivery times, costs and control of the delivery. With free tools to do the math.
Short answer: your own couriers usually make sense when you have a steady daily volume in the same city and want to control the delivery; carriers and last-mile companies make sense when you ship to other cities or your volume varies a lot. Many companies combine both: their own couriers for the city and a carrier for the rest of the country.
By the Katuq team · Updated
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Everything you need to sell, invoice and grow
Carrier
National coverage and cost per shipment; less control.
Last mile
Fast on-demand urban deliveries.
Do the math
Shipping capacity and delivery date calculators.
Proof of delivery
Delivery photo and customer notice, whatever the method.
Mixed model
City with your own couriers, rest of the country with a carrier.
The three ways to deliver
| Your own couriers | National carrier | Last-mile company | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Your city or area | The whole country | Main cities |
| Cost | Fixed (salary, motorcycle, expenses) | Per shipment, by weight and destination | Per shipment or per service |
| Control of the delivery | High | Medium | Medium |
| Makes sense when | Steady daily volume in the same city | Shipments to other cities | Same-day urban deliveries or demand peaks |
Criteria to decide
- Daily volume: how many orders you deliver per day in your city and how steady that number is. Use the shipping capacity calculator to estimate how many couriers you need.
- Coverage: what share of your orders goes to other cities.
- Promised delivery time: calculate realistic dates with the delivery date calculator.
- Cost per delivery: compare your couriers' fixed monthly cost divided by deliveries with the carrier's per-shipment rate. Include shipping in your order profitability.
- Product type: fragile, perishable or high-value items usually need more control.
- Customer experience: who greets them at the door and how they find out the status of their order.
The mixed model
The most common setup in growing small businesses is to combine: your own couriers for the main city, a last-mile company for peaks or same-day deliveries, and a carrier for the rest of the country. The key is that all orders sit on the same board, no matter who delivers them.
How Katuq handles it
In Katuq you choose how each order is delivered. Carrier labels go through Envíame, your own couriers see their deliveries for the day in the delivery app and the customer gets updates until delivery, with a photo. Fee zones by municipality calculate the shipping cost. More detail in shipping and last mile.
Frequently asked questions
It usually makes sense when you deliver a steady daily volume in the same city and want to control the delivery experience. Do the math with your fixed monthly cost divided by deliveries.
When you ship to other cities or your volume varies a lot, because you pay per shipment and have no fixed cost.
Yes. It is the most common model in growing small businesses: your own couriers for the city and a carrier for the rest of the country.
Yes. You choose per order: a carrier label through Envíame or assignment to your own courier, with a customer notice and a delivery photo.
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