One of the classic modes of delivery in international online commerce is home delivery. There are two ways to do this:
- courier home delivery
- home delivery with own staff
Most web stores tend to opt for courier home delivery. In this case, the delivery is made by a third party, the logistics service provider. According to a 2017 research by eNET, 9 out of 10 web stores prefer this type of delivery. This is a convenient solution for webshop owners on the one hand, and for customers on the other. Even if it costs extra money in addition to the purchase.
There are several courier companies in the domestic market. There are smaller and bigger ones.
The largest courier services in Hungary are in ABC order:
- DHL
- DPD
- Express One
- Cheetah
- GLS
- MPL
- Sprinter.
In this article, we have compared in detail 5 service providers who can even help with international parcel delivery:
- DPD
- DHL
- GLS
- MPL
- Sprinter
DPD
DPD ( https://www.dpd.com/hu/ ) is one of the key players in the domestic courier company market.
Benefits of DPD
- They work with next day delivery.
- In case of express service, the package will be delivered until 10 am the next morning.
- Favorable cash on delivery fees.
- User-friendly package tracking system.
- A 1-hour time window indicates when the package will arrive.
- As a recipient, DPD’s parcel tracking is the most spectacular and best to track.
- The package includes a tracking link, here we can track the movement of the courier and see exactly how many stops the courier has before reaching our address.
- You can also easily reschedule the delivery time and address of the package.
- If we do not receive the package, they will try to deliver it again and free of charge.
- DPD Pickup is also available at 180 locations, 50 of which are in Budapest.
- They have more than 22,000 parcel points in 20 countries.
DHL
DHL ( https://www.dhl.hu/exp-hu/expressz.html ) is one of the world’s leading players in the logistics market.
DHL benefits
- Extensive domestic and foreign professional background
- 220 countries around the world are available in up to 1 day
- From parcel to 70kg, any package can be sent anywhere in the world
- Easy customs administration for foreign packages, which can be fully synchronized with the Webshippy system.
Foxpost
Although Foxpost ( https://www.foxpost.hu/ ) does not operate as a classic courier company, but as a parcel point, we have added it to the list. According to a survey by GKI Digital, Foxpost is the best rated package point in Hungary. Therefore, in some cases, it is in competition with delivery options with courier companies that also have a parcel point.
Benefits of Foxpost
- 114 vending machines in the country
- There is no need to wait for the courier, we can pick up the package when it is most convenient for us
- We will receive the code required to receive the package via SMS
- Receipt is fast, easy and completely discreet
- The package can be returned within 14 days using a Foxpost machine
GLS
GLS https://gls-group.eu/EN/en/home is currently the market-leading courier service in Hungary.
Benefits of GLS
There are several benefits to using GLS:
- It is a Dutch-based company with a significant European presence but also in some US Member States.
- Enormous emphasis has been and continues to be placed on the quality of service, bringing the number of errors close to zero.
- In peak periods like black friday, they also manage to take Christmas well.
- A time interval of 3 hours is given for delivery.
- They offer a significant quantity discount to customers when shipped in bulk.
- Their strength is small package delivery.
- Email notification is available from us. This gives the courier’s phone number, so you can check with him directly and specify when you will arrive with the package within the preliminary time window.
- You can also easily reschedule the delivery time and address of the package.
- The ordered package can be picked up at more than 800 GLS Package Points
MPL
MPL is a company belonging to Magyar Posta, specifically a subsidiary of Posta.
Benefits of MPL
- We can send packets from the smallest products to even larger products using MPL.
- It is the most extensive network, as there are Post Offices in the background that compress gas stations and post offices.
- If the package cannot be picked up, it can be picked up at the nearest post office. If we are unable to pick up the package during the second delivery, the package can be picked up by post by the specified deadline.
Sprinter
Sprinter Courier Service ( https://www.sprinter.hu ) is one of the domestically owned courier companies. They also include the Pick Pack Point.
Sprinter benefits
- Sprinter owns the Pick Pack Point, which is one of the best-known transfer point networks in the Hungarian market (240 settlements, 700 points).
- Ideal choice for start-up web stores.
- Those who ship often, even multiple packages, to one address will bill those items as a single shipment based on total weight.
- Delivery is available at Sprinter depot points on the next working day after picking up the available goods, as well as 1 working day delivery throughout the country.
- Email notification to recipient and sender.
- They also have a number of extra services: sending sms to the recipient, parcel exchange, cash on delivery.
Comparison of courier companies
Comparing courier services is somewhat complicated by the fact that there are services that are part of the “basic package” for some courier companies, while for others they are only available as an extra, paid service. This is broken down into two parts:
- On the one hand, the webshop owner himself may enter into a contract with the courier company in which he provides several services to customers.
- And the buyer of the webshop can sometimes take advantage of convenience services for extra money.
Therefore, it is difficult to compare a courier company at a basic level. This is because, technically, many services are available at several companies, in practice they are not always visible to customers. Nevertheless, there are some aspects where these courier companies can be objectively compared:
| Aspect / Courier Company | DPD | DHL | GLS | MPL | Sprinter |
| Webshippy Partner | no | Yes | Yes | no | no |
| Delivery throughout the country | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Next day home delivery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| point package | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pallet delivery | no | Yes | no | Yes | Yes |
| Credit card payment | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| packet Exchange | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time gate delivery | 1-2 hours | Yes, it varies from country to country | 2 o’clock | 2 o’clock | 3 hours |
| Expected time interval | 1 hour | ? | 3 hours | All day (8-17) | All day (8-17) |
| Max number of deliveries | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Return of packages not received | free | at the expense of the sender | paid | free | paid |
| Max package weight (no extra charge) | 50 kg | 70 kg | 40 kg | 40kg | 40kg |
| Method of prior notification (freight) | Email / SMS | no | SMS / Email | ||
| Notification method available as an extra service (in addition to freight) | SMS | – | Email / SMS / Phone | no | SMS |
| Internet parcel tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
