DHL vs UK Mail: A Comparison

If you manage an e-commerce business than you know the importance of choosing the proper mail courier.

Choosing the correct courier is not just a search for the right supplier. It’s about identifying a serious ally that will help you deliver the best value and service to your customers.

The right courier will satisfy your customers with the best quality, speed, and cost effective services.

DHL vs UK Mail

Here at ShippyPro, we want to help you in your search for that perfect carrier.

Today we will be analyzing DHL and UK Mail.

UK Mail is based in The United Kingdom, playing a key role in the UK market. DHL is headquartered in Germany and has a large presence in the global shipping market.

In this article we will be analyzing DHL and UK Mail’s National US services, National UK services, European, and international services.

DHL vs UK Mail: National US Shipments

DHL	UK Mail
Service	Delivery Time	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL SmartMail Parcel	By end of one 2-3 business days
DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus	By end of one 2-3 business days
DHL SmartMail Parcel Return	By end of one 1-3 business days
DHL Smart Mail Flats	By end of one 2-5 business days
DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter	By end of one 2-5 business days

UK Mail does not provide services in the United States, so we will just take a look at DHL first.

DHL’s US domestic services can be broken into three categories based on delivery time.

DHL SmartMail Parcel and DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus both guarantee delivery between 2-3 days. The only difference between the two is DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus has a maximum weight 25lbs while DHL SmartMail Parcel only has a maximum weight of 1lb.

Subsequently DHL SmartMail Parcel Plus costs a bit more.

DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter and DHL Smart Mail Flats both guarantee delivery in 2-5 days. The only difference between the two is DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter has a maximum weight 15lbs while DHL Smart Mail Flats only has a maximum weight of 1lb.

As a result, DHL SmartMail Bundle Printed Matter costs slightly more than DHL Smart Mail Flats.

There is also DHL SmartMail Parcel Return that easily handles return packages within 1-3 days.

DHL vs UK Mail: National UK Shipment

This table compares DHL and UK Mail’s domestic services throughout the UK.

DHL	UK Mail
Service	Delivery Time	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL Domestic Express 9:00	Delivery by 9:00 am next business day		Pre 9:00 am	By next business day by 9:00 am
DHL Domestic Express 12:00	Delivery by 12:00 pm next business day		Next Day	By end of next business day
DHL Domestic Express	Delivery by end of next business day		Saturday Delivery	By 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays
DHL Domestic Express Easy	Delivery by end of next business day once handed over to a DHL Service Point		Flexible Option	By end of 3-5 business days

DHL’s UK services all offer next business day delivery with variations in time of delivery.

The options for time of delivery the next day are 9:00 am, 12:00 pm, by the end of the day, and by the end of the day once the parcel reaches a DHL Service Point.

Additionally, all of these services come with tracking and liability protection. 

UK Mail offers very reasonably priced next day delivery options to the UK. But also offers more economic options if time is not as important of a factor. UK Mail provides special value in that they offer many services that will deliver on Saturdays, a service that is rather unique in the shipping industry.

Pre 9:00 am offers delivery by 9:00 am the next possible business day Monday though Saturday. At a reasonable price and next day delivery, this is one of UK Mail’s most popular options.

UK Mail’s Next Day delivery service promises delivery by the end of the next business day. This is available Monday through Saturday and is rather close in price to the Pre 9:00 am service.

There is also a special Saturday Service for parcels that are intended to arrive ahead of time on a Saturday. This is beneficial because you are able to selectively pay only for the Saturday service without paying for the expedited delivery.

UK Mail’s Flexible Option is their most economic shipping service in the UK. Delivery is guaranteed by the end of 3-5 business days. This service is only available Monday through Friday but is the best option in terms of cost.

DHL vs UK Mail: Europe

The table below compares the UK Mail to DHL’s European service.

DHL	UK Mail
Service	Time of Delivery	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL Same Day Sprintline	One business day after the withdrawal		Road Express	Delivery by end of 2-6 business days
DHL Express Worldwide	One business day after the withdrawal
DHL Express 9:00	By 9:00 am next business day
DHL Express 12:00	By 12:00 pm next business day
DHL Economy Select	By end of day in 1-4 business days

UK Mail only offers a single European specific service, Road Express.

Road Express aims for delivery by the end of the day in 2-6 business days. At a fair price point and reasonable delivery time, this option is vary popular in the European market.

DHL ships to Europe using many of the same services it uses for international shipments. Express Worldwide is the most used service, reaching around 220 countries worldwide.

The Economy Select service is the most used service in Europe. It is a door to door service that allows to send single, multicolored packages and pallets in Europe.

The delivery is from 1 to 4 working days, with a weight limit of is 30 kg per package and volumetric weight of 200 kg per m³.

It is the cheapest service DHL provides for shipments in Europe, the service can be integrated with additional options to improve the quality.

One of these additional options is continuous monitoring, which allows you to follow progress of the goods from start to finish.

The Same Day Sprintline service is the fast road service that reaches the entire euro zone. The speed of the service does raise the cost, even if the distances are relatively short.

DHL vs UK Mail: International

The table below lists the international shipping services provided by DHL and UK Mail.

DHL	UK Mail
Service	Delivery Time	Cost	Service	Delivery Time	Cost
DHL Sameday Jetline	By end of business day via air		Air Express	By end of 6-10 business days
DHL Sameday Sprintline	By end of business days via ground
DHL Express Worldwide	By end of 1 business day from withdrawal
DHL Express 12:00	By 12:00 pm in 1 business day
DHL Express Envelope	End of one business day (documents only)

Internationally, DHL offers a large variety of services with different costs and shipping times.

DHL provides many services, some as expensive as the Same Day service available both by air and by road.

WorldWide Express is the most frequently used service, with slightly longer times but at a lower cost.

The exclusive DHL Envelope service reserved only for documents, enables rapid delivery of documentation in approximately 220 countries around the world.

UK Mail’s international option is their Air Express service. Like Road Express, this service aims for delivery by the end of the day in 6-10 business days. Like its European counterpart, it is a very popular delivery service. 

DHL vs UK Mail: Additional Services for E-commerce

Both companies have well-structured services that include additional options.

DHL offers its customers express delivery at DHL Service Points. These are authorized stores where DHL customers can choose to receive the goods.

This service allows the customer to pick up the package when it best suits them.

Specific industries such as fashion and food have their own special services.

DHL offers services designed for the fashion industry: DHL Express for Fashion offers solutions for the fashion industry and an ad hoc packaging, with an elegant and refined design.

DHL Medical Express manages the transportation of time sensitive and temperature sensitive shipments for the Life Science sector.

For non-perishable food products, DHL Express Food & Beverage packages and places these items in suitable packaging.

UK Mail offer a Print Logistics additional service specially serving the print and promotions industry. This service specially manages POS stock, secures storage of POS and call-off facilities, collation, fulfillment, packing and wrapping, labeling and data management support.

DHL vs UK Mail: Reviews and Considerations

We at ShippyPro operate in the e-commerce sector, especially in the field of online shipments. We are in daily contact with many domestic and international couriers.

Evaluating all the work of a courier is not an easy task.

The one perfect courier does not exist, however, there are certain couriers that are more suited for the needs of your business.

In this article we have introduced the main services of both DHL and UK Mail, used heavily at a national and international level.

We want to help you choose the ideal logistics partner for your needs, but there are other considerations we need to look at.

To do this, we will show you the only meter of transparent judgment we have; the reviews of our customers who use DHL and UK Mail daily to ship domestically and around the globe.

Below are the total reviews of the two couriers formed on the basis of daily feedback from our customers.

DHL vs UK Mail: Who do we choose to ship?

At this point you understand how difficult it is to determine which courier is better than another.

It is well known that some carriers work better in some areas than others.

Now, considering that your goal is to provide the best customer service, there is nothing better than trying to enter into a contract with not one, but multiple couriers.

This way you will be able to offer excellent service in every area and every category of product.

Don’t limit yourself to a single shipping service provider

Instead, look to choose different couriers, each for a specific scope, significantly reducing asset management costs.

In fact, each freight forwarder charges very different tariffs in relation to the weight, size, and destination of the goods.

Compare and choose the best carriers for any type of shipping you make!

Comparing all these carriers is a time-consuming process, but there are services for managing the various shippers that can help.

The best way to manage this important decision is to choose a software that automatically compares the prices of different vendors and / or allows you to set shipping rules, saving you time and money.