How to Choose a Shipping Company for Your Online Store in Egypt (and Why One Isn't Enough)
The price per shipment is the first thing people ask about, and usually the least important. The company that delivers more and pays out your money faster can work out cheaper in practice, even if it charges a few EGP more.
The criteria that actually make a difference
| Criterion | Why it matters | What to ask about |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery rate per governorate | Every point of delivery rate makes more difference to your profit than the price per shipment | Test it yourself on real orders, not on promises |
| Coverage | Areas that aren't covered mean orders that come back or arrive late | The list of areas, and which areas are handed over to another partner |
| Return price | Returns are charged at the full price or a percentage, and that makes a big difference | The return charge as a share of the shipping price, and whether there are extra fees |
| Payout speed for collected cash | Your money held by the shipping company is capital that isn't working | How often they pay out, and the collection fee |
| Account statement | You need to be able to check every shipment: how much was collected and how much was deducted | What the statement looks like and whether you can download it as Excel |
| API integration | Entering shipments by hand means errors and lost time | An API for creating shipments, labels and status updates |
| Delivery attempts | A courier who tries only once sends back orders that would have been delivered | The number of attempts and their policy for contacting the customer |
Why isn't one company enough?
No shipping company is the best in every governorate. A company that's excellent in Greater Cairo can be weak in Upper Egypt, and another can be the opposite. And working with a single company means any problem on their side, whether it's seasonal congestion or a delayed payout, stops your whole business.
The answer is to work with two or three companies, split shipments by area to whichever performs best there, and keep your own couriers for nearby areas if your volume allows it.
How to compare companies with numbers
- Ship the same kind of products with each company for a long enough period (a month, for example) to the same governorates.
- For each company and each governorate, calculate the delivery rate, average days to deliver, and return rate.
- Calculate the actual cost per delivered order: (shipping on delivered orders + shipping on returned orders) ÷ number of delivered orders.
- Compare that number, not the price per shipment, and pick the best company for each area.
To see how the delivery rate affects your profit in EGP, see working out the maximum cost per order.
Integration: the difference between an hour of work and a minute
Without an integration, every shipment needs someone to copy its details into the shipping company's website, print the label, and log in every day to check statuses. With an API integration:
- The shipment is created automatically the moment the order is confirmed.
- Labels are printed in one batch.
- The status (with the courier, delivered, returned) comes back to the order on its own: with Bosta, J&T Express and Quick Connect the moment it changes on their side, and with other companies through a periodic pull overnight.
- Switching from one company to another doesn't mean changing the way you work.
See the shipping companies connected to WeSell and what runs automatically with each one.
Before you sign the contract
- Get the return and collection prices in writing, not just the price per shipment.
- Ask for a sample account statement and see whether you'd be able to check it.
- Find out who is responsible if a shipment is lost or delivered damaged.
- Start small and test before you move all your business over.
FAQ
Which is the best shipping company in Egypt?
Can I work with more than one shipping company at the same time?
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