What are the differences in shipping methods between the US and UK?

Are you planning to grow your eCommerce business and not sure what should be the major approaches to look into? You need to choose the United Kingdom (UK) as the country to sell and ship products and start grabbing the international sales. But, even after you can get the order from the United Kingdom, you need to take care of the shipping and delivery practices. For that, it is a must to access the most popular shipping methods to scale the orders and shipping processes.

The United Kingdom is one of the major growth markets in the world, and it happens to be the leading economy across the globe. You might scale your business in the US, but targeting the UK market is definitely going to bring out more orders to your store. The most popular shipping method in the United States can set up trade relationships and the country can offer a great customer base to sell the products.

To make it simpler for you, we have come up with the UK shipping guide to explain the various popular carriers, involved rates, rules, and services. We are sure that after reading the details below, you’re going to make a lot of changes to the online store to ease out the shipping methodologies.

1. USPS

USPS is one of the most popular shipping methods between the US to the UK. It is widely preferred because of the flat rate shipping and allows forecasting the shipping costs seamlessly in the future. Likewise, with other carriers, USPS rates rely on the package weight and delivery time. One major problem with USPS shipping is that it doesn’t support tracking after the package leaves the US. The delivery package is transferred to Royal Mail after it reaches the United Kingdom. The timeline for this process can be anywhere between some hours to days or even weeks. In most cases, the shipping method cannot avoid delays in delivery times.

USPS pros:

• Flat price shipping
• Multiple dropping off locations in the US
• Faster and cost-effective large parcel transportation
• No sort of pickup fees

USPS cons:

• The delivery package is transferred to Royal Mail after arriving in the UK
• Extra delay in deliveries
• Tracking does not work after the package leaves the US
• Limited tracking options

2. UPS

UPS is one of the most popular shipping methods in the United States, perfect for shipping to the UK. It has a global scale logistics network and capability. UPS can pick up the packages in the United States and deliver them to the United Kingdom in a minimum of three days. They are superfast and even provide an efficient tracking process through the UPS delivery tracking system. In a variety of concerns, UPS shipping carriers are far more suited compared with the majority of other carriers. However, a UPS shipping carrier can be expensive and especially if you’re planning to send heavy items or those more than having weight ten pounds.

UPS pros:

• In-depth presence in the US for easy drop-off packaging
• Partnering with the majority of shipping partners
• Reduced shipping costs
• Flexible to pick the package from the desired location
• They can easily transport the package of various sizes
• Amazing tracking and transportation facilities

UPS cons:

• Higher shipping costs in general usage
• Can cost you a lot for heavy items

3. FedEx

FedEx is one other major carrier shipping for eCommerce that ships to the United Kingdom. Being their biggest competitor as UPS, both have more or less the same services and comparative shipping prices. FedEx can pick up the packages in the United States and deliver them to the United Kingdom in a similar timeline as UPS I.e. a minimum of three days. It is a reliable option to ship numerous packages in the easiest manner. FedEx is highly expensive as compared to USPS but better than the other two, I.e. UPS and DHL. In case you are planning to ship products in small amounts, FedEx should be avoided because of the heavy pricing.

FedEx pros:

• Huge presence in the US because of easy picking and drop-off
• Shipping partnership to reduce costs
• Easy pick up from the location
• Good pricing for bulk shipping

FedEx cons:

• High fees and not suitable for small amounts of shipping
• Slow package delivery times can be delayed sometimes

4. DHL

DHL is the most popular shipping method in the United States because of being the industry leader. DHL holds a prominent place in the international shipping market of US businesses. With a headquarters in Germany, the geographical distance with the UK is too less and hence get benefited with the ease of transportation. If you’re in the search of a reliable shipping company overseas, DHL is by far the suitable option.

Although DHL holds considerable popularity in the US market, it is still lacking behind in the race from UPS and FedEx. So, if you really wish to use DHL, we would recommend checking all the details and pricing structure beforehand. It isn’t easy to find DHL drop off packages. The DHL shipping costs can be quite high and hence aren’t favorable all the time.

DHL pros:

• Expanded global/international presence
• Faster delivery in multiple countries
• Budget-friendly air & sea delivery option
• No pickup fees

DHL cons:

• Limited US drop-off locations
• Less presence than other shipping companies
• Higher shipping costs
• Higher carrier fees as compared to others in the market

Octolize: Flexible Shipping Plugin For Facile Shipping & Delivery

Ensure a winning shipping strategy for your eCommerce store with Octolize. The brand brings Flexible Shipping Plugin for WooCommerce. Octolize is a handy way of shipping for eCommerce across international borders. It plays a vital role in revolutionizing the most crucial part of the purchase process, I.e. shipping and delivery. While the ordinary shipping plugins and solutions are restricting your limit, we let you access the most flexible and featured solution that can enhance customer experience and contribute to more business.

Powerful Shipping Carriers Integration With eCommerce Store

Octolize bridges the gap between the integration of carrier companies and eCommerce stores on the WooCommerce platform. We offer the best shipping methods with DPD UK integration. Gone are the days when you need to keep struggling with unexpected shipping problems. We are bringing one of the risk-free experiences by avoiding the risk of cart abandonment.

Our shipping integrations →

Visit Octolize shipping solution today and explore loads of features and benefits with conditional shipping settings and solutions.