How to Choose the Right Courier Service in Nigeria

Choosing your delivery partner is one of the most consequential decisions you will make as a business owner.

Pick the right one, and you create a delightful experience that builds customer loyalty. Pick the wrong one, and you invite a wave of late deliveries, damaged goods, and angry customer calls that can sink your brand before it even has a chance to swim.

The problem is, with so many options available, how do you look past the sales pitch and select the best courier service in Nigeria for your specific needs? 

This checklist will provide a clear framework for evaluating courier services and help you make smart, strategic decisions.

What to Look For When Choosing a Courier Service in Nigeria

A cheap but unreliable courier will lead to lost customers and reputational damage, whereas a truly great partnership can take your business to the next level. Use this 5-point framework to vet any potential courier service in Nigeria.

1. Reliability and Speed

This is the most critical factor. A courier's core promise is to deliver packages on time and in good condition.

Questions to Ask

• "What is your average on-time delivery rate for our key areas (e.g., within Lagos, Lagos to Abuja)?"
• "What is your process for handling delays or delivery exceptions?"
• "Can you provide references from 2-3 businesses similar to mine?"

What to Watch For

Seek confidence and transparency. A trustworthy courier partner will readily provide this data and won't hesitate to connect you with their current clients. Vague responses may indicate a red flag.

2. Coverage Area

Do they go where your customers are? A courier might offer fantastic service within Victoria Island, but that's useless if your customer is in Ikorodu or a different state entirely. Questions to ask include;

• "Can I see a list of your specific delivery zones?"
• "Do you have different pricing tiers or timelines for different zones?"
• "How do you handle deliveries to areas with challenging addresses?"

You need a partner whose operational footprint matches your customer base. This is a fundamental aspect of managing your startup’s logistics and ensuring you don't have to decline a sale because of location.

3. Technology Stack

In 2025, if a courier service operates primarily on phone calls and paper logbooks, they are not a scalable partner. Their lack of technology will become your bottleneck. Possible questions to ask are as follows;

• Do you provide real-time tracking links for us and our customers?
• Do you have a digital system for booking and managing orders?
• Do your riders use an app for digital proof of delivery (photos, signatures)

What to Watch For

A modern courier service in Nigeria must be a technology company. Digital proof of delivery protects you from disputes, and real-time tracking is a basic customer expectation, and necessary for a positive e-commerce delivery experience.

4. Cost and Pricing Structure

While not the only factor, cost is still critical. You need to understand exactly what you’re paying for to manage your shipping costs effectively. You can ask them the following;

• How do you calculate your fees (e.g., by distance, weight, flat rates)?"
• "What are your terms for cash-on-delivery (COD) remittance?"

What to Watch For

Transparency is key. A good courier will have a clear, easy-to-understand pricing structure. Be wary of ambiguous quotes or couriers who can't clearly explain their fees.

5. Managing Your Partners

While this may seem super obvious, we’ve seen many businesses get stranded by depending on a single courier. Smart business owners know they might need more than one courier. 

You may use one for intra-city deliveries and another for nationwide shipping. The challenge then becomes managing them all without multiplying your workload.

This is where a delivery management platform like Dellioo becomes your control tower. Instead of logging into multiple courier portals or making several phone calls, you can manage all your delivery partners from a single dashboard.

A platform allows you to:

• Compare performance: See which courier service is performing best based on real data.
• Centralized tracking: View all your shipments on one map, regardless of which third-party logistics partner is handling them.
• Maintain brand consistency: Ensure your customers receive standardized notifications and tracking links, even when you use different couriers.

Choosing the right third-party logistics provider is key, but having the right system to manage them is what gives you true operational control and scalability.

Choose a Partner, Not Just a Provider

Selecting a courier service in Nigeria is about more than just moving boxes. It's about entrusting a major part of your customer experience to another company. By using this checklist to evaluate partners, you can make an informed decision that supports your business's growth.

And by using a platform like Dellioo to manage those relationships, you ensure that as you scale, you maintain complete visibility and control over your entire logistics network.

Ready to gain full control over your delivery operations?

Schedule a demo today to see how Dellioo helps you manage your in-house fleet and third-party courier partners from a single, powerful platform.