How Couriers Boost Their Businesses with a Delivery Management App

Customers expect fast, accurate delivery personalized to their needs. After years of experience with dynamic third-party platform apps, shoppers also expect to track and communicate with couriers in real time.

Meeting customer expectations without increasing operational costs or raising prices is a tall order for independent businesses. Subscription-based delivery driver tracking systems and courier delivery apps give independent couriers and small businesses the tools to affordably expand service and grow your business.

The Changing Landscape of Courier Services

Data for a potential infographic:

68% of shoppers look for shorter delivery windows at checkout. (Meteor Space)
77% of online shoppers stated that they expect their orders to be delivered within two hours or less (Meteor Space)
62% of US online customers believe that fast delivery is the most important aspect of a positive customer experience. (eMarketer)
The Delivery Management Software Market was valued at USD 2.17 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 4.94 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 10.82% during the forecast period 2024-2031. (Verified Market Research)

Once, the only major variables in delivery and courier businesses were how quickly you could deliver and how much you would charge. The service was a straightforward process of picking up a package in one location and delivering it to another.

Since 2020, the delivery landscape has gotten more complicated. Driven by personalization in all types of customer service, today’s consumers now care a lot more about the delivery experience. They want all types of products to be available for delivery, from furniture to flowers to groceries. They want those deliveries to be fast, and for packages to arrive in specified locations in their home or business. Plus, they want to track the entire process in real time from their smartphones.

Third-party delivery platforms like Grubhub and Instacart made it easy for customers to get their favorite products without getting in their cars (or even getting out of their pajamas). Businesses on those platforms saw an uptick in orders but not always a corresponding increase in profits.

In recent years, however, more businesses have explored self-managed delivery, hiring and dispatching drivers directly from their location. Delivery driver management apps make this possible, and their popularity is growing. According to Verified Market Research, the market for delivery management software is projected to grow by more than 10% between now and 2031.

Ten years ago a small business could choose not to offer local delivery. Consumer tastes have changed irreversibly. In 2025, businesses that choose not to offer delivery are leaving money on the table, and stunting their potential business growth.

Core Features of Effective Delivery Management Apps

So, what do delivery and courier management apps do? In the simplest terms, they give your business Uber-like control over delivery operations. With comprehensive delivery driver management software, you’ll get:

Real-time GPS-backed route optimization
Automated dispatch and order management
Real-time driver tracking
Turn-by-turn driver directions
Automated customer notifications
Digital proof of delivery
Customer profile and delivery instructions
Third-party software integrations
Reporting and analytics

All of these delivery management apps also give you direct access to all your customer data like email addresses and mobile phone numbers, which can feed targeted marketing campaigns and drive even more business.

The most advanced courier management apps also support two-way SMS text messaging between drivers and dispatchers and drivers and customers. They may also support in-app customer feedback tracking, helping you identify service issues before they tank your Google and Yelp review ratings.

Delivery Management and Courier Delivery App Costs

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Moore’s Law stated all the way back in 1965 that technology tends to become more affordable over time. Delivery driver management apps are no different. Where once the cost of building a dispatch program cost tens of thousands of dollars, nowadays, courier businesses and other independent brands can get advanced courier tracking tools for a few hundred dollars a month or less.

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Your costs will vary a lot based on your delivery volume and the number of drivers you manage. The good news is that there are great, high-functioning options available at every price point.

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Shipday, for example, offers four major monthly subscription tiers, with fees ranging from $0 to $299 per month. This wide range allows the smallest businesses to only pay for the tools they need, with plenty of room to grow to an enterprise level without switching platforms.

Courier and Delivery Management App Benefits

Whether you are a small business looking to add a few drivers to your staff or a full-service courier service, using a delivery management app offers distinct business benefits. These benefits include:

Improve operational efficiency: Digitizing your analog dispatch systems can reduce administrative time by 20% to 40%, allowing your team to spend more time on customer service and business growth. Most courier businesses that make the switch see that tasks that once took several minutes can be completed in seconds.
Save on fuel & vehicle costs: Route optimization can reduce fuel use by 25% and shorten driving distances, reducing wear and tear on your fleet.
Increase delivery capacity: Fast, strategic route-planning can allow your existing fleet to fit 30% to 40% more deliveries in a day. That’s increased revenue without hiring any more staff.
More effectively allocate staff: Delivery management apps give you real-time visibility into driver productivity and workloads. This visibility gives you more flexibility to allocate staff where the business needs them or identify and reward top performers.
Future-proof your business: Next-generation delivery management systems are incorporating artificial intelligence to predict traffic patterns, weather impacts, parking availability, and even customer demand. Subscribing to driver and courier management apps ensures your team will always have the latest tools— like AI-optimized predictive routing, smart-city infrastructure integrations, or voice-enabled automations— as soon as they are available.

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Implementing Courier & Delivery Management Apps

Implementing a courier management app is a straightforward process. There are a few key steps to make sure you get off to a good start:

Select the right delivery management tool: Consider your business pain points, like lengthy manual processes, inefficient team and communication, or complex route plans. Make sure the tool you choose solves your actual problems, fits your budget, and offers advanced tools that meet your future needs when your business grows.
Integrate with existing software: Once you’ve selected your courier management app, take the time to build integrations with any existing compatible software systems. Building and testing the automations before you train your team will ensure a smooth rollout and training process.
Onboard drivers, dispatchers, and other staff: With your systems in place, its time to train your team. Use training materials supplied by your delivery management app or create your own SOPs to guide your staff through the new system.
Track performance and ROI: No new system rollout is complete until you see how the tool performs for your business. Use reporting and analytics to measure cost savings, time savings, sales growth, increased delivery volume, and customer satisfaction. Compare these figures to figures from a previous time. The best delivery driver management apps should quickly reflect time savings and support an increased delivery volume.

Common Implementation Challenges

As with adopting any new system, there may be some challenges with shifting your delivery business to a driver management app. We’ve been in the delivery market since 2020, and our team has seen and heard it all. Here are some of the most common challenges we see, with our tips for navigating them.

Courier App Case Study

When independent courier company A-Team Delivery started delivering orders for local restaurants in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 2018, it dispatched drivers by emailing them screenshots of orders.

In 2022, A-Team revamped its operation using the delivery and courier management app Shipday. After onboarding with Shipday, A-Team gained real-time driver tracking and route-optimization tools to dispatch their team more efficiently, allowing them to spend 60% less time manually managing their data.

They also used Shipday’s built-in reporting and analytics to speed reporting and stop time-consuming data entry into multiple spreadsheets. Using Shipday, their business has since grown by 300% and expanded beyond Hoboken into New York City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

Now handling 5,000+ weekly deliveries, A-Team's co-founder Almir Rapo emphasizes how quickly A-Team’s staff and drivers adapted to the intuitive platform – allowing drivers to focus on deliveries instead of juggling communications.

Conclusion

The shift toward specialized delivery management software is more than a technological upgrade—it's a fundamental shift toward making your delivery business more staff and customer-friendly. From improved operational efficiency and time savings to higher sales and enhanced customer experiences, delivery driver and courier management tools deliver a wealth of benefits across every aspect of your business.

Now is the time to honestly assess your current delivery operations; if you're still relying on manual dispatching, paper manifests, or basic GPS tools, you're missing out on significant gains in efficiency and growth. Try Shipday for free today and see firsthand how our intuitive, affordable system can transform your delivery business.