Switching home delivery partners mid-contract is expensive, disruptive, and tends to happen at the worst possible time, usually during a peak period when the problems with the current arrangement have finally become impossible to ignore. Getting the decision right the first time is worth the effort it takes.
For retailers of furniture, appliances, fitness equipment, and garden products, the stakes are higher than in most categories. These aren’t parcels that can be left on a doorstep or redelivered cheaply the next day. They’re large, heavy, often valuable items that require skilled handling, and the delivery team is frequently the only person from your supply chain that your customer ever meets. How that interaction goes shapes how they feel about buying from you again.
Here are the questions worth asking in detail, and what the answers should look like.
What is your first-attempt delivery rate, and how exactly do you define it?
This is the single most important operational metric for any home delivery partner, and it’s also the one most open to interpretation. Before you accept a headline figure, find out exactly what counts as a “successful attempt” in their reporting. Some providers may count a card through the door as an attempt, or consider an attempt as successful if the consignment was loaded onto the van, regardless of whether it reached the customer.
What you actually want to know is: what percentage of deliveries land first time, with the customer home, goods accepted, and ePOD captured? And what does the partner do operationally to maximise that rate?
The answer to the second question is more revealing than the statistic. First-attempt success is driven by consumer communication – specifically, whether customers receive a confirmed delivery window (not an all-day estimate), a live tracking link, and a call from the driver 30-60 minutes before arrival. Delivery partners with robust communication sequences consistently outperform those without them. Ask to see the exact communication flow from booking confirmation to delivery, and count the touchpoints.
How does your handling process work from depot to doorstep?
For big and bulky goods, the handling process matters as much as the delivery itself. A sofa that leaves your supplier in perfect condition but arrives with a scuffed corner has been damaged somewhere in transit, and identifying exactly where is extremely difficult if the product passed through automated sortation systems or was handled by a single operator at any point.
Ask specifically:
- Is every item handled manually by a two-person crew throughout the entire process, or are there stages where it passes through automated systems?
- How are goods documented at intake?
- Is there photographic evidence of condition at goods-in?
- What is the claims process when transit damage is reported, and how long does it typically take to resolve?
The answers will tell you a great deal about how seriously the partner treats product integrity, and how straightforward the commercial conversation will be if something does go wrong.
What does the consumer experience actually look like, step by step?
The delivery experience is the last physical touchpoint your customer has with your brand after purchase. Ask for the exact sequence: what communications does the customer receive, and when? What happens on the morning of delivery? Can customers reschedule, and if so, how? What does the in-home element involve – does the crew carry to the room of choice, unpack, remove packaging? Is there a post-delivery satisfaction survey?
The gap between what a logistics partner describes as “white-glove delivery” and what that means in practice varies more than you’d expect. Some providers offer room-of-choice delivery as a premium add-on. Others include packaging removal only on request. Some offer installation services; most don’t. Get specifics, not descriptions.
One capability worth asking about specifically: can customers upgrade or modify their delivery after the order has been placed – for example, adding installation, changing their time window, or requesting old-item collection? And if so, how far into the process is that possible? The answer determines how much genuine flexibility your customers actually have.
What does technology integration require from our team, and what do we get in return?
Every logistics partner will tell you their integration is seamless. Find out what that means in practice: API or EDI connection? What data do you send, and in what format? How are orders confirmed? How do you retrieve labels and ePODs? What happens when you need to amend or cancel an order that’s already been submitted?
Equally important is what you get in return. Ask to see a live demonstration of the client portal, not a screenshot. What can you see in real time? Can you access delivery status, scan history, ePOD photography, and KPI reporting without requesting a report from your account manager? For retailers managing multiple SKUs and high daily volumes, a portal that requires you to email for information you should be able to see yourself is a meaningful operational friction.
How did you perform last December?
A logistics partner who delivers well in September may not be the same partner in December. Ask directly: what happened to your lead times and first-attempt delivery rates during peak 2024 or 2025? Did you impose any volume caps? How many additional resources did you bring in? Were there any categories of the network that struggled?
This question is particularly important for retailers in categories with pronounced seasonality such as garden furniture in the spring and summer, exercise equipment in January, beds and sofas in the run-up to Christmas. A network that operates at 95% capacity year-round will show its limits at 115%. Understanding where those limits are, and how the partner manages them, is essential before you commit to a long-term arrangement.
What is the escalation process when something goes wrong?
It will go wrong at some point: a damaged item, a missed delivery, a consumer complaint that escalates. The question isn’t whether problems will happen, it’s how quickly and cleanly they get resolved when they do.
Ask who your named account contact will be. Find out what the escalation path looks like beyond that person. Ask how quickly a live delivery can be intercepted, rerouted, or cancelled if circumstances change. Ask how long a typical damage claim takes from report to resolution, and whether you’ll be assigned a dedicated account manager or routed through a general customer service team.
The quality of a logistics partnership under normal conditions is easy to assess. The quality under pressure is harder to see, but it’s what actually determines whether the relationship works long term.
Does your network scale with us, not just for us?
It’s worth asking specifically how a partner handles volume growth, not just in terms of capacity, but in terms of service continuity. A network with strong national coverage and multiple sortation and storage hubs can absorb growth without compromising lead times or first-attempt rates. A network that’s already stretched will show the strain.
For retailers planning significant growth or expanding into new product categories, also ask whether the partner has experience in those categories. Handling a flat-pack bookshelf or a 120kg American-style fridge freezer require different vehicle specifications, crew training, and handling protocols. A partner with deep category experience in your product type will make fewer costly mistakes.
Find out more about AIT Home Delivery’s two-person delivery services and what we offer retailers across furniture, appliances, and beyond.
