One carrier can work well for a lightweight domestic parcel and poorly for another destination or shipment profile. Dimensions affect cost. Destination affects service choice. A B2B consignment may need a different route from a DTC parcel. Tracking still has to come back into the order journey so the team can see what happened.
The order is packed. Now it needs the right route, not just the nearest label.
The fulfilment operation completes the order and confirms the shipment details before anything is booked.
Destination, weight, dimensions and service requirement are considered together, not one at a time.
An available route is chosen to suit the shipment profile, not just the nearest label.
Shipping and carrier-handoff information are prepared for the selected route.
The shipment enters the carrier network.
Tracking connects back to the order workflow, so the team and the customer can follow it.
The operation can see whether the shipment is progressing normally or needs attention.
Timing and available routes depend on the carrier and service used. Stow does not control the carrier network; it coordinates the handoff and keeps the shipment status visible on the way through it.
Grouped by the job it does, from confirming the shipment to keeping the delivery status honest.
Selection follows the shipment profile — destination, weight, dimensions, the service requirement, and whether it is a DTC parcel or a B2B consignment — matched against carrier availability and route suitability, and applied against the rules agreed with you. There is no single default carrier for every order, and the nearest label is not always the sensible one.
Stow ships through established UK and EU carriers. A representative roster includes Royal Mail, DPD, DHL, GLS and PostNL; the roster is representative and varies by destination, and not every carrier or service suits every parcel.
A domestic parcel and a cross-border order are not the same shipment. Serving each market from stock held close to it is usually what keeps shipping fast and predictable — the inbound side of that is freight forwarding and inbound logistics.
Domestic parcel and business distribution from the UK operation, on UK carrier routes.
EU parcel and business distribution from the EU operation in Poland, on EU carrier routes, where appropriate.
Actual weight matters, but so does the space a parcel takes up. Carriers may compare the scale weight against a size-based figure — dimensional, or volumetric, weight — and charge on whichever is larger. A light but bulky parcel can cost more than a small heavy one.
The exact rule varies by carrier and service, which is why an oversized or awkward parcel can carry a surcharge the scale weight never hinted at.
They can share a warehouse and still need different packing, carrier routes and delivery requirements. Planning for both is what stops one being forced through the other's process.
Once the parcel is handed to the carrier, tracking is returned to the order workflow and pushed back to your store and your customer. Fulfilment status, shipping status and delivery status are three different things; connecting them is what lets the team answer “where is my order” without guessing.
That supports customer communication, customer-service visibility, exception identification and delivery follow-up. It reflects the carrier’s own tracking — useful, but not live GPS, and not a promise that no parcel is ever delayed.
A carrier exception occurs. The status needs to be visible, not sitting in a portal nobody is watching. Address or customer information may need review. The next step depends on the carrier and service used — redelivery, a collection point or return routing can all differ — and customer service needs accurate information to answer the person waiting for the parcel.
Where a parcel comes back rather than reaching the customer, it re-enters the returns and reverse-logistics side of the operation. Stow does not control carrier-network performance and does not promise a single universal failed-delivery workflow; it keeps the exception visible so it can be worked deliberately.
They are easy to blur and they are not the same job. One moves inventory into the operation. The other moves finished orders out of it.
Moving inventory into the warehouse is freight forwarding and inbound logistics. This page is about the outbound half.
Outbound shipping is only as good as the fulfilment feeding it: correct picking, correct shipment information, correct destination data and the right parcel profile. When the packed order is right, choosing the route is straightforward. Shipping is the last stage of the ecommerce fulfilment operation, not a separate service bolted on afterwards.
Stow ships on discounted carrier rates plus a small handling margin. The drivers below move the number, and you can model the wider fulfilment invoice on the pricing page.
UK orders can be served from UK stock, and EU orders from the Poland operation, where that suits the brand. Where inventory sits changes the shipping route before any carrier is chosen. Splitting stock can shorten routes; it also doubles the operational surface, so it is not right for every brand.
Where stock sits is an operational placement decision, not tax advice, and it is tied to how you hold inventory. Stow works through it with you as part of warehousing and inventory, rather than assuming every brand should duplicate stock.
A shipping setup that is quiet and predictable is not a problem to solve. It usually becomes one when several of these appear together:
Switching provider is not automatically the answer. If shipping is under control and the costs are explainable, there may be nothing to fix. When you are weighing it up, it helps to compare running it in-house against a 3PL.
The operation that packs the order in the first place, before any carrier is chosen.
Read →The inbound opposite: moving inventory into the warehouse, not orders out of it.
Read →How orders flow in and tracking flows back to your store and customer.
Read →Where shipping sits in the invoice, on discounted carrier rates, modelled.
Read →Ecommerce shipping is the outbound job that begins once an order is packed: confirming the shipment profile, choosing a carrier and service that suit the destination and parcel, preparing the handoff, moving the parcel into the carrier network, and returning tracking to the order. Stow coordinates this as part of the fulfilment operation across the UK and EU.
Freight forwarding moves inventory into the warehouse — usually pallets and containers from a supplier, port or terminal. Ecommerce shipping moves finished orders out of the warehouse — parcels, cartons and B2B consignments — to a customer or business. They sit at opposite ends of the same operation.
Selection follows the shipment profile — destination, parcel weight and dimensions, the service requirement, and whether it is a DTC parcel or a B2B consignment — matched against carrier availability and route suitability, and applied against the service rules agreed with you. The cheapest label is not automatically the right carrier, and there is no single default carrier for every order.
Yes. Shipping cost is not set by weight alone. A light but bulky parcel can cost more than a small heavy one, because carriers may charge on a size-based figure as well as actual weight. Destination and service level also move the number.
Volumetric or dimensional weight is a size-based weight some carriers calculate from a parcel's dimensions. Where it is larger than the actual weight, the carrier may charge on the volumetric figure instead. The exact basis depends on the carrier and service used, so an oversized parcel can carry a higher cost than its scale weight suggests.
Yes. UK orders can be served from the UK operation and EU orders from the EU operation in Poland, using UK and EU carrier routes, so each market is served from the operation closest to it. Which carrier and service suit a given order still depends on the destination, parcel profile and service requirement.
Once the parcel is handed to the carrier, tracking is returned to the order workflow and pushed back to your store and your customer. That gives customer service a status to look at rather than an email to send, and makes exceptions easier to spot. It reflects the carrier's own tracking, not live GPS.
Yes. A single customer parcel and a wholesale consignment are different shipping jobs, with different packing, carrier or pallet routes and delivery requirements. Both are handled, and the operation plans for the difference rather than treating them as the same shipment.
The exception is surfaced with the status visible, the address or shipment information is reviewed where needed, and the next step is taken based on the carrier and service used. Redelivery, a collection point or return routing can differ by carrier. Stow does not control carrier-network performance, but it does keep the exception visible so it can be worked rather than discovered by the customer.
Your monthly order volume, destination mix, average parcel weight and dimensions, service requirements and any B2B shipping needs. We'll review the fulfilment and shipping profile behind the operation.
Discuss your shipping profile →