A courier and transport company in southern Germany moves parcels and documents for private individuals and businesses across its region. It offers same-day and next-day express deliveries, package transport, and contract services for companies with regular routes. Its couriers drive everything from bicycles and cars to vans and 3.5-tonne trucks.
The company had no way to show customers a price online, so they had to get in touch before they could see one. Bringing on new couriers meant gathering their licenses, tax details, and consents one courier at a time. Using Emergent's courier web app builder, the company built a booking portal with an instant price calculator, customer accounts, and a courier sign-up flow, with separate logins for customers, couriers, and its own staff.
Challenges
Customers could not get a price without contacting the company
The company prices each job on distance, package size, and weight. Delivery speed adds to that, and the fastest option can double the cost. With four factors in play at once, customers could not estimate a price for themselves before booking.
Orders with several parcels to different addresses were harder to price
A single pickup could feed more than one drop-off. Each parcel could be a different size and go to a different city. Pricing these orders one parcel at a time added work for both the customer and the company.
Private customers and business clients needed different handling
The company serves both groups. A private customer usually sends the occasional parcel to or from home. A business client may have a contract with special conditions and regular pickups.
New couriers had to hand over business and legal details before they could start
The company works with couriers who need a valid business license, insurance, and the right permits for delivery work in Germany. Each one also had to provide a tax ID, a VAT number, and their vehicle type, and agree to the terms and the data-processing policy. All of this had to be collected for every new courier.
Solution
An instant price on the home page, with delivery speed built in
The price calculator sits on the home page, so customers get an estimate without contacting the company.
- Enter a pickup address within the service region.
- Pick a size for each parcel, from a document under 0.5 kg up to a large package of 15 to 30 kg, and enter its dimensions.
- Choose a delivery speed: normal in one to two days, urgent same-day at a 50% surcharge, or express within two to four hours at a 100% surcharge.
Based on these details, the calculator is built to give the customer an estimated price, with the cost of speed visible before they book.
Read more: How a specialty contractor built a lead-qualifying quote widget
One quote for several parcels going to different addresses
Customers add as many parcels as the order needs. Each parcel gets its own delivery address and size, and parcels can be added or removed before calculating. The calculator prices the whole order in one go.
Separate accounts for private customers and businesses
Customers register on the customer portal as either a private individual or a company. Private customers give a personal address for invoicing and deliveries. Businesses register as a company, which fits the company's contract clients with regular transport needs.
A two-step courier registration that collects everything up front
Couriers sign up through a two-step courier application form: basic details first, then documents.
- Contact details, with a phone number for WhatsApp.
- Vehicle type, from a bicycle or motorcycle up to a 3.5-tonne truck.
- Address, tax ID, and VAT number, all required.
- Checkboxes for the terms and conditions, GDPR consent, and confirmation of a business license, insurance, and delivery permits.
The company receives every new courier with the same complete set of details.
Read more: How a South African logistics founder built a fleet management app
Conclusion
A courier company that knows how distance, parcel size, and delivery speed shape a price, and what paperwork a courier needs before the first job, is the right team to design its own booking portal. The team described what they wanted on Emergent, and the finished product, multi-parcel price calculation with speed-based surcharges, form validation, private and business customer accounts, a two-step courier registration with compliance checks, and separate customer, courier, and admin logins, went live as a public website.
If you are a courier or logistics operator sitting on a product idea that solves a clear problem in your industry, Emergent can take you from description to deployment in the same session.
Emergent turns your idea into a full-stack web or mobile app, no coding required.
No coding required- Web & mobile apps
- Deploys instantly
on Emergent today
