Frequently asked questions.

Most items are suitable for next day or international delivery and we can offer solutions for both post and pallet delivery.

Packing a consignment is the most important aspect because this package will be handled by a number of people and travel through different hubs. We suggest using suitable packing material and sealing the package thoroughly. Goods that are non-hazardous and replaceable are suitable for overnight and international next day delivery. Ideally, the consignment will be under 30kgs in total, or at least under 15kg per box.

The type of item being sent will dictate the best packaging. Clothing and soft furnishings can go into jiffy bags. Hard items should be boxed and large and especially heavy items should go via pallet delivery. Envelopes are also suitable for a next day service.

There are some goods that are not good for next day delivery, such as precious, irreplaceable, fragile, hazardous or flammable goods.

For more information on this, visit our dedicated page: What items can I send on a next day service?

our goods will be insured as per the standard carrier’s terms and conditions of carriage. There can be differences, so it’s important that you fully understand the terms of insurance, claim procedure and what happens when something goes wrong. Occasionally, things do go missing or get broken, so it is important you understand your rights to claim.

Some of our clients also self-insure their more precious goods/items. However, if you have urgent, important or an irreplaceable consignment, we would advise you to upgrade to diamond’s same day courier service, which comes with £15,000 insurance per consignment as standard.

For more information, visit our dedicated page: Will my delivery be insured?

You do not need an account to use our services. However, without one you will not have access to our management system, Despatchlab.

We tend to work with businesses who require a weekly or more frequent courier service. For one off deliveries and collections it is best to choose a courier firm who specialises in this service.

Setting up an account has lots of benefits including: Despatchlab access, bespoke tariff suited to your requirements, preferential treatment in peak times, and much more. Get in touch to see if you qualify, today.

When you open an account with us, you will receive a log in for our management and tracking system, located at DespatchLab. Through this system, you can book your consignment, get prices, check all your despatches (regardless of different carriers) and access our same day services too. All with live tracking.

If you are not an account holder, you will be issued with a consignment number that you will be able to input to trace.

Understanding what paperwork you need to complete to get your international consignment where it needs to go has become a real headache for many businesses since Brexit. We understand this and have worked hard to make this process as straight forward for you as possible. Using our logistics platform, most of the paperwork is done for you. All you need to do is make sure you enter the right details at the point of booking and we will take care of the rest.

Diamond is best positioned to work with businesses who require regular consignments and shipping services through a trusted network. However, if you are in individual in a bind and you need to send a parcel, we are here to help if we can.

To provide you with the very best service, we advise setting up a business account. You will then receive tailored rates to maximise your client experience.

Businesses with a mixed freight profile, who want to concentrate their spend and minimalise their delivery management, benefit a lot from our services. So, if you need a strong logistics partner to help you manage your business’s logistics needs, we will be a great fit.

The right time to outsource your eCommerce fulfilment is when it becomes too busy for you or your staff to handle, when your goods are filling your storage space, or when your existing fulfilment partner is just not able to scale with you.

You may find that your business has grown to 200+ orders per month, you are starting to be a ‘scale up’ business, not a ‘start up’, and suddenly you have become a warehouse picker and packer, not an eCommerce entrepreneur.

Outsourcing your fulfilment will allow you to concentrate on your skillset as a business owner, whilst working with a trusted partner that you know will get your goods where they need to go quickly and efficiently.

For more information, visit our dedicated blog: When is the right time to outsource my eCommerce fulfilment?

Outsourcing eCommerce fulfilment for scale up clients is a LOT more cost effective than having your own warehouse, pickers, packers, warehouse management system, operations managers, customer service agents and more. Instead, you simply pay per m² for storage, a price per pick and pack, and a fee for the delivery. This can start from as little as £2 a shipment.

The factors that impact fulfilment costs are: the type of goods, the destination, delivery times and carrier selections. It’s best to get a bespoke quotation based on your goods, your business aims and your customers. This way we can help you match your expectations with the right carriers or couriers.

For more information, please visit our dedicated page: How much does it cost to outsource fulfilment?

When it comes to eCommerce Fulfilment, there are lots of different solutions depending on your end users. You must decide what is most important and where you want to scale to. Are you planning on being the next ASOS? If so, you need one of the big central UK warehouses. If you are an SME, then something more local and accessible may be for you.

What matters to you? Do you care who you are working with? Is it a functional relationship? Are you trying to build a rapport with a trusted partner to build your business? Do you care about the environment, recyclable packaging, and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)? Your fulfilment partner will need to understand your values and implement them.

There is a world of difference between big scale fulfilment houses and a more personalised, localised solution. Deciding what values and attributes are most important for your business will ultimately inform your choice.

For more information, visit our dedicate page: How do I chose the right fulfilment partner?

Diamond’s eCommerce fulfilment system is designed to integrate with your marketplaces and website. Your goods will be taken into the warehouse where stock and inventory will be synchronised, giving you live ‘in stock’ information. With your delivery options decided, you are ready to go. It’s that simple.

Your orders will automatically come in from your systems to the warehouse where they will be picked, packed and despatched. You will have 100% transparency of your goods through our management system, which will update you on fulfilment status at each stage from arrival to delivery.

For more information on this, please visit our dedicated blog: How does eCommerce fulfilment work?

We fully integrate with eBay, Amazon, Magneto, Shopify, WooCommerce, Linnworks plus 40+ more marketplaces, and we offer bespoke integrations too. This means your orders will drop straight into our system, Despatchlab. It then monitors the whole order journey from pick to delivery, always giving you 100% transparency in your eCommerce fulfilment journey.

You can see what has been picked, what is going out that day and what has been delivered. If a delivery goes awry, you can see what has been done to remedy it.

Despatchlab is very easy to use. It gives you a real time operational overview and also provides you with reports that can tell you how to improve business growth.

For more information, visit our dedicated blog: What marketplaces do you integrate with Despatchlab?

You have a lot of geographical choices for your eCommerce fulfilment. You can choose a local hub, so you can pop in regularly, or a warehouse that specialises in what you do. For example, our Guildford centre specialises in alcohol fulfilment and Bournemouth in subscription boxes. If you need lots of space for a cost-effective price, we can offer our 40,000ft² centre in Wales.

We will work with you so you can scale to capacity. Bigger clients may need bigger sites to cope with growing future demand. Specialist business may need multiple sites for same day fulfilment. Whatever your need is, get in touch and we will create a bespoke solution.

If you need any more information, visit our dedicated blog: Where can I store my goods for eCommerce fulfilment?

If you are looking for an eCommerce fulfilment partner that will provide you with a named person at the end of the phone, who will develop a personal relationship with your business, who wants to understand your brand and values and who is already trusted by a wide selection of SMEs, then diamond is for you.

Diamond is big enough to have all of the space, resources, infrastructure and carrier relationships that your eCommerce business will need to grow. We strive to be a reliable partner, one that will be around to support your business in years to come.

For more information, visit our dedicated blog: Why choose Diamond Logistics to do my eCommerce Fulfilment?

There are a number of areas you can expand upon and move into. With a fleet of vans in place and premises, adding next day and international parcels is a good next step. You can also expand your same day services with a mix of local and national contracts. There is also the growing market of eCommerce storage fulfilment and a selection of other bespoke solutions, like outsourced warehousing distribution.

Our 30+ years’ of experience means we have developed a proven formula that enables you to scale your logistics business through innovative client focused solutions. We teach you about the services and how to sell them, and provide the accompanying sales literature and process to boot.

The key to all of this is Despatchlab – our one-stop logistics platform. We have invested heavily in our technological solution, uniting operational and admin processes both managing and optimising your operations.

Finally, our group buying power means we have negotiated the best deals with our carefully selected carrier partners. Through our proven sales methodology and depth of support, you can scale and evolve a robust, future proof business.

The initial licence fee is just £15,000 + VAT, which secures your exclusive geographical territory for up to 10 years. In addition, you will need to secure a trading premises in the form of a warehouse upwards of 5,000 sqft.

You may also need to think about what resources you will need across your business functions to create the foundations for consistent growth.

Each of our network partners receive the absolute best of our inhouse training, which covers 12 key business modules, from sales through to operations, and everything in-between.

Following the opening of your service centre, you will be supported and coached throughout your business journey. This will include technical, finance, marketing, sales, business planning and much more. You really will be a firm part of the diamond family, which means you will not be running your independent business in isolation.

We promote collaboration across our entire network of likeminded business owners. To enable you to become successful in your sales efforts, you can even take advantage of our enhanced sales support, to include appointment booking.

It really is up to you. Activity equals results and, as such, the more work you put in, the bigger the reward.

Following our proven methodology, which has been developed through many years of experience, you can achieve sales revenues in excess £1m within the first three years, with a gross margin of 50%+.

There are many different reasons to become a Network Partner:

• • You feel like you need help taking control of your business
  • You want to learn from a business with industry experience
  • You need a technological solution to drive efficiency and create a foundation for scale
  • You are in a niche area of the industry and want to offer more solutions to local business
  • Your local business cannot drive the buying power you need to compete
  • Your business is not reaching the right audience through your own brand and marketing efforts locally
  • You cannot offer local businesses all the services they need

If this is your situation, a Diamond partnership can support you to get all the above and more.

Want to find out more? Call us on 0333 567 5888. 

These are important delivery matters that can be a little complicated so we have done our best to demystify them in this easy guide to:

• How to calculate volumetric weight
• Hazardous and prohibited goods, and their delivery restrictions
• Claims and insurance

View guide | Download PDF

Despatchlab is a UK logistics platform that unites carrier management, warehouse fulfilment, and same-day delivery into a single cloud-based system. Logistics operators, network partners, and their clients all operate from one secure dashboard — eliminating the need for multiple disconnected tools.

Yes. Despatchlab is built to run HQ operations alongside a distributed network of partners and client accounts. Whether you operate a single warehouse or a national network of 30+ sites, all locations are visible and manageable from one interface.

Absolutely. The platform was purpose-built alongside Diamond Logistics, one of the UK’s leading 3PL networks. It enables 3PLs to onboard clients, allocate carriers, manage fulfilment, and report — all within a single secure environment.

Each client account is isolated within the platform with its own dashboard, inventory view, and order history. Logistics operators can switch between accounts, apply client-specific carrier rules, and provide branded tracking — all without leaving the platform.

Despatchlab connects to 40+ marketplaces and sales channels including Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Magento, and Linnworks. Orders flow directly into the system, reducing manual entry and speeding up despatch times.

The platform integrates with 60+ carriers including DHL, DPD, Yodel, Royal Mail, and many regional same-day couriers. Carrier selection can be automated based on rules you set — service type, cost, destination, or weight.

Auto-allocation uses predefined logic to automatically assign the best carrier for each shipment based on criteria like delivery speed, cost thresholds, parcel dimensions, and destination. This removes manual decision-making at the point of despatch and reduces errors.

Yes. Despatchlab offers API connectivity, allowing integration with existing enterprise systems, ERPs, and order management systems. Speak to the team about your specific tech stack.

Most standard integrations are available out of the box and can be activated within your account settings. Custom API integrations are scoped on a per-client basis.

Despatchlab provides a full WMS covering goods-in, inventory tracking, location management, pick and pack workflows, and despatch. It gives warehouse operators and their clients real-time stock visibility from any device.

The system generates optimised pick lists based on order priority and warehouse location. Staff can work from handheld devices or desktop, with each stage of the pick and pack process logged for full traceability.

Yes. Real-time stock levels are visible across all connected warehouse locations. Low-stock alerts, SKU-level reporting, and movement histories are all accessible from the central dashboard.

WMS (Warehouse Management System) automation refers to using software rules and integrations to carry out warehouse tasks — like order routing, carrier selection, and stock replenishment — without manual intervention. Despatchlab automates order flow from marketplace to carrier, making it a strong WMS automation platform for SMEs and 3PLs.

Legacy WMS platforms are often expensive, complex to implement, and siloed from carrier networks. Despatchlab is a cloud-native, all-in-one alternative that combines WMS, carrier management, and marketplace integration — with no need for separate systems.

Yes. The platform is designed with eCommerce retailers and fulfilment houses in mind. It handles multi-channel order intake, fulfilment workflows, returns management, and customer-facing tracking all from one place.

Despatchlab consolidates all logistics costs — including carrier charges, fulfilment fees, and storage — into a single, itemised invoice. You see the exact cost of every shipment in real time before it’s booked.

No. One of the core principles of Despatchlab is pricing transparency. Every shipment cost is visible at the point of booking, and all services are billed on one consolidated invoice — no end-of-month surprises.

Yes. The platform displays live carrier rates at the point of booking, allowing you (or your automation rules) to make cost-informed decisions on every shipment.

Carrier and marketplace integrations are included as part of the platform. Contact the Despatchlab team for specific pricing details based on your volume and requirements.

Despatchlab manages same-day, overnight, and international shipping through one unified interface. Services include dedicated same-day vehicles, domestic parcel carriers, and global shipping partners.

The platform’s same-day module (Diamond Sameday) connects to a network of dedicated vehicles for urgent deliveries. Jobs are booked, tracked, and invoiced within the same system as your standard parcel and overnight shipments.

Yes. The platform supports international shipments via integrated carrier partners. Customs documentation, duty information, and international tracking are handled within the system.

Live tracking and exception alerts are built into the platform. When a shipment falls outside expected parameters, users are notified and can take action — rebooking, escalating, or communicating with the end customer — from within the dashboard.