How to deliver orders in Jeddah without your own driver
A home business or a small store has three usual ways to get orders to customers in Jeddah. Here is what each one suits, how to choose by size, number of orders and urgency, and how to prepare an order for a smooth handover.
You sell from home, from a social media page or from a small store. The orders come in, and each one has to reach a customer somewhere in Jeddah. You have no delivery vehicle, and a full-time driver is more than the business needs.
There are three usual ways to solve this, and none is the best for everyone. This guide describes each one and shows how to choose.
Three ways to get orders to customers
Deliver them yourself. You or someone in the family takes the orders in your own car. This suits a few orders a day, small goods and customers who live close. The cost is your time: every hour on the road is an hour away from making and selling.
Sign up with a delivery company. This is what people usually mean when they search for a delivery service in Jeddah for a small business. As a rule, a delivery company collects parcels from many sellers and delivers them along its own routes, which usually suits a steady flow of small parcels. The terms differ, so ask each company the same questions. Is there a minimum number of orders? When do they collect, and how fast do they deliver? What size and weight do they accept? What happens to a parcel the customer does not take?
Order a driver for each trip. You book a vehicle in an app when you have something to send, and one vehicle makes one trip from your address to the customer's. This suits orders that come irregularly, goods too big for a parcel, and deliveries that have to leave today. It is a weaker fit for a day with many small parcels going to different parts of the city, because each order is a separate trip.
How to choose: size, number of orders, urgency
How big are the goods? A box of clothes or a tray of sweets fits in any car. A table, a washing machine or twenty cartons usually do not go by parcel service.
How many orders a day? With one or two, any of the three ways works. As the number grows, delivering yourself takes the whole day, and a regular arrangement with a company makes more sense.
How urgent is it? If you promised the order for today, you need a way that can start now.
Prepare the order before the driver arrives
General advice for any driver and any company.
Pack for the road. Tape the box shut and fill the empty space so nothing moves. Mark fragile boxes and write the customer's name on the outside.
Get the full address. Ask for the district, street, building, floor and door number, and a landmark if the building is hard to find. A location pin shows the building, not the apartment.
Have a phone number that works. Take the customer's number and check that they will be home at the agreed time.
Be ready first. Have the order packed and at the door before you book. Waiting time counts: as a rule, a driver who waits is paid for the wait.
Bulky goods: furniture, appliances, many boxes
Large goods are where a parcel service usually stops and a vehicle of the right size starts. Measure the longest item and add up the weight. These are the sizes the BeePlus app shows.
A car takes items up to 200 kg, and the largest item can be up to 200 × 100 × 60 cm.
A pickup takes up to 600 kg, and the largest item can be up to 200 × 100 × 100 cm.
A truck is for bigger loads. There are five sizes, and the largest carries up to 4,000 kg. They are compared in Dyna, pickup or truck.
Choose the smallest vehicle that takes everything in one trip. How to measure boxes and add up their weight is shown in the guide to getting furniture home from a store.
What cannot be sent
As a rule, every delivery service has a list of things it does not carry. Ask for it.
BeePlus keeps its list in the Terms of Use. The prohibited items include perishable items that need special storage, cash, jewelry and other valuables, and hazardous or flammable materials. Read the full list first, above all if you sell jewelry or food that has to stay cold.
Cash is on that list, so do not put money in a parcel.
How one trip works in the BeePlus app
BeePlus is an app for moving and delivery. It works in Jeddah only, and the job is done by partner drivers. You order in the app, not by phone. Any user can order one vehicle for one trip, and that is all this section describes.
Enter your address and the customer's address, each with the floor and door number.
Choose a car, a pickup or a truck size.
Look at the estimate, which the app shows before you confirm. The price has three parts: distance, a booking fee, and the actual loading or waiting time. The parts are explained in Moving cost in Jeddah.
Order for right now, or book any day and time.
Follow the driver on the map, with the arrival time. A driver is found within 15 minutes on average.
Hand over the order. The driver waits 10 minutes free of charge. After that, waiting time is part of the price.
Cancelling is free before the driver arrives. Payment is in cash after the job is done, with no prepayment and no card. In the app you choose who pays the driver: you as the sender, or the customer who receives the order. Tell the customer in advance if it is them.
One limit to know before you send something costly: the driver who carries out the order is responsible for the items, and BeePlus does not offer compensation or insurance for them. Pack with that in mind.
Before you send the next order
Check the size and weight of the goods, and count your orders on a usual day.
Choose the way that fits: yourself, a delivery company, or a driver for each trip.
Pack the order, and get the full address with the floor and door number and a phone number.
Check that nothing in the order is on the list of prohibited items.
Have the order at the door before the driver arrives.
For one parcel, the choice between a courier company and a driver is in Parcel delivery in Jeddah.
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