Delivery for online shops in Lebanon

To set up delivery for an online shop in Lebanon, split the country into zones by governorate (and by district where it matters), give each zone a fee and a delivery time you can keep, decide who delivers each zone, and write down how cash comes back to you and what happens when a delivery fails. Everything else is detail, and the details below save money every week.

Start with zones, not one price for everyone

Lebanon has eight governorates: Beirut, Mount Lebanon, the North, Akkar, the Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, the South and Nabatieh. They make a good first set of zones, because your delivery cost really does change between them.

Then split where the difference is real. Mount Lebanon, for example, runs from Baabda and the Metn to Keserwan, Jbeil, Aley and the Chouf. If your shop is in Jounieh, a delivery to Keserwan and one to the Chouf are not the same trip, so they should not be the same zone. Districts are the natural next level.

A practical way to begin:

1. One zone per governorate.
2. Split the governorate you deliver to most into districts.
3. Turn off any zone you cannot serve yet, rather than promising a delivery you will struggle to make.

How to set your delivery fees

A delivery fee should cover what the delivery costs you, not make a profit and not hide a loss. Work it out per zone:

• With a courier company, ask for their current price list per area, in writing, including what they charge to collect cash and to return a refused parcel.
• With your own driver, estimate the time and fuel for a typical run to each zone, and divide by the number of orders a run usually carries.
• Round the result to a simple number, and keep fees steady. Customers remember a fee that changes every week.

Show the fee before checkout, ideally on the product page as an estimate by region, and always in the cart. A fee the customer discovers at the door is a refused parcel waiting to happen.

Free delivery above an amount

Free delivery is the most effective nudge you can offer, as long as you choose the amount carefully. Set it above your typical order, so that it encourages a second item rather than giving away delivery on orders you would have had anyway.

You can use one amount for the whole store, or a different one per zone: lower in your own area, higher for distant zones, or no free delivery at all for zones where a trip is expensive. Show customers how far they are from it in the cart ("$8 more for free delivery").

Delivery times you can keep

Each zone needs an honest delivery time, written in words customers understand: "same day if ordered before 2 pm", "1 to 2 working days", "2 to 4 working days". Promise less than you think you can do. A parcel that arrives on the promised day builds more trust than one that was promised for tomorrow and arrived late.

If you sell food, flowers or cakes, let customers pick a delivery window instead, with a limit on how many orders you take per window and enough notice to prepare.

Your own driver, a courier, or pickup

Most shops mix the three:

• Your own driver for nearby zones: you control the timing and the way your brand is handed over, and the cash comes back the same evening.
• A courier company for the zones you cannot cover yourself. Compare prices, delivery times per area, how they handle cash and returns, and how often they pay you the cash they collect.
• Pickup from your shop for people who live or work nearby. It costs you nothing and many customers like it.

Addresses a driver can find

Lebanese addresses rarely include a postal code, and street names are not always used. Ask for the address in parts, so nothing gets lost:

• governorate, district and area
• street, building and floor
• a landmark ("next to the pharmacy, blue gate")
• a phone number that will answer, and a second one if possible
• a location pin the driver can open in Google Maps

Print all of it on the slip that travels with the parcel.

Collecting cash on delivery

Cash on delivery is still how many customers prefer to pay. To keep the cash under control:

• Print the exact amount to collect on the slip, in dollars and in lira at your rate, delivery included.
• Decide whether you charge a cash on delivery fee, and show it at checkout if you do.
• Each evening, your own drivers hand back the cash and the list of stops, each marked delivered or failed. Count it together, per currency.
• For couriers, keep your own list of every parcel handed over with the amount to collect, and match each payout line by line.

Our guide to cash on delivery without the refusals goes further on confirmations and refusals.

When a delivery fails

Some deliveries fail: nobody is home, the address is wrong, the customer asks for another day, or refuses the parcel. Handle each one the same way:

1. Record the reason on the order, the same day.
2. Contact the customer and agree on a new day, or correct the address.
3. Try again, and count the attempts.
4. After a second failure, decide: cancel the order and put the item back in stock, or ask for payment by Whish before a third trip.

Keep an eye on customers who refuse parcels. One refusal can be bad luck. A second one is a reason to ask for payment first next time.

Minimum orders and the areas you do not serve

A small order to a distant zone can cost more than it earns. You can set a minimum order for the whole store, or a minimum per zone. When someone outside your zones tries to order, tell them clearly that you do not deliver there yet, and offer pickup or a way to ask you directly.

How Mahallat handles delivery

In Mahallat, delivery is set up in Settings, Delivery:

• Zones are built from Lebanon's 8 governorates and 26 districts, with one zone per governorate ready as a start. A district zone takes priority over its governorate, so you can price Keserwan apart from the rest of Mount Lebanon.
• Each zone has its own fee, delivery time, cash on delivery fee, minimum order and "free over" amount. A store-wide free delivery amount applies wherever a zone has none.
• Checkout asks for governorate, district and area from a list of Lebanese localities, then street, building, floor, a landmark and an optional GPS pin. An address outside your zones sees "We do not deliver to this area yet", with pickup offered if you have it.
• Pickup points and delivery slots: offer pickup from your shop, and time slots with a number of orders per slot, hours of notice and public holidays skipped.
• Delivery partners: record which company took a parcel (Wakilni, Aramex, LibanPost and Toters are suggested, and you can type any other name) with the tracking number or link. Each order has a map link to the pin you can pass on, and the amount to collect in USD and LBP is on the packing slip.
• Cash on delivery: the deliveries board shows how much cash each delivery partner collected for you, and you record it when they pay you.
• Failed deliveries need a reason (not home, refused, wrong address, reschedule or other), the customer gets an email, and you try again when ready. Refusals are counted on the customer's profile.
• Customers get an email when the order ships, when it is out for delivery (with the amount to prepare in dollars and lira) and when it is delivered, and can follow it on a tracking page.

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