Delivery zone

A delivery zone is a defined area with its own delivery charge, minimum order value and often its own quoted time. There are three ways to draw one: by postcode sector, which is precise and easy to explain to staff; by radius, which is quick to set up and wrong wherever a river, a motorway or a one-way system gets in the way; and by road distance, which is the most honest and needs a routing service behind it.

In practice

A delivery zone is how a shop says "we deliver here, for this much, above this order value". There are three common ways to draw one. By postcode sector, which is precise and easy to explain to staff. By radius, which is quick to set up and wrong wherever a river, a motorway or a one-way system gets in the way. By road distance, which is the most honest and needs a routing service behind it.

The reason it matters commercially is that the badly drawn zone is the one that loses money quietly: a flat charge across a radius means the far edge of the circle is subsidised by everybody nearer, and drivers spend longer per drop than the charge covers.

Zones also carry their own minimum order values, their own quoted times, and sometimes their own availability — some shops stop the far zone on their busiest nights, which is a sensible decision a system should let you make in one tap.

Also called: delivery areas, delivery radius, postcode zones.

Questions people ask about delivery zone

Should delivery zones be set by postcode or by radius?

Postcode sectors are easier for staff to reason about and never cut a street in half. A radius is faster to configure and quietly subsidises the far edge of the circle from everybody nearer in. If your area has a river, a dual carriageway or an estate with one entrance, a radius will be wrong in exactly the places that cost you most.

Can different zones have different minimum orders?

They should. A single site-wide minimum is usually too high for the street outside your door and too low for the far edge of your area, and often both at once. Low nearby and higher further out matches the cost of the drop, which is the only thing a minimum is really for.

Can I turn off a delivery zone on a busy night?

In a system built for it, yes, and plenty of shops do: the far zone comes off on the busiest nights so drivers stay inside the area they can actually serve. It is a sensible operational decision, and it should be one tap rather than a call to a supplier.

Where to go next

Delivery zones and minimum orders, in detail →