Here is your reality check on the last-mile delivery market

Last-mile delivery is splitting in two. The old parcel carriers are cutting routes and jobs to protect their margins, while others pour money into faster drops and parcel lockers.

We've found a lot of interesting signals. For example, in January 2026, UPS said it would cut up to 30,000 more jobs as it reduces the Amazon parcels it carries by more than half. In May 2026, Amazon launched 30-minute delivery of groceries and essentials across dozens of US cities. And in September 2026, a group led by FedEx and Advent secured almost 90% of InPost's shares in its €7.8B bid for the parcel locker network. Delivery volume isn't going away. It's moving to whoever controls the fastest or cheapest way to the door.

In this section, we look at why the big carriers are pulling back, who is picking up the volume, and what the race for speed and lockers means for smaller delivery companies.

The final drop is the costliest and messiest step in delivery: one driver, one door, and a customer who may not be home.

We compare six kinds of last-mile companies, from parcel couriers and grocery riders to pharmacy and bulky-item specialists. Then we rank what their customers struggle with most: failed deliveries, missed time slots, damaged goods, and delivery fees shoppers refuse to pay.

This shows which problems retailers and shoppers will pay to fix, and which ones they simply put up with.

Per-parcel rates, delivery fees paid by shoppers, commissions on restaurant orders, subscriptions, locker fees and software contracts: last-mile companies make money in several ways.

We compare who pays and what each drop costs. Parcel carriers charge retailers per package, so route density and failed attempts decide the margin. Delivery apps earn a fee from the shopper and a commission from the store, but pay a rider on every order. Lockers cost money to install, then make each drop cheaper. Platforms that dispatch other fleets take a cut without owning a single van.

You'll see which models still make money when baskets get smaller, and which ones only work with discounts and cheap labor.

Delivery grows when people buy more online and want it sooner. We look at each force behind that growth.

Some are easy to see: more online grocery and pharmacy orders, same-day promises from big retailers, and cheaper electric vans. Others feed each other. More lockers mean fewer failed drops, which lowers the cost per parcel. Denser routes let a courier offer faster slots at the same price. And once shoppers get used to delivery within the hour, waiting three days starts to feel slow.

Before building or investing, you should know what makes a delivery route pay for itself, and what keeps retailers sending you their parcels.

Uber Eats and Instacart are the delivery names most people have on their phone, but they cover only one slice of the last mile.

Plenty of interesting players work out of sight. Some only deliver sofas and fridges, with two people and an installation. Others carry prescriptions and lab samples, run cargo bike hubs in city centers, or supply the drivers that retailers book under their own brand.

They're hard to spot because many deliver under someone else's name: the shopper sees the retailer's logo, not the courier's. And each city works differently, so a company that is strong in one region may not exist in the next.

Below, you'll find the market grids and ecosystem maps we've built to show who delivers what, where, and for whom.

Zepto, Veho, Evri… a few delivery companies have built real volume, each in a very different way.

Zepto grew fast with 10-minute grocery delivery in Indian cities, though it still spends heavily and has pushed back its IPO. Veho delivers parcels for US retailers with flexible drivers and sells a better experience at the door. Evri became the UK's largest dedicated parcel company by focusing on cheap, high-volume deliveries. Each has a model that works at scale in its own market, but none has shown it can work everywhere.

We'll look at how these teams filled their routes, got customers to pay for speed, and kept the cost per drop down as they grew.