> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Avg Shipping Cost, Interlink Express > Avg Shipping Cost for Interlink Express stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it. **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Shipping & Courier](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) ## At a glance > Average all-in cost paid to Interlink Express per consignment in the period: base rate plus zone surcharge plus fuel surcharge plus Saturday uplift plus Enhanced Compensation Cover plus signature-required fee, divided by consignment count. The card is the per-shipment economics dial; pair with `int_otd_rate` and `int_open_claims` to see whether the spend is buying you the service it should. | | | | ------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `SUM(consignment_total_charge_gbp) / COUNT(consignments)` over rolling 30 days. Includes base, zone, fuel, Saturday, signature, ECC. Excludes credit-note refunds and service-failure refunds. | | **Service level scope** | All services pooled: Pre10:30, Pre12, Next-Day, 2-Day, Saturday. Per-service breakdown on `int_shipments_by_service`. | | **Surcharges included** | Fuel surcharge (DPD-group publishes monthly), residential / out-of-area zone surcharges, Saturday uplift, signature-required uplift, ECC fee. | | **B2B vs B2C rate differences** | Pooled. Most merchants negotiate two rate cards: a B2B-volume rate (\~25 to 40% lower per consignment, recognising lower exception rate and predictable corporate addresses) and a B2C consumer rate. The headline avg blends both; pair with `interlink_xc_otd_by_channel` for split. Pre10:30 is the most expensive Interlink tier (£14 to £20 base) reflecting the first-light depot allocation. | | **Currency** | GBP. UK-domestic. | | **Tariff change cadence** | DPD-group publishes a base-tariff change once a year (typically January) with fuel-surcharge updated monthly. Expect a January step-up of 3 to 6% on this card; absorb it in period-vs-period comparison. | | **Time window** | `30D vsP` | | **Alert trigger** | `+10% vsP`, the gauge sentiment trips when avg cost rises more than 10% versus prior period. The intent is to catch tariff changes, fuel-spike, or shifting service-mix unintended-effects. | | **Roles** | owner, finance, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Interlink Express data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A UK contract-stationery and print-services merchant: corporate-office and clinic accounts on Pre10:30 and Pre12 (delivery before staff start the working day), DTC consumer on Next-Day. Reading taken at 10:00 GMT on 02 Apr 26 for the trailing 30 days (02 Mar 26 to 01 Apr 26). | Service | Consignments | Total spend | Avg cost per shipment | | ----------------------------- | ------------ | ----------- | --------------------- | | Pre10:30 (B2B clinics + corp) | 1,140 | £18,240 | £16.00 | | Pre12 (B2B mixed) | 380 | £4,940 | £13.00 | | Next-Day (DTC consumer) | 2,860 | £25,740 | £9.00 | | 2-Day (bulk DTC) | 220 | £1,760 | £8.00 | | Saturday-uplift Next-Day | 95 | £1,330 | £14.00 | | **Total / weighted avg** | **4,695** | **£52,010** | **£11.08** | Prior 30D avg was £10.62; current £11.08 is a **4.3% rise**, comfortably under the 10% alert. Five things to notice: 1. **The 4.3% rise is well below trip threshold.** Most of it is January tariff carry-forward and a small Saturday-uplift volume rise. 2. **Pre10:30 dominates the merchant's spend.** £18,240 spend on 1,140 consignments = 35% of total spend on 24% of volume. Pre10:30 unit economics are critical to the merchant's overall shipping P\&L. 3. **B2B Pre10:30 at £16 is the highest unit cost.** First-light depot capacity, dedicated route allocation, and guaranteed 10:30 cutoff all factor into the price. Corporate customers pay the carriage uplift through B2B contract terms; the merchant absorbs none of it directly. 4. **Next-Day at £9 is the volume cohort.** DTC consumer Next-Day is the merchant's bread-and-butter; if Next-Day rate-card moves 5%, the headline avg moves 3%. 5. **Compare against `int_otd_rate`.** Cost up + OTD up = fair trade; cost up + OTD flat = renegotiate. With OTD at 96.6% (from earlier example) and cost up 4.3%, the spend-to-service ratio is slightly worse YoY. Bring this card to the next account-team review. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together Average shipping cost is the per-shipment economics dial. Pair with these: | Card | Why pair it with Avg Shipping Cost | What the combination tells you | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Cost per Shipment Trend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/interlink-express/cost-per-shipment-trend) | The 90-day shape; this card is the 30-day point. | Spike-in-period vs sustained climb. | | [Cost by Zone](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/interlink-express/cost-by-zone) | Splits avg by destination zone. | Mix-shift vs rate-shift attribution. | | [Shipments by Service](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/interlink-express/shipments-by-service) | Service-mix split. Pre10:30 is 2x Next-Day cost; mixing toward premium lifts avg. | Most multi-point rises are mix-shift. | | [Pre-10:30 Service Promise](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/interlink-express/pre-10-30-service-promise) | Pre10:30 is the most expensive service tier. | If Pre10:30 SLA dips while cost stays, spend-to-service is degrading on the contracted-premium tier. | | [On-Time Delivery Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/interlink-express/on-time-delivery-rate) | Service half of spend-to-service ratio. | Cost up + OTD up = fair. Cost up + OTD flat = renegotiate. | | [Open Claims](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/interlink-express/open-claims) | Carriage refund recovery offsets gross cost. Net cost = gross minus recovered. | Filing rate gap = unrecovered carriage. | | [High-Cost Shipment Outliers](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/interlink-express/high-cost-shipment-outliers) | Top-decile-cost consignments. | Out-of-area / oversize / signature-required cluster. | | Cross-connector: [`shopify.shipping_revenue`](/nerve-centre/shopify/shipping_revenue) | Customer-side. Checkout-collected vs paid-to-carrier. | Margin compression detection. | | Cross-connector: [`apc.apc_avg_shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/apc/avg-shipping-cost) | Peer UK premium. | APC tends to undercut Interlink on B2B Pre10:30 by 5 to 10%. | | Cross-connector: [`parcelforce.par_avg_shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/parcelforce/avg-shipping-cost) | Peer UK premium, different network. | Used for shop-around. Parcelforce typically 5 to 15% cheaper on Next-Day, more expensive on rural. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Interlink Express's own dashboard:** [Interlink Express MyDPD Business](https://www.interlinkexpress.com/) → **Invoices → Monthly Statement**. Per-consignment line-item audit at *Reports → Charge Detail*. **Why our number may legitimately differ from Interlink's invoice:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | -------------------- | --------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Period boundary** | Either | Interlink invoices on monthly billing cycle (typically calendar-month). The card uses calendar 30-day rolling windows. | | **Credit notes** | Ours higher (gross) | Service-failure refunds and damage compensation appear as credit notes on next invoice. Card shows gross spend. | | **Surcharge timing** | Either | Fuel surcharge updates monthly; new rate applies to consignments shipped in new month. | | **VAT inclusion** | Ours typically excludes VAT | Card defaults to ex-VAT (matches B2B-merchant accounting). | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`shopify.shipping_revenue`](/nerve-centre/shopify/shipping_revenue) | Customer-side companion. | Free-shipping promotions, threshold-based rules, B2B negotiated terms. | | [`apc.apc_avg_shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/apc/avg-shipping-cost) | Peer. | Different consignments. | | [`parcelforce.par_avg_shipping_cost`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/parcelforce/avg-shipping-cost) | Peer, different network. | Different consignments, different rate cards. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why does our average rise every January?** DPD-group annual base-tariff change typically lands mid-January with 3 to 6% step-up. Fuel surcharge tracks UK pump diesel monthly. Combined, expect a 4 to 8% YoY rise as structural baseline. Adjust YoY comparisons accordingly; the alert at +10% vsP catches *step* moves vs *creep* moves. **Pre10:30 is twice Next-Day cost; is that fair?** Yes structurally. Pre10:30 commits to 10:30 next-day and Interlink dedicates first-light depot capacity. The premium is for the time-definite SLA, not parcel size or weight. B2B reseller, healthcare, corporate-IT customers value the SLA enough to pay it. If your B2B cohort is small, simplify to Pre12 or Next-Day. **Can we negotiate the rate card?** Yes, on volume. Interlink (DPD-group) account managers negotiate rate-card discounts on volumes above \~£3K monthly. Bring this card, `int_otd_rate`, `interlink_pre10_30_sla`, and `int_open_claims` to the conversation. Service-mix lock-in (commit to 60%+ Pre10:30 over 12 months) is the typical lever for 6 to 12% rate-card improvement. **Why did avg cost spike but the rate card has not changed?** Most likely service-mix shift. Promotions that drove premium-Pre10:30 / Pre12 volume up will lift avg without rate-card change. Other usual causes: fuel-surcharge step (monthly DPD-group update), Saturday-uplift volume rise, out-of-area zone consignment cluster. **Carriage-refund recovery: how does that show up here?** It does not. Card is gross spend per consignment, before claim recovery. To compute net cost, subtract claim recoveries from gross. Interlink's tighter 14-day filing window means a higher proportion of recovery is captured (vs Parcelforce's 30-day window where claims are missed more often). **How do peak fuel-surcharge spikes show up?** Diesel-pump-driven fuel surcharge updates monthly. A 10 to 15% diesel rise lifts fuel surcharge by 0.4 to 1.2 percentage points on consignment total; on a £9 Next-Day that is 4 to 11p, modest. **Enhanced Compensation Cover sits in this card?** Yes. ECC is a per-consignment fee Interlink charges to lift the £100 cap. It is paid as part of carriage charge and shows in the avg-cost denominator. Tracking ECC take-up rate helps decide if the merchant is buying too much or too little. **Saturday uplift: when is it worth paying?** Saturday uplift adds \~£4 to £6 to Next-Day base. If it converts Friday-cohort consignments from "fail Next-Day Monday" to "deliver on time Saturday", the £4 saves a £8 to £14 service-failure refund and customer-experience cost. Pair with `int_otd_rate` to evaluate. **During Q4 peak, avg cost rises and OTD falls; is this normal?** Yes. Q4 brings fuel surcharge spikes, peak-period zone uplifts (Interlink/DPD-group sometimes adds a temporary peak surcharge late November to mid-December), Saturday-uplift volume growth. OTD sags 3 to 6 percentage points network-wide. Expect a worse spend-to-service ratio for 6 to 8 weeks. **Compared to Parcelforce, is Interlink cheaper or more expensive?** Net comparable for similar service tiers, with Interlink slightly more expensive on Pre10:30 / Pre12 (DPD-group network commands a premium for the predicted-window infrastructure) and slightly cheaper on Next-Day. Most multi-carrier merchants land at "Interlink for urban DTC and B2B, Parcelforce for rural and weekend". *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Avg Shipping Cost* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Interlink Express and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.