See what your courier spend has been doing over time
Rate History gives you a clean record of previous quotes and bookings, grouped by lane, parcel size and delivery type. Instead of working from memory or hunting through old messages, you can check how much a Johannesburg to Cape Town parcel cost last month, what changed this week, and whether express pricing is drifting during peak periods. That kind of view matters when you are pricing products, planning specials or deciding whether to offer free shipping on certain orders.
The page is made for small shops that send a steady mix of orders across South Africa. If you ship from Gauteng into Durban, Gqeberha or Pretoria, you will quickly see which routes are predictable and which ones jump around. You can also compare economy and express results side by side, which is helpful when a customer asks for faster delivery but the extra Rand needs to be justified. There is no guesswork, just the record of what was quoted and what was booked.
Choose the view that matches how your shop ships
Rate History is not a single flat report. It can be viewed by date range, route, parcel type and service level, so you can keep things simple or get more detailed when you need to audit pricing. A small clothing shop may only want to track envelopes and small parcels, while a hardware seller might need to separate light boxes from heavier cartons. That makes it easier to spot where packaging changes affect the final rate.
- Route view for city to city comparisons such as Johannesburg to Cape Town or Pretoria to Durban
- Parcel type view for satchel, small box, medium box and larger carton shipments
- Service view for economy, express and returns collections
- Time view for weekly, monthly or quarterly rate checks
- a leading make comparison view for side by side history across available courier options
If you run multiple sales channels, the history can help you compare costs across product categories too. That is useful when a low-value item starts costing too much to ship or when a bulky order needs a different courier choice. It helps keep the numbers honest.
Where Rate History suits best in South African ecommerce
This product suits small shops that ship regularly and need to control margins. It works well for sellers in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha, especially where customers expect fast turnaround and accurate delivery fees at checkout. If you are based in Woodmead, Midrand or Sandton and dispatch orders daily, Rate History gives you a practical picture of whether your courier spend is stable or creeping upward.
It is also useful for businesses serving mixed regions, including urban and outlying addresses. Municipal service levels, access roads and delivery zone differences can change courier pricing, and that shows up in your history. A parcel going to an office park in Sandton may price differently from one sent to a coastal address in Cape Town or a townhouse complex in Pretoria, so having those records together makes comparisons easier. It is a simple tool, but very useful when order volumes start growing.
Setup needs, power requirements and everyday use
Rate History does not need on-site installation, cabling or gas connections. It is accessed through your normal CourierThis account, so there is no hardware to mount and no municipal approval needed. For day to day use, all you need is a stable internet connection, a phone or computer and a browser that can handle the booking interface. During load-shedding, it helps to have a charged laptop or UPS at the office so you can keep checking quotes and booking pickups without losing time.
There are no special power demands beyond normal office equipment. If your team works from a small back office, shared warehouse or home office, the main thing is reliable connectivity and access control for the staff who handle shipping. You can set up the view once and use it as part of your weekly dispatch routine. It does not need maintenance in the way physical equipment does, but it does depend on accurate courier data and consistent parcel entry from your side.
- Internet access: required
- Power: normal office power only, backup helpful during load-shedding
- Installation: none, account access only
- Space required: no floor space or wall space
- Gas or water: not required
Care and servicing for accurate pricing records
Keeping Rate History useful is mostly about good shipping habits. Make sure parcel weights and dimensions are entered correctly, because a few centimetres or a heavy insert can shift the quoted price. If you reuse packaging, check that the box size still matches what you actually send. Incorrect parcel details can make the history look messy and lead to bad decisions when you review your rates later.
It also helps to review your own shipping rules every month. If you have changed packaging, added a new product line or started sending more returns, the old rate pattern may not reflect current trading conditions. That is normal, not a fault in the system. A quick monthly check is enough for most shops, while busier stores may want to look weekly. Keep staff trained on the same naming system for parcel types so your records stay tidy and useful.
- Check parcel dimensions before comparing rates
- Use the same route names for every booking
- Review mixed orders separately from single-item parcels
- Keep an eye on fuel surcharges and peak season movement
What to check before you use it for live pricing decisions
Before relying on Rate History to guide checkout pricing or shipping policy, confirm that your route selection, parcel descriptions and delivery options are set up properly. A history report is only as good as the information fed into it, so it is worth checking whether your team is booking the same way every time. If one person uses a small box and another uses a medium carton for the same product, the comparison will be skewed. It sounds minor but it can affect margin planning.
You should also think about whether you need separate histories for local and national shipments. A local delivery in Johannesburg may behave very differently from a national parcel headed to Cape Town or Gqeberha. If you offer returns collections, keep those figures apart too, because return movement can have its own cost pattern. Rate History is most useful when you treat it like a working record, not just a report to open once in a while.
For small shops that depend on reliable courier spend, the value is in knowing what changed, when it changed and which service level caused it. That makes stock pricing, promo planning and customer communication much easier, and it gives you a better handle on your shipping admin without extra noise.
Key facts
| Product type | Courier quote history and comparison tool |
|---|---|
| Core use | Review past courier rates by route and parcel type |
| Service levels | Economy shipping, express shipping, returns collections |
| Coverage | Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha |
| Access | Online through your CourierThis account |
| Best for | Small online shops that send parcels across South Africa |
