# Local Delivery Areas, Slots and Fees

> Local delivery means the merchant or a local service transports orders directly to nearby customers, separate from standard carrier shipping. Before offering it at checkout, define where deliveries can realistically go, who performs them and at what cost.

- Type: Merchant guide
- Level: Intermediate
- Reading time: About 6 minutes
- Audience: Written for store owners, builders, and designers refining high-performance ecommerce stores.
- Last updated: 2026-11-04
- Canonical page: https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/local-delivery-areas-slots-and-fees/
- Part of: [Merchant Questions](https://academy.getzenbasket.com/merchant-questions/) on ZenBasket Academy

---

## What you need to know

### What is local ecommerce delivery?

Local delivery is transport to nearby customers by the merchant or a local service, separate from nationwide parcel shipping. Define where, when and who performs the delivery before offering it at checkout.

### Should physical stores offer local delivery?

A physical store can offer local delivery when staff, route capacity and demand support reliable fulfilment. Compare the cost of travel and failed attempts with customer demand. Do not list a delivery area the team cannot serve consistently.

### How should local delivery areas be defined?

Choose an area the team or partner can reach within the promised time. Test boundary addresses and exceptions. A radius or driving distance can be more precise than postal codes, but either method should be tested against real delivery routes before going live.

### Should local delivery use postal codes or distance?

Postal codes are easy to configure but can cover distant addresses. Radius or driving distance can be more precise if the software supports it. Test real boundary addresses and choose the method that matches the actual route.

### How should local delivery fees be calculated?

Include driver time, distance, vehicle, packing, failed deliveries and the number of orders per route. Show the customer's fee before payment. A short radius is not necessarily cheap if routes have few orders per run.

---

## Frequently asked questions

### Should customers choose delivery time slots?

Offer slots only if the delivery team can reserve capacity and meet them. Define the cutoff, window, holidays and what happens if the customer is unavailable. Otherwise give an honest estimated delivery day rather than a slot commitment.

### How should local delivery capacity be controlled?

Limit orders per slot or route using staff and travel capacity and stop offering a slot once full. Track exceptions, so one large order or traffic delay does not silently break every subsequent delivery promise.

---

## Related learning path

- **Shipping Zones and Location Rules**
- **Buy Online Pick Up In Store (BOPIS)**
- [ZenBasket Build Guide](https://help.getzenbasket.com/zenbasket-builder/)