Last updated: April 2026
The courier you pick for your online store affects your conversion rate, your running costs and how customers feel about you - in that order. Romania has one of the fastest-moving parcel markets in Central and Eastern Europe: 335 million parcels delivered in 2024, 27% more than the year before, according to ANCOM, the national communications regulator. This guide compares the five big operators in the country - Fan Courier, Sameday, DPD, Urgent Cargus and GLS - using nothing but publicly verifiable figures.
The Romanian courier market in numbers (ANCOM 2024)
The regulator's 2024 figures describe a market expanding at speed:
- 335 million parcels delivered in 2024, up 27% year on year
- Total postal services revenue: around RON 6.5 billion, up 15%
- Parcels account for roughly 80% of all postal revenue
- One parcel in five now goes through an automated system - a locker
- Nine parcels in ten arrive on the first attempt (average delivery time: 1.2 days)
- Over 8,200 lockers installed nationally, up 42% in a single year
- Investment in postal services: more than RON 500 million, up 23%
Market share by parcel volume in 2024: Sameday 32%, FAN Courier 26%, Urgent Cargus 11%. DPD and GLS are not broken out separately in ANCOM's public reporting.
The five big couriers side by side
| Courier | Founded / Owner | Lockers / pickup points | Cross-border | API / modules | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FAN Courier | 1998, wholly Romanian-owned | 2,700 FANbox lockers live + 400 being installed (Jan 2026) | Yes - 6 countries (2025), more in 2026 | Public API + modules for OpenCart, PrestaShop, Magento | On request |
| Sameday | 17 years trading, part of the eMAG group (Naspers/Prosus) | 5,101 easybox units (Apr 2025), target above 7,000 in 2026 | Yes - Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria | eAWB platform + eCommerce integrations | On request |
| DPD Romania | DPDgroup (Geopost / La Poste Groupe, France) | 3,000+ DPD Pickup points in Romania | Yes - 230+ countries, 100,000+ EU Pickup points | Public API (shipment, tracking, pickup) | On request |
| Urgent Cargus | Now part of the Sameday group (merger cleared) | 3,000+ SHIP and GO locations, including around 450 Carrefour stores | Limited, through the Sameday group | API available | On request |
| GLS Romania | GLS Group (Royal Mail Group, UK) | GLS ParcelShops, current figures on mygls.ro | Yes - 40 European countries | API available | On request |
None of the operators publishes a rate card. Pricing is negotiated on volume, average parcel weight and destinations. The figures above come from company announcements and ANCOM 2024 reports.
FAN Courier - official figures for 2025-2026
According to the announcement published on fancourier.ro on 14 January 2026, FAN Courier closed 2025 with revenue of RON 1.546 billion (around EUR 310 million), up 11% on 2024, and 15% more parcels. Founded in 1998 by Felix Patrascanu, Adrian Mihai and Neculai Mihai, the company is entirely Romanian-owned and works with 9,500 employees and partners.
Investment announced for 2025 came to EUR 40 million: EUR 20 million to extend the FANbox locker network, EUR 12 million for logistics hubs and EUR 5.7 million for the fleet. The Vanderlande sorting system now in operation handles 30,000 parcels an hour and cost EUR 14 million on its own.
As of January 2026 the FANbox network stood at 2,700 live lockers plus 400 being installed, with a stated target of 4,000+ lockers and 25% of deliveries going through FANbox by the end of 2026. The company puts its on-time delivery rate at 96%.
International coverage includes Moldova, Greece, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland as of 2025, with Slovakia, Italy, the Czech Republic and Austria planned for 2026. The public API sits at fancourier.ro/api-curier/, with official modules for OpenCart, PrestaShop, Magento and others.
Sameday - official figures for 2025
Sameday, part of the eMAG group (Naspers/Prosus), announced on 29 April 2025 that its easybox network had reached 5,101 installed lockers, with another 1,200 planned for the year. The stated goal for 2026 is more than 7,000 units. The company covers 700+ towns and villages across Romania and has 17 years of local trading behind it.
Between 2018 and 2025 Sameday delivered 160 million parcels through lockers. An internal study run in October 2024 on 800 respondents (CAWI methodology) found that 95% of urban online shoppers have used an easybox at least once and 58% prefer locker pickup to home delivery.
Investment announced for 2025 totals EUR 80 million, split between technology, network expansion and regional growth. Revenue for 2024 was RON 1,190,794,187 according to Ministry of Finance filings. The Competition Council has cleared the merger between Sameday and Urgent Cargus, which will consolidate the group's position considerably.
DPD Romania - official figures
DPD Romania belongs to DPDgroup (Geopost), the parcel arm of La Poste Groupe in France. The global network reaches 230+ countries with 100,000+ Pickup points across Europe, which makes DPD worth a look if you already ship to customers abroad or plan to.
Figures published on dpd.com/ro and confirmed by Retail.ro put the Romanian DPD Pickup network at 3,000+ collection points, after adding 1,000 new locations in 2025. The public API covers label creation, tracking and Pickup point lookup, all of which can run directly inside your store.
Urgent Cargus - official figures
Urgent Cargus runs 133 depots and sorting centres nationally alongside 3,000+ SHIP and GO locations, including a partnership covering roughly 450 Carrefour stores. Revenue for 2024 was RON 567,594,483 according to Ministry of Finance filings.
The big news for Cargus in 2025-2026 is the merger with Sameday, cleared by the Competition Council. Combined, the two create the largest courier operation in Romania by volume, which will eventually reshape pricing and commercial terms for merchants.
GLS Romania - official figures
GLS Romania is part of GLS Group, owned by Royal Mail Group in the UK. The group operates in 40 European countries, which matters if a meaningful share of your orders crosses the border. Romanian revenue for 2024 passed RON 418 million according to public filings.
The GLS ParcelShop pickup network is available in Romania, with current details on mygls.ro. The GLS API handles label creation and tracking for eCommerce platforms.
Why the shift to lockers matters for your store
ANCOM's 2024 data confirms that one parcel in five already goes through an automated system, and the number of lockers grew 42% in twelve months. For an online store that has practical consequences:
- First-attempt delivery success climbs sharply - a locker never rings a doorbell nobody answers
- Return costs fall, since customers who collect from a locker return less than those who take a home delivery
- Customer satisfaction - the Sameday study from October 2024 found 58% of urban shoppers prefer a locker to their front door
- Round-the-clock collection - the parcel waits for the customer rather than the other way round
A store that does not offer locker delivery is quietly ignoring what most urban customers now prefer. Connecting to FANbox or easybox is done through the couriers' APIs or through dedicated modules for your platform.
Connecting the courier to your platform
Automating labels, tracking and customer notifications is what keeps order processing from eating your day. All five operators offer an API or a module, but documentation quality and integration effort vary a lot.
Worth checking before you commit to a courier:
- Platform compatibility - is there an official module, or does it need a custom API build?
- Automatic label generation - triggered when the order comes in, or manual?
- Live tracking - can it be shown inside the customer's account on your site?
- SMS and email notifications - included in the service, or billed separately?
- Returns handling - is there an automated flow for return labels?
Pronet Design wires the courier you choose straight into the store: labels created automatically, tracking visible in the customer account, notifications you control. There is more detail in our complete guide to eCommerce integrations in Romania.
Frequently asked questions about couriers for online stores
Can I work with several couriers at once?
Yes, and busy stores usually do. Running two or three gives you a fallback when one has a bad week and lets you pick the cheapest option per region. Any modern eCommerce platform can hold multiple shipping methods with automatic cost calculation.
How do I negotiate better rates?
Rates move on monthly volume, average weight, the share of locker deliveries and your return rate. Every major operator has a business sales team. A hundred parcels a month is roughly where the standard list stops being the only offer on the table.
What happens to Cargus after the Sameday merger?
The Competition Council has approved it and Cargus continues to trade under its own brand through the transition. Merchants with live contracts are not affected immediately - any changes will be communicated by the company. Over the medium term, expect the tariff structure and the pickup network to shift.
Do I have to use the API, or can I create labels by hand?
Technically you can do it by hand. In practice it becomes a bottleneck somewhere around 20 to 30 orders a day. API integration removes typing errors, cuts processing time per order and gives customers tracking without anyone lifting a finger. It pays for itself quickly once volume picks up.
