Product Update: November 2021

Over the past month we've been working on bolstering our infrastructure ready for BFCM (Black Friday & Cyber Monday), typically our biggest shipping volume period. We've also continued to improve our international shipping integrations as well as building new integrations. As such, we're excited to announce adding Panther Logistics to our vast carrier library, added features to make life in the shop floor easier and made some commercial invoice improvements to keep your shipments running through customs smoothly.

Brand New Carrier: Panther Logistics integration is here!

Panther Logistics are the next-day, 2-man delivery experts who have been delighting customers with deliveries and fittings of all things heavy since they started offering it in 2010.

You can print shipping labels for Panther automatically with our seamless new integration. Simply setup your Panther integration and get your shipping rules hooked up and your customers will be blessed with great service without you having to press a button!

Product improvement: Weighing scales & integrated labels

We've added support for weighing scales in Shiptheory! No more tedious typing. Just hook up one of our approved weighing scales and read straight from them with a single click. This can save you tonnes of time over the course of a day in the shipment popup or during Pick Pack Ship.

You can now be that bit more picky about when integrated labels are produced as you can choose a specific carrier to produce them as well as picking a label size. If you're really choosy, you can create a carrier instance specifically for an integrated label and then print that integrated label using shipping rules. This is great for if you only want to print a picking sheet if there are over a certain number of products in a shipment or if you only want to print a special message for shipments with certain products in them.

Commercial Invoices: Declaration statements and FedEx shipping charges

The rules for shipping internationally are continually changing, and we've been working with our shipping partners to make sure our international shipping integrations make it as simple as possible for you to ship your goods cross-border. As part of this work, you are now able to provide more detail on the customs declarations on your commercial invoices. By adding a specific product origin address, you'll be keeping those customs officers happy. Good times!

Additionally, the amount charged to your customer for shipping is now automatically sent to FedEx and included in customs invoices (when sent to us from your channel).

Have any queries about the above updates? Please reach out to our friendly support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get these up-and-running.

Until next time, much love!

Shiptheory Team

September 2021 Update

Team GB weren't the only ones working hard this August. The Shiptheory team have been in sprints of their own getting a bunch of new features over the finish line. We've added Wix as a channel integration, DPD Belgium as a courier integration and plenty of other improvements to make your shipping experience even smoother.

New Sales Channels: Wix shipping integration and even more customisation

We are thrilled to announce the official launch of our integration with Wix!

Wix is a word-class platform with over 200 million users worldwide that empowers anyone to design beautiful stores and sell their products online. We're excited to welcome all 200 million users to connect with Shiptheory.

You can print shipping labels from Wix with Shiptheory automatically with our Wix integration. Once you've done this, any new Wix orders will instantly load into Shiptheory, allowing you to automatically fulfil these orders with any one of our wide range of carriers.

We've given you even more customisation for some of your other channels

Shipment locations can now be fed in from Magento and Magento 2. This means that setting up Magento 2 with multiple shipping locations is even easier than before. No more shipment rules, just flip a switch in your advanced settings and go.

We have updated our Unleashed shipping integration so now Unleashed orders can now be pulled into Shiptheory when they hit different statuses in Unleashed. This has a number of uses but most importantly will allow you to time the automatic printing of your labels along with another action in your process.

If you are using our Brightpearl integration to print shipping labels, you can now set your default Brightpearl weight as pounds or ounces. This will allow any fans of the imperial system who use Brightpearl to accurately pass on their shipment weights to carriers.

Carrier updates: DPD Belgium integration, DHL update and some other improvements

By popular demand, we've expanded our DPD offering to include DPD Belgium to allow any Belgian based eCommerce stores to access DPD's excellent services. This will work similarly to other DPD localities but do read our support guide to get yourself setup.

We've updated our DHL integration to be in line with the latest customs regulations. We added a few advanced settings for DHL customers to add some necessary details for their international shipments as well as some under the bonnet changes to smooth your shipment's journey across the border. We sent an email round with details of this at the end of the month but let support know if you didn't see it.

We added IOSS support to Deutsche Post, EORI support to UPS and FedEx International Priority and DPD Classic IOSS services to Norsk.

Shiptheory: Dashboard and rule improvements

You can now use shipment rules to add to the weight, number of boxes or values of shipments that match certain criteria. This is great, for example, for adding weight to shipments with certain products that have heavy packaging.

We've updated the shipment approval process on the dashboard so you can select many shipments at once and approve them all. This will save you a click for every shipment.

The search field on the dashboard now also searches through Channel Reference Id 3. Useful for searching for shipments using the prominent Id displayed on Shopify.

If you have any queries regarding the above updates, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get these up-and-running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

August 2021 Update

July has been another extremely productive month here at Shiptheory! We have added a brand-new integration: Exact Online DE, new IOSS functionality, and introduced plenty of new features and updates to our services.

Scroll down to find out more!

New integration: Exact Online DE

We are delighted to announce that Shiptheory now integrates fully with Exact Online DE!

Founded in 1984, Exact is the market leader in financial and business software. Exact software is designed for ambitious wholesale companies looking to gain a foothold in the international market and offers an integrated solution for your company’s financial accounts and logistical processes.

Shiptheory fully integrates with Exact Online UK and Exact Online DE to automate your shipping process. Exact Online shipping labels and customs documentation are automatically printed and ready to ship to your customers, seconds after a sale.

Fulfil orders on your website, e-commerce channels, or online marketplaces such as Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, eBay, Amazon, etc., as you would normally do and let Shiptheory's intelligent shipping rules engine take care of the shipping.

IOSS Updates

From 1 July 2021, VAT charged at the point-of-sale for products up to EUR 150 shipping to the EU can be declared and paid via a new submission, the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS).

For the last few months, we are working hard to ensure full compatibility of Shiptheory with IOSS. Shiptheory can automatically pass your IOSS number to your carrier when booking an EU shipment, but to do so, you have to add your IOSS number(s) to your Shiptheory account.

We provide several ways for you to do that. For more information on how to add your IOSS number to your Shiptheory shipments, please read this guide.

Carriers that support IOSS numbers

We work closely with our carrier partners to ensure that when a carrier starts to support IOSS, Shiptheory will be able to automatically send your IOSS number to them when booking an EU shipment with a total value up to 150 EUR.

As more carriers update their APIs to accept IOSS numbers, we will update our integrations accordingly.

For a detailed list of carriers that support IOSS so far, please read here.

Setting up IOSS shipments limits

If your shipments have their value set in EUR, then Shiptheory will send all EU shipments with a value up to 150 EUR with an IOSS number (if one is available) to your carrier.

If the value of your shipments is not in EUR, you have to set an equivalent limit for other currencies in Shiptheory’s IOSS Shipment Limits field.

For example, if you set a limit of 135 for the currency GBP, all shipments with a value below £135 will be sent with an IOSS number (if one is available) to your carrier.

Important: Each currency you trade in will need to be added separately.

You can set a IOSS Shipment Limit for a new currency in just a few steps. Just follow this guide.

Reviewing your IOSS Shipments

For any EU orders downloaded to Shiptheory where we cannot verify their IOSS status, either because the shipment currency is not set in EUR or you have not specified a currency threshold for the shipment currency, you can choose to mark the shipment as needing approval.

This option can be found in the advanced section of the IOSS Settings page.

Assign specific printer to individual users

Each user in Shiptheory can now specify a default printer that will be used when booking shipments. The default printer can be assigned either when creating a new user or editing an existing user.

After assigning a printer to a user, when that user manually books or rebooks a shipment in with a carrier through the Shiptheory dashboard, the label will be automatically sent directly to the assigned printer, overwriting any channel-specific printer setup rules.

Other additions of note that we implemented in the last month:

Integrated labels: Allow to print shipping label on a separate sheet

You can now select to have the courier shipping label print out onto a separate page from the rest of the integrated label template. For more information, read here.

eBay: IOSS & Other Tax Numbers Support

Shiptheory can now automatically pull IOSS number and other Tax numbers from your eBay account.

Amazon: IOSS support

Shiptheory can now automatically pull IOSS number from your Amazon account.

Seller Dynamics: Return Customs Documentation

Up until now, Shiptheory returned just the shipping label to Seller Dynamics. Now we can also send back CN22 and CN23 forms, as well as commercial invoices for international shipments.

DX: SKU list instead of shipping reference on shipping labels

You are now able to use a SKU list instead of the shipping reference on your DX labels.

Magento 2: Tracked Royal Mail numbers

You can now select from your Magento 2 advanced settings to only send tracked Royal Mail numbers back to your Magento account.

Magento 2: Change the path to the shipping method

By default the shipping method is pulled from the shipping_description field in the data located via the path: order.shipping_description. Now you can change the path to the shipping method from the ‘Path to Shipping Method’ box in your Magento 2 settings. For more information, read here.

If you have any queries regarding the above new features and updates, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get these up-and-running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shippin
g smarter and faster today!

Integrated Labels: Allow to Print a Shipping Label on a Separate Sheet

With Shiptheory, you can print shipping labels along with picking lists, customer invoices, and more on a single sheet of paper. The integrated labels option allows you to build a custom page template that features your shipping label in a design of your choosing.

You can now select to have the courier shipping label print out onto a separate page from the rest of the integrated label template. If you choose to do so, the shipping label will print in the top-left corner of the new page.

You can activate the new functionality in just a few steps:

Click on your username in the top right of the Shiptheory toolbar, select 'Advanced' and then 'Integrated Labels'.
Click 'Add New Template'.
Set up your integrated label template setting as you usually do, and then scroll down to the 'Print Courier Labels Separately?' drop-down menu. Here you can choose if you want your courier shipping label to be part of your integrated label template or print on a separate page.

Important: If you do not want to include the shipping label on the main page, do not drag the shipping label element onto the designer, or you will receive the shipping label on both the separate page and the main page.

Examples of use cases

Typically, an integrated label with the shipping label on the main page would look something like that:

With our new integrated label functionality, you can choose to have a full paged packing sheet on the first page of your integrated label and your shipping label printed on a separate page. Having a picking list on a single piece of paper can be quite handy for your warehouse staff and help avoid packing mistakes.

In that case, your integrated label would look like that:

Another practical use case for the new integrated label functionality is producing a customised customer invoice that does not have the shipping label on it.

In that case, your integrated label will look like that:

If you have any queries regarding the above new functionality, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get it up-and-running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

How To Set Up IOSS Shipment Currency Limits

From 1 July 2021, VAT charged at the point-of-sale for products up to 150 EUR shipping to the EU can be declared and paid via a new submission, the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS).

We provide several ways for you to do that. For more information on adding your IOSS number to your Shiptheory shipments, please read this guide.

Carriers that support IOSS numbers

As more carriers update their APIs to accept IOSS numbers, we will update our integrations accordingly.

For a detailed list of carriers that support IOSS so far, please read here.

Consignment value IOSS eligibility check

If your shipments have their value set in EUR, then Shiptheory will send all EU shipments with a value up to 150 EUR with an IOSS number (if one is available) to your carrier.

If the value of your shipments is not in EUR, you have to set an equivalent limit for other currencies in Shiptheory’s IOSS Shipment Limits field.

For example, if you set a limit of 135 for the currency GBP, all EU shipments with a value up to £135 will be sent with an IOSS number (if one is available) to your carrier.

Important: Each currency you trade in will need to be added separately.

Setting up IOSS shipment limits

You can set an IOSS Shipment Limit for a new currency in just a few steps:

1. Click on your account name in the top right of any page in Shiptheory.

2. Under Advanced, select IOSS Settings.

3. Then click Add Currency.

4. Select your chosen currency and enter the value to which you would like your limit to be set.

5. Click Save.

You should now see your new IOSS Shipment Limit on the page.

Important: Regardless of how you have set up your IOSS currency thresholds in Shiptheory, you should check our guide on which carriers support the IOSS currency threshold, as not all carriers support this functionality yet.

Reviewing your IOSS Shipments

For any EU orders downloaded to Shiptheory where we cannot verify their IOSS status (either because the shipment currency is not set in EUR or you have not specified a currency threshold for the shipment currency), you can choose to mark the shipment as needing approval.

This option can be found in the advanced section of the IOSS Settings page.

For more information regarding the IOSS, please read the following:

All You Need to Know About the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS)

How to Add Your IOSS Number to Your Account

If you still have any queries regarding the IOSS and how it might affect your current shipping process or would like to know the latest for a specific carrier or channel, please do not hesitate to reach out to support.

July 2021 Update

June was another very hectic month here at Shiptheory. To begin with, we worked hard to ensure that our platform is 100% ready for the launch of the Import One Stop Shop. But we didn’t stop there: our dev team implemented support for the new CN22 customs forms and plenty of new features and updates. Keep reading to find out more.

The IOSS has arrived!

Big news for retailers shipping to the EU! After several months of preparations, the Import One Stop Shop has launched.

The complexity of VAT obligations across the EU member states makes it costly, time-consuming, and overly complicated for non-EU online retailers to comply with the different VAT duties expected of them when shipping their products to the EU.

Fortunately, that is about to change. From 1 July 2021, VAT charged at the point-of-sale for products up to EUR 150 shipping to the EU can be declared and paid via a single submission, the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS).

Here at Shiptheory, we are following closely any updates regarding the new EU VAT submission, and during the last months, we were working hard to have everything in place for our platform to support IOSS.

Several carriers already support IOSS but not all of them yet. For a detailed list of carriers that support IOSS so far, please read here.

As a result, if you add your IOSS number to your account, Shiptheory will automatically pass it directly to these carriers on your behalf. As simple as that.

And we provide several ways for you to do that. For more information on how to add your IOSS number to your Shiptheory account, please read this guide.

As more carriers update their APIs to accept IOSS numbers, we will update our integrations accordingly.

Support of the new CN22 customs forms

The CN22 is a customs form used when shipping goods internationally worth less than £270 with Royal Mail.

Royal Mail has now introduced two new forms, CN22A and CN22B, to replace the old CN22 forms. The new forms contain more information, and they are bigger in length than the old forms.

If you are printing CN22 customs forms from Shiptheory, we strongly recommend using the latest version. That will significantly reduce the chance of your international shipments being delayed, returned, or paying more tax.

You can enable the new CN22A and CN22B customs forms on your Shiptheory account in just a few clicks. Simply follow the steps in this guide.

Other additions of note that we implemented in the last month:

Expanded shipment tax number support

You can now add to your Shiptheory account various international tax numbers like EORI, IOSS, ATO, ABN, IRD, OSS, and VOEC.

Royal Mail: New services

Shiptheory now supports the following Royal Mail services:

International Business Parcel Bespoke Postal

International Business Printed Paper Bespoke Postal

International Business Parcels Tracked Signed DDP

International Business Parcels Tracked DDP

International Business Parcels Untracked DDP

Unleashed: Product weight override

You can now choose for Shiptheory not to download product weights from Unleashed and instead use the product weights located in your product catalogue within Shiptheory.

Tuffnells: Tracking information through the API

We now fully support tracking via Tuffnells. We could not do that up until recently due to a limitation of the Tuffnells’ API. But that has since been updated, and now you can get tracking numbers back when booking in via Tuffnells.

BluePark: Product variant names

Shiptheory can now pull product variant names from your BluePark account to be used on integrated labels.

DHL: Choose who pays customs duties in shipping rules

Until recently, you could only set who pays customs duties from the advanced settings on your account’s DHL integration page, meaning every shipment sent via DHL would charge either the recipient or the sender for customs duties. Now you can also select who pays at the point you are choosing a DHL service when creating a new shipping rule. As a result, you can control who pays customs duties on a per order basis.

If you have any queries regarding the above new features and updates, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get these up-and-running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

How to Add Your IOSS Number to Your Account

From 1 July 2021, VAT charged at the point-of-sale for products up to EUR 150 shipping to the EU can be declared and paid via a new submission, the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS).

After your business is registered for the IOSS, you will receive your IOSS VAT number.

Shiptheory will automatically pass your IOSS number directly to your carriers on your behalf.

But in order to do so, you need to add your IOSS number to your account.

There are several ways to do that:

Import your IOSS number manually

1. Click on your account name in the top right of any page in Shiptheory.

1. Under Advanced, select Company Details.

2. Under International Details, you will find the field where you can add your IOSS number.

Using Shiptheory's API

Alternatively, if you are developing with the Shiptheory API, there is the option to send your IOSS number (or any other tax number type) through it using the following parameters:

duty_tax_number: Your IOSS number

duty_tax_number_type: IOSS

Using Shipping Rules

There is an option to update specific details on a shipment within the shipping rules page when the rule is matched. By default, this option will not change anything and will only do so once you specify the fields you want to be updated.

Now you can use the Update Shipment Details option in your shipping rules to update the IOSS on a more per order basis.

This can be particularly useful if you need to send different IOSS numbers depending on the rule used, rather than one IOSS number for all shipments (if you are selling through an online marketplace, you'll need to provide the marketplace's IOSS number instead of yours, for example).

To set this up within a rule, you will have to create the rule first and then press advanced settings in the bottom left corner:

Here you can find the option to update the Duty Tax Type and Duty Tax Number:

For the Duty Tax Type select IOSS Number and then press the green 'plus' button to the right.

Now that you have selected the type of tax number, you'll need to specify the required IOSS number.

Once that's all saved, any orders that match that rule will update the Duty Tax Type and Duty Tax Type Number to what you've specified there.

Pull your IOSS number from your Brightpearl account

If you are using Brightpearl, you can set up a custom field to populate the IOSS number into. This needs to be set up as a sales custom field:

1. Go to the Settings menu

2. Select Custom Fields from the left-hand menu bar and then Sales.

3. Here you can set up your custom field. The IOSS Number in this example has the code PCF_IOSSNUMB.

Once this is set up, you'll need to specify in Shiptheory the field code so that it can be pulled through. To do this, head into the Advanced Settings in your Brightpearl settings in Shiptheory and find the IOSS Custom Field:

For more information regarding the IOSS, you can read our comprehensive guide.

For a detailed list of what Shiptheory currently supports concerning sending the IOSS number to carriers and receiving the IOSS number from channels, read here.

If you still have any queries regarding the IOSS and how it might affect your current shipping process, please do not hesitate to reach out to support.

Introducing CN22A and CN22B Customs Forms

The CN22 is a customs form used when sending gifts and goods internationally worth less than £270 with Royal Mail. They are mandatory for all gifts and goods being sent internationally from England, Scotland, or Wales. If you are shipping from Northern Ireland, they are only needed for posting to non-EU destinations.

The new CN22 forms

Royal Mail has now introduced two new forms, CN22A and CN22B, to replace the old CN22 forms. The new forms contain more information, like the sender's name and address as well as the VAT number, and they are bigger in length than the old forms. Each one of them is used for different international Royal Mail services.

More specifically:

If you are sending items with Royal Mail International Tracking and Signature services, you'll need a CN22A form.

If you are shipping your items with Royal Mail International Economy or International Standard services, you'll need a CN22B form that includes a barcode unique to your shipment.

How to enable the new CN22 forms in Shiptheory

Shiptheory can automatically generate, auto-fill, and print customs documentation required to export shipments worldwide while generating your shipment's shipping labels. This includes CN22A, CN22B, CN23, Commercial Invoices and Electronic Paperless Trade Documents (where the respective carrier and country supports it).

Although the old CN22 forms are still supported, we strongly recommend enabling the new forms on your Shiptheory account. That will significantly reduce the chance of your international shipments being delayed, returned, or paying more tax.

To enable the new CN22 forms on your Shiptheory account, follow the next steps:

1. Click on your account name in the top right of any page in Shiptheory.

2. Under Advanced, select Import/Export Documents.

3. In the bottom left of the Import/Export Documents settings page, click the Advanced Settings icon.

4. From the CN22 Form Type drop-down menu, you can select the new CN22 forms.

Important: It is worth noticing that the new CN22 forms are slightly longer: 4" x 6" instead of the old 4" x 4".

If you have any queries regarding the new CN22 customs forms, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. Our shipping specialists are more than happy to answer your questions and help you with your international shipping.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account, generate your customs forms and shipping labels automatically, and start shipping smarter and faster today!

June 2021 Update

Much hard work has been going on at Shiptheory's headquarters in May. We have added a brand-new integration: Norsk Global, we offer full FedEx Dangerous Good support for any products that include lithium batteries and introduced plenty of new features and updates to our services.

Norsk Global Integration

We are delighted to announce that Shiptheory now integrates fully with Norsk Global!

Suppose you want to ship your orders with a privately owned independent company with more than three decades of experience in the international distribution and delivery sector and streamline your e-commerce fulfilment all at the same time. In that case, Shiptheory's integration with Norsk is the perfect solution!

Norsk is a privately owned independent company based in London Heathrow with 30 years of experience in the international logistics market.

Over this time, Norsk has created a comprehensive set of export and import services worldwide, delivering to over 200 countries in corporation with over ten partners.

Norsk provides bespoke, value-added logistics solutions, including express courier delivery, e-commerce, supply chain, fulfilment, specialist services, and IT services.

Fulfil orders on your website, e-commerce channels, or online marketplaces such as Magento, Shopify, eBay, Etsy, Amazon, etc., as you would normally do and let Shiptheory's intelligent shipping rules engine take care of the shipping.

Shiptheory imports your orders from wherever you sell, generates your shipping labels and customs documentation automatically, and all your shipping details and tracking numbers are immediately updated in your Norsk account and across your sales points.

If you want to ship your online store or marketplace orders through Norsk, Shiptheory will save you time and money while eliminating manual data entry error.

FedEx Dangerous Goods support for lithium batteries

Shiptheory now provides FedEx Dangerous Goods support for products that contain any type of lithium batteries, such as laptops, mobile phones, e-scooters, e-bikes, and more.

When you prepare shipments containing lithium batteries using Shiptheory's FedEx integration, you can indicate which type(s) of lithium batteries you have included in your shipment.

FedEx Express customers can now select up to four different types of lithium batteries Section II (UN3481 and UN3091) descriptions in Shiptheory:

· Lithium Ion Batteries: Separate

· Lithium Ion Batteries: Contained

· Lithium Metal Batteries: Separate

· Lithium Metal Batteries: Contained

Set up a FedEx shipping rule for your shipments that contain lithium batteries as you would normally do, select the FedEx service and format of your preference and then add the correct lithium battery type as an enhancement from the Enhancements drop-down menu.

Other additions of note that we implemented in the last month:

Parcel2Go: DHL available services

We now offer the below DHL services through Parcel2Go

· DHL UK - Drop Off

· DHL UK

· DHL Economy Select

· DHL Express 09

· DHL Express 12

· DHL Express 18

· DHL Worldwide

· DHL Worldwide Express

Auto printing per user

Shiptheory API now offers a new field called "rules_metadata"to use for custom text which can then be used as rule criteria.

This is a custom text field in which you can enter a maximum of 50 characters. It can then pull through to Shiptheory and be used as criteria in your shipping rules.

If you want to specify which printer an order should send to through the API, you could use this field to match up to a rule for the respective printer.

If you wish to print per user with this process, you could ensure that each user has a rule with these criteria added.

Barcode scanning page prompt for carrier selection if no carrier or label available

You can now choose what happens when you scan a barcode: print the label or jump to the shipment's details pop-up window.

WooCommerce: Pull through gift messages

We now offer the functionality to pull through a gift message from WooCommerce to show on your integrated labels.

WooCommerce: Get Currency Code

You can now pull through and use the currency used on each WooCommerce order, preventing any possible currency problems you could face when shipping internationally.

UPS: Use currency received from a sales channel

We can now use whatever currency is passed to Shiptheory from your channels when sending shipments to UPS.

Shopify: Multiple Shipping Location

You now have the option to enable multiple warehouse functionality for Shopify. You can select Shiptheory to download as your shipment sender's address, either the stock location address selected for each of your Shopify orders or use the default shipping location set in your Shopify settings in Shiptheory.

TNT: Terms of trade

In your TNT settings, you can now select whether your shipments are DDP or DDU.

If you have any queries regarding the above integrations and updates, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get these up-and-running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

Voyager Logistics Integration

Voyager Logistics LTD is a Gloucestershire-based transport and logistics company founded in 2015. Initially a South West courier, the company now covers the whole of mainland UK.

With their reliable services, Voyager Logistics offer each client a complete delivery package. From parcels to pallets, or same-day urgent deliveries, they can cater for all requirements.

Shiptheory integrates with Voyager Logistics through InstaDispatch.

Shiptheory and Voyager Logistics

We are delighted to announce that Shiptheory now integrates fully with Voyager Logistics!

If you want to ship your online store or marketplace orders through Voyager Logistics, Shiptheory will save you time and money while eliminating manual data entry error.

Connecting Shiptheory and InstaDispatch

Shiptheory integrates with Voyager Logistics via InstaDispatch's API. For Shiptheory to be able to book shipments with Voyager Logistics, it will need your InstaDispatch Account Number, API Key and carrier and service codes. These can be requested from InstaDispatch when you are ready to integrate the two services.

For information on integrating your Voyager Logistics account with Shiptheory via InstaDispatch, read our InstaDispatch connection guide here.

Ship smarter with Voyager Logistics and Shiptheory

Shiptheory takes the hassle out of shipping by automating your Voyager Logistics shipping process so you can focus more on developing your e-commerce business and less on fulfilling!

Try our Voyager Logistics integration for FREE

If you have any queries regarding our new Voyager Logistics integration, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get it up and running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

FedEx Dangerous Goods Support for Lithium Batteries

We are delighted to announce that Shiptheory now provides FedEx Dangerous Goods support for products that contain any type of lithium batteries such as laptops, mobile phones, e-scooters, e-bikes, and more.

Lithium batteries

Dangerous goods (also known as hazardous materials or hazmat) are items or substances which could pose a risk to health, safety, property, or the environment when transported in commerce. Therefore, they need to be appropriately packed, handled carefully, and shipped with the required expertise to ensure they arrive safely at their destination.

There are nine classes of dangerous goods, and although some goods, such as explosives or substances liable to spontaneous combustion, are clearly dangerous, others may surprise you. Most products that contain lithium batteries – such as mobile phones, laptops, or e-scooters – all fall into the dangerous goods category, for example.

The above products may seem harmless, but they can be extremely dangerous when transported, especially by air. Vibrations, static electricity, or temperature and pressure variations can cause these items to leak, generate toxic fumes, start a fire, or explode if they are not appropriately handled.

While most lithium batteries are safe, there are several reported cases where lithium batteries have overheated and caught fire. Once ignited, they can cause any nearby batteries to overheat and catch fire as well. These fires can be exceedingly difficult to put out and produce toxic and irritating fumes. As a result, several regulations are surrounding the safe transport of lithium batteries.

There are two main types of lithium batteries:

1. Lithium metal batteries are generally non-rechargeable, disposable lithium batteries which contain metallic lithium and are also called primary lithium batteries.

2. Lithium ion batteries are generally rechargeable lithium batteries that contain lithium polymer and are also called secondary lithium batteries.

How to prepare and package my lithium battery shipments?

If you want to learn more about how to prepare and package your lithium battery shipments, you can visit FedEx's lithium battery shipping page, contact FedEx Express Customer Services and ask for the Dangerous Goods Specialist and read more on the IATA website.

Ship products that contain lithium batteries with a FedEx Compatible solution like Shiptheory

When you prepare shipments containing lithium batteries using Shiptheory's FedEx integration, you need to indicate which type(s) of lithium batteries you have included in your shipment.

FedEx Express customers can now select up to four different types of lithium batteries Section II (UN3481 and UN3091) descriptions in Shiptheory:

· Lithium Ion Batteries: Separate (UN 3481 – Packing Instruction 966)

· Lithium Ion Batteries: Contained (UN 3481 – Packing Instruction 967)

· Lithium Metal Batteries: Separate (UN 3091 – Packing Instruction 969)

· Lithium Metal Batteries: Contained (UN 3091 – Packing Instruction 970)

Ship your e-scooters and e-bikes with Shiptheory and FedEx

The usage of electric scooters and bikes is becoming increasingly widespread, especially for short-distant travel in metropolitan areas. As a result, the e-scooter market is expected to reach an estimated $16.4 billion by 2025.

As consumers become more environmentally conscious, many are looking for green, affordable transport options. E-scooters and e-bikes are a great way to replace short car trips, which helps to reduce congestion and pollution levels in the city.

With a phenomenal increase in demand lately, e-scooter and e-bike companies need to ship hundreds of their products every day. Nevertheless, shipping an e-bike or e-scooter is not like shipping a regular bike or scooter. These devices often contain large lithium batteries that weigh up to four kilograms and present a significant risk for shipping, as we explained above.

Shiptheory's FedEx Dangerous Goods support for lithium batteries can be the perfect solution for your e-scooter or e-bike company. It enables you to ship your products worldwide and feel confident that they will arrive at their destination safely and on time, wherever your customers are.

The combination of Shiptheory's intelligent shipping automation with FedEx's wide range of international delivery services will take the hassle out of your e-commerce fulfilment and save you money and time.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to support if you have any queries regarding Shiptheory's FedEx Dangerous Goods support for lithium batteries or our FedEx integration. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get it up and running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory and FedEx account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

Norsk Integration

Norsk is a privately owned independent company based in London Heathrow with 30 years of experience in the international logistics market.

Over this time, Norsk has created a comprehensive set of export and import services worldwide, delivering to over 200 countries in corporation with over ten partners.

Norsk provides bespoke, value-added logistics solutions including express courier delivery, e-commerce, supply chain, fulfilment, specialist services, and IT services.

Shiptheory and Norsk

We are delighted to announce that Shiptheory now integrates fully with Norsk!

Suppose you want to ship your orders with a privately owned independent company with 30 years' experience in the international distribution and delivery sector and streamline your e-commerce fulfilment all at the same time. In that case, Shiptheory's integration with Norsk is the perfect solution!

If you want to ship your online store or marketplace orders through Norsk, Shiptheory will save you time and money while eliminating manual data entry error.

Norsk shipping rules

Shiptheory's intelligent shipping rules engine allows you to automate every step of your shipping process based on a combination of shipping destination, order weight, value, product SKU's and more.

Shiptheory's automation shipping rules put large parts of your Norsk fulfilment process on autopilot and save you time and money by speeding up your entire shipping process.

Create Norsk integrated shipping labels in seconds

With Shiptheory, you can print shipping labels and customer invoices on a single sheet of paper.

The integrated labels option allows you to build a custom page template that features your shipping label in a design of your choosing, including the order ID, delivery method, recipient address, and more.

Designing an integrated label template is easy with our drag-and-drop editor.

Real-time shipping metrics

Gain complete insight into your shipping costs, efficiency, and history and quickly identify where your orders are coming from.

Shiptheory's in-depth reporting suite gives you the vital decision-making data you need to spot cost reduction and customer service improvement opportunities ahead of your competition.

Strategic business decisions are made easier with accurate, real-time logistics data.

Ship smarter with Norsk and Shiptheory

Shiptheory takes the hassle out of shipping by automating your Norsk shipping process so you can focus more on developing your e-commerce business and less on fulfilling!

What do I need to get started?

You need a Shiptheory account, which is free if you ship less than 100 orders per month. You also need to have an active Norsk account. If you do not yet have a Norsk account, you can apply for one here. It only takes 2 minutes to connect your Norsk and Shiptheory accounts. This guide will get you up and running booking shipments in no time!

Try our Norsk integration for FREE

If you have any queries regarding our new Norsk integration, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get it up and running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!

May 2021 Update

April was another busy month here at Shiptheory. We have added a new carrier integration: An Post, and introduced plenty of new features and updates to our services to help you streamline your shipping process even more.

An Post integration

We are very glad to announce that Shiptheory now integrates fully with An Post, the state-owned provider of postal services in the Republic of Ireland and the country's leading supplier of postal, e-commerce, and financial services.

The combination of Shiptheory's intelligent shipping automation with An Post's wide range of domestic and international delivery services will take the hassle out of your e-commerce fulfilment.

You can learn more about our new An Post integration here and try it for FREE!

Automatically update shipment details with shipping rules

Shiptheory's shipping rules engine allows you to set up a series of conditions that control how each order is shipped. That way, you can create simple or complex rules that will automate every step of your shipping process.

Now you also have the option to automatically update specific details on a shipment when it matches a specific shipping rule.

For example, you may want to change the currency of all shipments going to Spain to Euros (EUR) or set the delivery instructions of any shipment booked in with a specific delivery service to 'request signature'.

Learn more about this new feature here.

Other additions of note that we implemented in the last month:

Enhanced Security on Password Reset Link

We have changed our password reset process to send a link to the customer where they can change their password from.

Palletways: Improvements on Integration

You can now specify the number of lifts or the aggregate weight for a shipment.

Export Docs: Consignment Category on a Rules Level

You can now specify a consignment category within the shipping rules so that any shipment that matches the rule will use that specific consignment category.

Accept Shipping Date from API Book Method

You can now specify the shipping date via the ship_date parameter in Shiptheory API.

Statement of Origin: Only Specify 'UK' As Preferential Origin on FedEx Commercial Invoices

Commercial documents' default origin of products is now 'UK' instead of 'EU/GB'.

WooCommerce: Exclude Charges from Order Total

You can now specify a tax amount percentage for Shiptheory to deduct from the order total.

DPD.ie: Show Postcodes and Delivery Notes on Labels

You can now include postcodes and delivery notes on DPD Ireland shipping labels.

If you have any queries regarding the above integrations and updates, please do not hesitate to reach out to support. We are more than happy to give you a hand to get these up-and-running.

Otherwise, create a free Shiptheory account and start shipping smarter and faster today!