Manifest 2026: The 3 Key Takeaways

Last month, Shiptheory was a proud sponsor of Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain and Logistics, 2026. With thousands of attendees and hundreds of partners, speakers, and clients, the team returned with leading supply chain and logistics insights, along with key industry trends. Here are the top three takeaways for 2026...


1. AI and Automation are the New Normal

Executives and technologists highlighted how AI, automation, and data-centric decision-making are rapidly transforming logistics and freight operations - and why shipping technology companies need to innovate or risk falling behind.

Industry leaders described constant disruption as the ‘new normal’, demanding smarter operations rather than periodic patchwork fixes.

Automation and real-time data flow are now core to modern supply chains. While many companies emphasise AI, the underlying value drivers for market leaders remain consistent: better automation and unified data will drive success during an uncertain era. From reducing waste and streamlining carrier assignment to maintaining customer expectations, automated workflows are now essential for enabling growth across businesses and enterprises.


2. Partner-Focused Future

When Shiptheory attended, the team noticed collaborative energy felt stronger than ever. Conversations focused on how partners can work together to navigate an increasingly complex global landscape, prioritising transparency and aligned goals. This mindset was echoed when we caught up with our partners, Swap, and discussed how to overcome future challenges together.

As mentioned in an article by Brady Thames:

“Logistics outsourcing is shifting toward relationship-driven models built on shared accountability. Shippers are moving away from transactional freight-buying cycles and towards partnerships that emphasise aligned key performance.”

As consumer expectations increase and the ever-growing global market reveals new vulnerabilities within the supply chain, seamless orchestration between partners is the most effective way to secure efficient operations - from manufacturing through to last-mile logistics.

3. International Uncertainty is More Pronounced than Ever

In an era of ever-changing tariffs and taxes, political unpredictability is exposing vulnerabilities across the supply chain.

“62% of supply chain leaders expect international tensions to impact their operations by 2030.”

That sense of uncertainty and realisation for businesses was echoed by Will Heywood, Chief Customer Officer at DHL Supply Chain, who added:

“What stood out in this research is just how strongly leaders now view the supply chain’s strategic role in their overall business success.”

Hearing from DHL, Sponsors of Manifest and Shiptheory Partners, reinforced several themes that strongly resonate with Shiptheory: volatility in international shipping requires large, interconnected ecosystems of delivery partners that prioritise efficiency.

When Helaine Rich from ePost Global discusses ‘What’s next for the last-mile’, she confirms:

“Analysis shows that multi-carrier networks consistently outperform single-carrier systems, facilitating international route delivery 37% faster.”

Shiptheory’s integrations with 100+ UK, EU, and international carriers bring confidence to major names such as DHL, Royal Mail, FedEx, USPS and UPS that our automated, collaborative, and knowledgeable network will continue to grow alongside industry challenges - enabling positive experiences for both businesses and customers.


So, what does this mean for my business?

In 2026, businesses should take practical steps to stay competitive in modern logistics:

Invest in automation and data integration
Adopt AI-powered tools and automated workflows to streamline shipping operations, reduce manual work, and improve decision-making. Connecting systems and centralising data will help teams respond faster to disruptions and scale operations more efficiently.

Build stronger logistics partnerships
Shift from transactional relationships with carriers and suppliers to long-term and collaborative partnerships. Align goals, share performance metrics, and prioritise transparency to improve coordination across the supply chain.

Increase resilience in global shipping
Prepare for geopolitical and regulatory uncertainty by diversifying delivery networks and using multi-carrier strategies. Flexible shipping options and strong partner ecosystems can help businesses maintain continuity, even when international conditions change.

In short, companies that automate operations, collaborate more closely with partners, and build flexible global networks will be best positioned to navigate the evolving logistics landscape.

What a week! We can’t wait until the doors are open again for Manifest 2027. 

If you met with us at Manifest or didn’t find the time to chat, or you're new to Shiptheory, book a demo with our team here!

You can contact us at support@shiptheory.com or call +44 117 403 4313 / +1 629 6666 726.

Covid-19 Shipping News June Update

The global spread of COVID-19 has brought much uncertainty and had a widespread impact across the economy. While many industries such as brick and mortar retail and hospitality have suffered a severe blow, others, like e-commerce, are blooming.

As we continue to brace for ambiguity when it comes to what the future and any return to normality will look like, one of the numerous reactions witnessed to how people are approaching this period of uncertainty is in enormous changes to their shopping behaviours.

The market is changing, and people are increasingly turning to e-commerce. As a result, companies are having to adapt and be flexible to meet the changing needs of their customers.

As COVID-19 quarantines and restrictions are still in place across the world, including Europe, the UK, and the US, there has been an enormous impact on the e-commerce, shipping and fulfilment industries. During this daunting and challenging time, we at Shiptheory want to keep you and your businesses as well informed as possible.

Here are the latest updates from delivery carriers and e-commerce platforms regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

Please note that these updates are subject to change. If in doubt, visit the website of the respective delivery carrier or e-commerce platform.

Royal Mail

Due to factors like high levels of coronavirus-related absences and necessary social distancing measures, Royal Mail is temporarily suspending Saturday deliveries of untracked parcels from the 2nd of May. These will be delivered as usual Monday to Friday. The rest of the parcel services including 1st and 2nd Class Parcels, Royal Mail Tracked 24 and 48, Royal Mail Tracked Returns, Special Delivery Guaranteed and International tracked services will still be delivered on a Saturday. Saturday collections from businesses, post offices and post boxes will also continue as usual, and they plan to resume the six-day-a-week delivery from the 13th of June.

As COVID-19 is still impacting international deliveries, service to countries is changing daily. This bulletin provides their most up-to-date information on which countries have been put on suspension.

Hermes

Hermes has announced that their delivery couriers will implement contact-free delivery by asking customers to choose a safe place for delivery. If a delivery place has not been specified, couriers will leave the parcel in a secure place, take a photo and send it in a notification email to the customer. Nevertheless, if there is not a safe place to leave parcels, delivery will be reattempted up to 3 times.

For parcels requiring a signature, their couriers will temporarily do this on behalf of the customer to avoid unnecessary contact via hand-held devices by asking the customer’s name when they open the door for security reasons.

DPD

DPD has lifted all postcode restrictions throughout Europe although minor delays should be expected. Their primary focus remains on implementing a number of social distancing practices to minimise contact between customers and couriers.

Parcelforce

Parcelforce has announced that they will continue offering their services, receiving and delivering parcels for their customers but there may be disruptions to some services under current conditions. More specifically, they are suspending their loss and damage cover on all perishable items sent on or after the 27th of April while reassuring their customers that this cover will be reinstated as soon as possible. Additionally, the next available ad-hoc collection date will be on the 1st of June.

Like various other companies, in an effort to protect staff and customers, signatures will no longer be captured using a hand-held device. Instead, drivers will take down the first and the last name of the recipient for signed for deliveries. The company strongly advises customers not to travel to visit their depots to either hand over or collect parcels.

DHL

In response to COVID-19, DHL introduced a temporary Emergency Situation Surcharge in early April, applicable to all Time Definite International (TDI) shipments, to cover part of their operating cost increases and the necessary air network adjustments. The company adjusted the Emergency Situation Surcharge on the 24th of May as they changed their charging mechanism from a “charge per shipment” to a “charge per kilogram”.

UPS

UPS continues to deliver worldwide to support the increasing demand amid the ongoing coronavirus situation although effective April 12, during times of extreme volume surges, temporary Peak Surcharges may be implemented to ensure their network continues to operate effectively.

As previously announced, a Peak Surcharge applies to shipments from China Mainland and Hong Kong SAR to destinations in Europe. Effective May 31 and until further notice, the amount of the Peak Surcharges applied to these shipments will increase.

The peak surcharge applied to UPS Worldwide Express, UPS Worldwide Express Freight, UPS Expedited, and UPS Transborder Express shipments originating from Europe to anywhere in the world, and any other import shipments coming into and invoiced in Europe, will continue to apply.

Additionally, from March 26 the UPS Money Back Guarantee (also known as UPS Service Guarantee) for all shipments from any origin to any destination has been suspended.

Amazon

The people in Amazon are still focusing on high-priority items to ensure the fastest delivery of household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into their fulfilment centres. Customers ordering delivery from Prime Now, Amazon Fresh, and Whole Foods Market can select "unattended delivery" during checkout.

Amazon continues their zero tolerance for price gouging. By monitoring their stores 24/7 through automated as well as manual means and making clear to all sellers of their longstanding policies, Amazon is working continually to protect customers, help ensure fair pricing, and combat those seeking to profit off the COVID-19 crisis.

Moreover, in response to huge increases in e-commerce demand, Amazon has hired so far 175,000 additional full- and part-time employees.

Shiptheory 2020 Update

The start of a brand new decade is also the time of exciting updates at Shiptheory. We've been working our socks off since our last update to bring you more ways to make your shipping process even easier.

Read our 2020 update to find out what's new in the 'shipiverse'.

Channels

We're proud to announce that we have added four new channel integrations with the popular platforms of Etsy, Squarespace, Amazon, and Xero.

Etsy

All you creative shop owners out there can now integrate your Etsy store directly to Shiptheory. This means that you will be able to see your orders and shipments from your store all in one place.

Connecting your Etsy account is easy. Simply enable Etsy on the 'Manage Channels' drop-down menu. Once you're connected, new orders will automatically appear in your Shiptheory account.

Squarespace

Squarespace and Shiptheory now go hand in hand with smooth shipping and delivery.

To connect your Squarespace store to Shiptheory you need to create an API key. This is found in your Settings > Advanced  > Squarespace API Keys > Create Keys.

Once this is connected, any orders that come through your Squarespace checkout will be shown on your Shiptheory dashboard.

Amazon

Amazon sellers, you can now connect to Shiptheory to automate your shipping label printing.

Once an order has been paid by the customer and Amazon gives it an 'Unshipped' status, Shiptheory will receive the order details. Then you can get going with your automated shipping labels, making your shipping so much faster than before.

Xero

A brand new feature is the arrival of the integration with accounting software, Xero.

Rather than sending orders or shipments, invoices from Xero will be sent to your Shiptheory dashboard for you to print shipping labels. Instead of orders, this software uses the concept of 'invoices'.

You can also manage what data is downloaded and uploaded from the software with notes and tracking updates, find out how it works  in our Xero guide.

New Feature - Unleashed

For Unleashed software users, we've added the feature to download shipments based on their status option.

By default, Shiptheory receives your Unleashed order as soon as a shipment has been created. However, with this update, you can select a particular shipment status an order must reach before it is sent to Shiptheory.

Carriers

We are pleased to announce that over the last few months we have added 9 new carriers to Shiptheory, further increasing your shipping capabilities.

Hermes

Popular parcel delivery and courier service, Hermes, has been added as a carrier to Shiptheory. We have support for Hermes international shipping to the EU and beyond.

The services we support include Parcel, Parcel Next Day, Parcel Next Day Signed, and Parcel Signed.

Whistl

We've created a quick and easy way to automate your shipping labels for Whistl. If you have a Whistl account, simply enter your Whistl login credentials then add the carrier to your Shiptheory account.

Advanced settings are available to schedule collection times, change currency, choose custom charges responsibility, and set default parcel dimensions.

GLS Netherlands

Shipping to or from the Netherlands? We've got you covered.

With our brand spanking new integration with GLS Netherlands, there's even more choice for international shipping carriers.

Read our support guide on how to connect your GLS account to Shiptheory.

DX Express

DX Express offers next-day or scheduled courier deliveries, and has secure delivery for high-value items.

Now you'll never have to manually type out a DX Express label again by automating your shipping labels with Shiptheory. As your orders are being processed, DX shipping labels will be created from your e-commerce store or order management system.

Swiss Post

The national postage service of Switzerland, Swiss Post, is another new Shiptheory carrier. Follow our support guide to learn how to start automating your shipping from Swiss Post.

A variety of Swiss Post settings can be used within Shiptheory. These include free text notifications to your end customer, the option to select customer delivery instructions, and more.

InPost

InPost has a network of 1,200 automated parcel lockers in secure locations throughout the UK. This carrier is a great choice if you want to offer the convenience of 24/7 parcel collection for your e-commerce customers.

Shiptheory's integration with InPost manages your shipments in one place,  automates label printing, and notifies customers of their tracking numbers.

Caribou

Working with over 250 retailers across the world, Caribou's courier and logistics services operate in over 120 countries.

The addition of Caribou means that you can view all shipments that have been booked in via Caribou on your Shiptheory account. Have a look at our 'how-to' page to find out more.

Aramex

The international shipping carrier, Aramex delivery unlimited, has been added to Shiptheory. Connecting your account to Shiptheory is easy if you simply follow the steps in our Aramex support guide.  

DPD Netherlands & DPD Ireland

DPD Netherlands (DPD.nl) and DPD Ireland (DPD.ie) have been added as carriers to Shiptheory.

DPD Nether
lands is the second biggest delivery service in the European parcel market, shipping to over 230 countries. Connecting your DPD.nl account to Shiptheory

Plus, DPD Ireland offers an efficient Next Day delivery service throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

That's our lot for 2020 so far, but watch this space for the latest updates. These new features and integrations have been made in response to the needs of our customers and we are always open to more feedback.

If you have any questions or need any guidance with using these features, our support team is always happy to help.

August 2018 Update

It's approaching the end of August now and I thought this would be the perfect time to let you know what we've been working on these past few months. This is going to be a big update so I'll break it down into three sections for you which will be Carriers, Channels and Features.

AugustBannerPicture

Carriers

ILG

In this update we have 1 carrier integration to let you know about which is ILG. ILG were founded in 1990 and has grown to be a strong competitor within the fulfilment, warehousing and logistics services markets due to their large clientele with more than 700 clients worldwide and significant force in the logistics industry as they ship thousands of shipments every day!

if you would like to start connecting your ILG account to your Shiptheory account you can do so by clicking here and from there you'll just need to enter your ILG account information as per the picture below. When this is done you'll be ready to start booking and automating your ILG labels.
ILGSettingsScreen

Channels

Dear Systems

The first of two channels that we've introduced is Dear Systems. Dear is a popular inventory management software that was founded in 2012 by a group of software developers and accountants who created a list of needs and wished from business owners and came together to create a software to fulfil those requests.

now unlike most of our integrations Dear have actually built into us so rather than going into your Shiptheory account to set all this up you would start setting up from Dear's side of things, we have a guide you can follow to start getting your Dear account connected here. After you've connected your account to Shiptheory you'll be ready to start automating your shipment booking from Dear!

DearSystemsGif

Amazon

The last channel on this update is the eCommerce giants who started out as an online bookstore on July 5th 1994 and are now, 24 years later, the most popular online marketplace used for all kinds of goods and now you can integrate your Amazon Sellers account to Shiptheory!

Amazon has been a popular request for obvious reasons so we've now added the functionality to connect your Amazon Sellers account and import all your orders to Shiptheory from there, enabling you to automate all of your Amazon shipments and take a lot of hours manually booking in each order and spend them doing more meaningful things!

If you'd like to start getting setup with our Amazon integration you can take a look at our article detailing how exactly to do this. If you have any questions regarding this integration, I've included a link to our support page at the end of this blog so feel free to send us a message!
AmazonSettings

Features

Manual Shipments Creation

Our first feature we've implements over the past few months is one that has been long requested and one that will hopefully see a lot of use, we've now added a page where you can now create shipments from within Shiptheory!

These shipments will function just as if they were imported from a channel so your shipping rules will still apply, if you'd like to start booking in shipments through Shiptheory you can do this here. It should all be quite easy to fill in but if you have any questions or suggestions about the page feel free to let us know.
ManualShipmentsPage

Shipping Rates

Our last feature and new implementation that we've made over the last few months is the introduction of shipping rates into Shiptheory! for now this only supports a certain group of carriers but for those carriers you'll be able to see how much each shipment has costed you as per the gif below.

If you'd like to see exactly how to do this you can follow the guide here!
ShippingRatesGif

That's it for August! as you can see we've been working hard to add a lot of new features and integrations for our customers.If you have any queries or questions please don't hesitate to contact our support team.

May 2018 Update

A lot of hard work has been going on within Shiptheory since the last update that was brought to you in February and I'll be able to show you the fruits of our labour within this update. You'll find out about 2 new carriers and channels that we have integrated with and that are available for you to use with Shiptheory right now!

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Channels

WooCommerce

The first channel we've added this month is one that you more than likely have heard of before which is WooCommerce. If you aren't overly familiar with WooCommerce, it is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to buy and sell products from your WordPress site and allows you to run your eCommerce site with ease. This has lead WooCommerce to be a very popular choice among online businesses ever since its launch in September 2011. If you're interested in using them it could be beneficial to take a look over their website.

If you're already familiar with WooCommerce and want to connect your account integrated with Shiptheory, you can login to your Shiptheory account and start getting the WooCommerce integration setup by clicking here. When you're all setup and going, this integration will be no different from the rest and it will finally allow you to automate all of the shipping labels in your WooCommerce store!
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TradeGecko

The other channel we've created an integration for this month is TradeGecko, this is another big channel that prides itself on it's inventory management capability. TradeGecko already has integrations with other sales channels like Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce and many others. You can read more about TradeGecko and how they could potentially benefit you here.

With the TradeGecko integration you can now automate all of your shipping labels from a carrier and have the tracking numbers sent straight back to your TradeGecko store, as you can imagine this enhances the capabilities of TradeGecko as you can stay within your store to do everything from creating the order to printing the label.

To find out more about our TradeGecko shipping integration click here
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Carriers

DX

Onto the carriers that we've added to Shiptheory now. The first of the two is DX, who are logistic and overnight delivery specialists. Founded in 1970 and established in 1975, the DX Group has been in private ownership since 2006 and combines DX Network Services Ltd, DX Secure, DX Freight.

You can now connect up your DX 1-man account by adding the integration to your account, you'll just need to enter your details on the carrier settings page for DX and you'll be ready to start automating your DX shipping labels. If you don't have an account with DX just yet but you would like to set one up you can do that from here.
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P2P Mailing

Our last integration for this update is the UK based packet carrier, P2P mailing. P2P Mailing are a well known logistics company that provides worldwide packet delivery. They're a carrier that has continually proven their consistency as per FedEx recent acquisition of P2P which was a big accomplishment on their part.

If you already have a P2P account and would like to get it connected up, you can go here to start getting it setup and we can help you get your P2P labels printing automatically. If you don't have an account with P2P but would like to set one up you can do that here.
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That's about it for this update, four new and highly sought after integrations are ready to be used by everyone. If you encounter any issues with any of these integrations or Shiptheory in general, or even have a query you would like answered you can ask our support team and they would be more than happy to help.

February 2018 Update

It's approaching the end of February and the perfect time to let you know what we've been working on these past few months. This is going to be a big update so I'll break it down into three sections for you which will be Channels, Carriers and Features.

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Channels

ChannelGrabber

Over the past couple of months, we've added a new channel to our list of integrations, ChannelGrabber. You might be familiar with them already and if you are you can login to your Shiptheory account and integrate your ChannelGrabber account right away. If you're not familiar with ChannelGrabber and would like a brief explanation of what it is take a read below.

The name of the game with ChannelGrabber is inventory management, it links all your channels together so that when you make a sale from your Amazon store, for example, ChannelGrabber will automatically update the stock on your eBay profile this is really helpful in preventing you from receiving orders for an item that's out of stock. It's a simple idea yet it's such a helpful function for a lot of businesses.

Learn more about ChannelGrabber from their own website.

Carriers

Palletforce

As you can see by the picture below, Palletforce is one of our newest carriers and they're also one of the biggest palletised freight network in the UK and are expanding all over the world, so much that they recently launched Palletforce Asia Services to capitalise even more on their popularity.

if you're interested in using Palletforce you can do so by clicking on this link here and from there you'll just need to enter various bits of information some of which are in the picture below and after that you should be ready to start booking your shipments with Palletforce

if you have any questions about getting started with Palletforce feel free to send our support team a message and they'd be more than happy to help.
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Yamato Europe

Some of you might be familiar with the Japanese door-to-door delivery giants Yamato Transport, well now their European cousins Yamato Transport Europe has been integrated with Shiptheory so if you're looking at shipping with them now would be a good time to start as we can automate anything you ship with them.

Yamato Transport Europe are relatively new compared to Yamato Transport, being established in October 2nd 1986. Even being so new, you might be familiar with their logo, this is because it's the same as their parent company used, which is as popular in Japan as the Coca-Cola logo is too America. The black kitten being carried by it's mother symbolises the companies promise to take care of any items entrusted to them.

Read more about Yamato Europe here.

PostNord Sweden

You might not know but PostNord Sweden wasn't always PostNord, they were founded in 1636 under the name Posten AB and only recently merged with its Danish equivalent, Post Danmark A/S, in 2009 forming PostNord AB.

While Postnord itself was already an option, Postnord Sweden has now been made available, you find them by looking in your Postnord settings within the integration and you should see a drop down which shows Postnord Sweden as an option now.

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If you're having any trouble with getting setup with Postnord Sweden let our support team know and we'll be happy to help.

Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfilment

Amazon are a well known sellers platform as you probably know, you can both buy and sell on there. Now we integrate with what Amazon have called their 'Multi-Channel Fulfilment' service, this essentially allows you to ship orders via Amazon even if they're from other channels that aren't Amazon.

I imagine a lot of you are interested in this considering how big of a brand Amazon are so i'll recommend you take a look at this article we've written on what exactly their Multi-Channel Fulfilment is.

Just in case you're knew to Shiptheory and want to use Amazon with us you can enable the integration by clicking on this link here.
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Features

Reporting

Some of you might have already seen the first of our two new features, we have implemented a way to view your shipping metrics which is shown below.

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You can access this here, a basic idea of what this does is that it provides you with the information on what and how you're shipping your goods, with this knowledge you can make the best decisions in regards to making your shipping costs as efficient as possible.

Tracking

The second of our two shipments is the new 'track' function for shipments, clicking this button takes you to the correct carrier tracking portal for that shipment, providing the carrier has a tracking portal for us to link to.

You can do this by clicking here on a shipment and clicking on the 'track' button.

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It's worth noting that tracking information might not always be available as soon as the shipment is booked so it's worth waiting a day for the carriers themselves to display the information.

That's it for February! as you can see we've been working hard to add a lot of new features and integrations for our customers. If you have any queries or questions please don't hesitate to contact our support team.

myHermes Price Increase for March 2017

As of Sunday 12th of March 2017, the price of parcels sent with myHermes will increase by +£0.04 for ParcelShop services and +£0.19 for Collection services.

myHermes operate over 4,500 ParcelShops across the UK and provide an affordable domestic small parcel service, competing with Royal Mail's second class small parcels up to 2kg.

In additional to the following price increases, basic Parcel Cover is included at no extra cost on parcels valued to £25, which is a decline from the previous £20 value figure.

myHermes ParcelShop Services Price Changes

myHermes Collection Services Price Changes

You can read the full announcement from myHermes here. If you are using our myHermes integration, there is nothing you need to do. The new prices will become active on 00:00, Sunday 12th of March 2017.

September's Parcelforce Label Changes

Parcelforce have responded directly to customer feedback regarding limits inplace on the length of address lines on labels. As a direct result, from Saturday the 10th of September 2016, you will notice a slight change to your Parcelforce labels created through Shiptheory.

Higher Address Line Limits

As of the forthcoming update, address lines will now be limited to 40 characters rather than the previous 25 character limit.

The increased address line limit should make labels more readable and result in fewer label booking rejections due to address validation issues.

Barcode Rotation

To accomodate the larger address fields, Parcelforce have slightly redesigned their shipping labels. Most notably, the first barcode has been rotated, as shown below.

parcelforce label barcode rotated

You do not need to take any action, this changes will automatically be applied to your Shiptheory account.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding Septembers Parcelforce label redesign, please feel free to get in touch.

Despatch Bay Integration

We are happy to announce that we have integrated with Despatch Bay Pro, making it easy for your to use the popular parcel aggregation service automatically and seamlessly.

Despatch Bay are based in the UK and cater for letters, parcels, packets and pallets and work with multiple carriers, including Royal Mail, Yodel, DX, Parcelforce and DHL to provide you with competitive shipping rates and excellent choice.

Our integration with Despatch Bay makes it easy to connect Magento, Shopify, Brightpearl, Unleashed, Exact and Visualsoft to your Despatch Bay Pro account and entirely automate your shipping process. Labels are generated automatically. Manually creating shipments in your Despatch Bay account is a thing of the past.

Despatch Bay Pro Integration

Custom Despatch Bay Packing Notes

It's our mission to make your pick, pack and ship process as fast and automated as possible. Creating custom packing slips from your Shiptheory account that integrate perfectly with Despatch Bay shipping labels can simplify your print pack ship process, save time and eliminates mistake.

Automatic Despatch Bay Shipping Rules

Despatch Bay Shipping Services

Shiptheory supports over 100 of Despatch Bay's delivery services, making it possible to craft custom shipping rules to ensure your parcels are delivered exact as they should be.

Have Questions about Despatch Bay?

If you have any questions, please get in touch, we are happy to help. Get started with Shiptheory and Despatch Bay today.

Multiple Carrier Account Support

One of the most requested features over the past few months has been the ability to add multiple accounts for the same carrier to Shiptheory under 1 user. For example, you may have 3 entirely different DPD accounts based at different locations throughout the UK that you wish to use from just 1 Shiptheory account.

Today, we are happy to announce that multiple carrier account functionality is now available to all Shiptheory users.

Let's explore some questions...

How do shipping rules work with multiple carrier accounts?

You can create shipping rules for multiple carrier accounts in exactly the same way you do now. Each carrier account will appear in the rules carrier selection menu separately.

Shipping rules for each carrier account work entirely independently of each other.

How do I identify each carrier account in Shiptheory?

You can give each carrier account a label to make it easy to identify when shipping or setting up shipping rules. For example, if you had 2 DPD accounts, one for your warehouse in Scotland and one for your central hub in London, you may want to set labels as below:

DPD Warehouse Scotland and DPD London Hub

How are multiple carrier accounts billed?

Multiple carrier accounts count towards your carrier quota. For example, if you have 2 DPD accounts, 1 Royal Mail account and 1 FedEx account, your carrier usage would be 4.

Have another question?

Get in touch with support, we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Happy Shipping!

June DHL Rating Updates

We've been working directly with DHL to provide a more connected and seamless integration. Today, we deployed an update that utilises DHL's Rating API service when booking consignments on timed services.

As part of this work we have added the following DHL services to Shiptheory:

And renamed several services within Shiptheory, as below...

What does this mean for me?

On the surface, you may not notice any change to your DHL shipping. Behind the scenes, Shiptheory is performing additional checks to confirm that DHL is able to get your timed orders to their destination within the time period stated.

If you notice shipments being rejected by DHL with a message relating to DHL services being unavailable for the destination, you may need to update your shipping rules to make sure you have selected the correct DHL service.

DHL Shipping Charges in Shiptheory

DHL shipping charges

Where available, Shiptheory will now show the charge from DHL for the shipment, available on in the Shipment History as shown above.

Have questions?

If you have any questions regarding this update to the Shiptheory DHL integration that was deployed today, please reach out to us through the usual support channels. We are happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have.

Hallo Bring!

We've put on our winter coats to bring you our latest carrier integration, Bring. And we're super excited about it.

Bring, based in Norway, ship small and large goods, including foodstuffs, within the Nordic area and internationally. With a growing network (and an awesome booking API), we are excited to add Bring shipping integration to Magento, Exact, Brightpearl and Shopify, via the Shiptheory platform.

Bring shipping label booking integration

Integrated Bring Shipping Labels

Our Bring integrates make it easy for your to automatically book deliveries with Bring directly from your online store or ERP package.

Process your store orders as you normally would and Shiptheory will take care of booking your orders with Bring. After Shiptheory has created a Bring label for you, your Bring tracking number will automatically be sent back to Magento, Shopify, Brightpearl or whichever platform you have connected. The same tracking number will land in your customers inbox, automatically. Shipping perfection!

Bring Shipping Rules

Bring Shipping rules

Let our shipping rules engine take the pain away from your shipping process. With a smart formula, orders will be dispatched on the perfect shipping service without any manual intervention.

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Have you met Parcel Pete Yet? ipostparcels Explored

Parcel Pete is the mascot for ipostparcels, an online parcel delivery service. ipostparcels is owned by UK Mail Group PLC and competes directly with online parcel comparison and aggregation services such as Parcel2Go and the recently deceased ParcelBright.

about ipostparcels

Whats the difference between UK Mail and ipostparcels?

ipostparcels.com is intended to be a quick and affordable way to send parcels with next day delivery and collection. To send a parcel with ipostparcels you just need to head over to the ipostparcels.com website enter your delivery details and print your label.

To ship with UK Mail directly you would need to open an account with UK Mail. If you are a business shipping a growing number of parcels every day, it may well pay off to open an account with UK Mail. If you are shipping occasionally, ipostparcels may just do the job.

Getting help from ipostparcels happens over email and twitter. If you are shipping with UK Mail directly you will have an account manager and a contact telephone number too.

The Buzz

ipostparcels has been pretty well received. As of July last year, ipostparcels have delivered over a million parcels and have a score of 7.7 on trustpilot. It's probably not fair to compare this score to the delivery comparison websites we mentioned earlier as the business model here is not the same, but comparing it to other carriers results in a fairly decent score. In fact, ipostparcels score a little higher on trustpilot than their parent company, UK Mail.

Parcel Pete himself has been very well received. With his own #parcelpete hashtag, Pete's only criticism seems to be around him skipping leg day.

The Cost

We shipped an extra small parcel to the same postcode on the 2/3 day service and were quoted £3.99 excluding VAT if we dropped off the parcel. If we wanted the parcel collected there was an additional £1.25 plus VAT to pay.

ipostparcel rates

You can view ipostparcels rate card here.

Our Two Cents

We like working with UK Mail. Their technology that we integrate with is some of the best we've seen, and not just in the UK.

The feedback we get from customers around UK Mail is mostly always positive and their support is approachable and helpful. For this reason, we figure ipostparcels is worth exploring more.

Have you used ipostparcels?

We would love to hear your feedback on ipostparcels. Get in touch on twitter @Shiptheory or drop us a message in the comments below and share your experience.