For years I manually rate shopped between carriers in ShipStation to generate the shipping labels for ALL of my orders. As my company’s BIGGEST expense, shipping was always something that I felt more confident doing by myself. I simply didn’t trust anyone else to do it properly or cost-effectively. Obviously, that’s not scalable.
As order volume grew, this task became even more cumbersome. We had to start exploring alternatives to ShipStation so that we could automate this process. However, we LOVED everything about ShipStation except for its inability to automatically rate shop between carriers. Well, that was the start of my mission.
My team at Shipping+ (www.shippingplus.co) is dedicated to improving the automation processes in ShipStation.
THAT INCLUDES (But is not limited to): Automatically rate-shopping between carriers in ShipStation.
Gone are the days where we, as owners, are spending countless hours on Monday morning setting the shipping profiles for the weekend’s orders!
The Shipping+ tool will automatically rate shop between carriers/services that you specify and will apply the shipping profile to the order in ShipStation.
This tool single handedly evolved my business so that I no longer have to be involved in the shipping process at all.
Print Packing Slip + Purchase Shipping Label (by an executive) -> Pick -> Pack -> Ship
We felt this was the best for us because it allowed me, or another exec, to set the shipping profile of shipments in ShipStation to ensure we were always using the cheapest carrier.
With the use of this tool, we completed changed our workflow for the better.
Print Packing Slip -> Pick -> Pack -> Purchase Shipping Label (by the packer) -> Ship
With the use of the Shipping+ Tool, our packers are now all equipped with a computer, a Rollo printer, and a barcode scanner. Upon receiving a picked order, the packer simply scans the barcode on the packing slip in ShipStation, uses a hotkey to enter the dimensions and then BAM the cheapest carrier is automatically selected. We even display a nice checkmark on the screen to indicate to the packer that the shipping label is now ready to be generated!
You can rest assured that all shipments are optimized for the best shipping cost thanks to the tool. This will make handing off the shipping label generation process to the warehouse staff way easier!
Not only did this ultimately save us so many executive hours, but it also reduced the number of packages that we received re-ratings on from FedEx, UPS and USPS (yes USPS DOES RE-RATE YOUR PACKAGES). Whereas before we were predicting dimensions in the beginning of our workflow since our product is non-uniform, now our dimensions are extremely precise because the packer enters it in AFTER the order is packed!
Additionally, the tool also allows you to take advantage of different carriers at the same time. For example, do you use FedEx for their incredible 2-day One-Rate program but UPS for all of your ground shipments? You can simply program these into the tool and it will automatically rate shop between all of these service types.
We don’t need to restrict ourselves to one carrier. Take advantage of them all! Is UPS cheaper in zone 2? Great, the tool will select it in that instance. Did you just re-negotiate your rates with FedEx? Sure, the tool will automatically optimize for this.
Our tool will also be able to profile shipments depending on the shipping service requested. For example, if you have a customer that selected a 2-day delivery, the Shipping+ tool will automatically choose the cheapest service that delivers in 2 days. It will even check if FedEx Home Delivery / Ground or UPS ground will arrive within the allotted time to save YOU money instead of paying for an unnecessary air service!
You’ll be able to set rules in the tool to specify, based on the shipping service requested, what variables to consider.
This is the first iteration of our tool and it will undoubtedly get more and more advanced. We’re currently offering beta pricing and a 14 day trial so you can see for yourself if the tool is worthwhile.