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Sales Channel Integrations
To access the sales channel installation feature, navigate to "Settings > Sales Channels" on your account. You will be presented with a comprehensive list of our sales channel integrations, which we constantly update to include new options. A brand logo on the left denotes each integration. A numerical value is displayed in the centre of the table that represents the quantity of installed sales channels for that particular platform.
You can find the installation guide for each specific channel on this page.
To add a new sales channel to your account, click the "Install Channel" button to the right of the corresponding numerical value. This action will open a new window with various input fields where you can enter the required information for each specific channel. Keep in mind that each channel may ask for different pieces of information during the installation process.
Let's take Interspire as an example. When setting up Interspire as a sales channel, you must fill in various fields, including the "Name" field. The name field is an identifier that allows you to differentiate this sales channel from others in Orders. Additionally, other fields are specific to Interspire, such as the "Store URL" and "API Key."
If you have purchased the stock management addon, you will be presented with additional options, including "Download Products," "Download Product Images," and "Download Product Dimensions." These options are optional and can be adjusted according to your preferences. If you enable these options, they will automatically import inventory items or products from your Interspire sales channel and add them to your Orders inventory. The import process is run approximately every 12 hours.
Our Sales Channel Import feature automatically retrieves orders from your connected sales channels. We periodically check each of your connected sales channels for paid and unshipped orders. In most cases, changes will appear within minutes of placing the order. However, in some instances, it may take up to half an hour for changes to be reflected in your Orders inventory.
After creating a new sales channel, the "Installed" number next to the sales channel logo will increase. If you click on the number, you will be taken to a page where you can manage the sales channel settings.
For each sales channel platform instance, you will see either an active checkmark or a red cross and the "Edit Channel" and "Delete Channel" buttons. To set your channel as active or disabled, click the corresponding "Active" column icon. A loading spinner will appear while your Orders account communicates with our centralized sales channel server to enable or disable the channel.
By clicking the "Edit Channel" button, you will be taken to a page where you can customize the channel you have just installed. You can enable or disable the channel through the "Active" button and choose to synchronize the products and orders with Orders by selecting the "Sync Stock" option.
You can set a default printing template for this channel integration through the "Invoice/Packing Template" option. It will ensure that the correct template is applied when printing invoices or packing slips for this sales channel.
The "Auto Print Invoice at Terminal" option allows you to print invoices automatically while despatching orders through the packing terminal. If you turn this option on, you won't have to print them manually.
The "Credentials" section is identical to the installation screen discussed earlier. Here, you can modify the API keys and select optional settings according to your preferences.
On the "Brand" tab, you can choose the default "Company Logo" and "Company Return Address" that will be applied to all orders coming through this connection. You can access all templates under "Settings > Templates," and if you need to add a new address, you can do so by going to "Settings > Address Manager."
On the "Commercial Invoice Details" tab, you can set the default invoice template for orders and select the sender address that should be displayed on the invoices. By default, the system auto-fills with your company's default address. However, if you have more than one company address, you can select a specific one to be displayed on the commercial invoice.
The "Despatch Emails" section lets you set up automated customer emails. This page allows you to activate or disable automatic emails. You can set the default "Email from Name," which sets the sender's name, and "Email Subject," which sets the email subject for sent emails. Additionally, you can create new email templates and assign them through the last option on this page.
Courier Integrations
To install courier integrations, navigate to "Settings > Courier Integrations." Here, you will see a list of courier integrations that we offer. We are constantly adding new integrations to this list. For each courier, you will see a brand logo on the left and a number in the middle of the table, indicating how many couriers you have installed for that particular platform.
To install a new courier integration, click the "Install Courier" button to the right of the number. A window will appear with input fields where you will be prompted to provide the information the courier requires.
To install a courier integration, you must provide specific information for each courier, which will appear in a window with different input fields. The installation screen for each courier will have a "Test Account" option, which allows you to test the connections in the system without actually despatching any orders with that courier. It can be helpful for debugging.
The "Name" field identify the courier integration within Orders and should be unique from any other names you have already set up for this courier. The "Company Name" field is programmed to be filled in automatically. For a test courier, you can enter any username and password. However, for other couriers, you must obtain the API keys and logins from their developer platforms to set up their integrations.
Like the sales channels, once the courier integration is created, you’ll see the "Installed" number next to the courier logo increase. If you click on the number, you’ll be able to manage the courier integration settings:
You can add new accounts and connections for the specific courier integration or edit the existing ones. You will be welcomed by the screen below once you click the edit button:
After opening the courier integration, you can enable it and choose a collection time. If the courier is not activated after installation, activate it here to access the "Service List" and "Add Services" tabs.
To add and configure services for your courier, you can use the "Add Services" tab on the top right-hand side of the courier integration settings page. This tab allows you to choose from the courier's list of services, including the ability to add manual services. Select the desired service from the dropdown menu and click "Add Preset" to add a preset service. Repeat this step for each service you require.
It is important to note that not all couriers have preconfigured services. For example, the test courier does not have any presets. If you need guidance, you can look at DPD's preconfigured services to better understand how it works down below:
If the service you need isn't available in the drop-down menu, you can manually add the details for the service. It will take you to the configuration page we went through earlier to set up the service through the "Service List."
The input fields you will encounter while configuring the courier integration will vary depending on the specific courier's requirements. However, if you hover your cursor over the input boxes, you will be provided with information about the default values and the available options you can enter. It will help you fill in the information required for the courier integration to function correctly.
In the "Service List" tab, you can view all the services available for the selected courier integration. You can enable or disable services and edit or delete their details. If you click on a service, it will expand to show all the available options for that service. You can then configure the options for that service as needed. Depending on the courier and service selected, some services may have more options than others. Once you have made any changes, remember to click the "Save" button to ensure that your changes are applied.
For example, if you click on "Configure", you'll see the below options:
- The "Local Tracking" option enables a tracking code input box during despatch, allowing the user to input a tracking code for the specific service.
- Enabling the "Pieces & Dimensions" option specifies whether the service requires the pieces and dimension information for the orders during despatch.
- The "Required" and "Optional" sections will have different settings for each courier, although the test courier has none.
Shipping Rules
To access "Shipping Rules," navigate to "Settings > Shipping Rules." This feature allows you to create customized shipping rules based on various criteria, such as weights, dimensions, prices, destination countries, postcodes, and more, to automate your shipping workflow and reduce the risk of sending orders with the wrong shipping service.
When you create or add a courier service, a shipping rule is automatically generated but will not have any configured settings. You can create new rules or edit existing ones and then configure the rules by adding conditions and specifying the corresponding shipping service that should be used.
The list of shipping rules consists of several columns. The first column on the left shows a checkbox indicating whether the particular shipping rule is enabled or disabled. If a rule is disabled, it won't be available when despatching orders. The next column displays the numerical priority value for the rule. This value is used when two or more shipping rules overlap for a particular order. The lower the priority value (closer to 0), the higher the priority.
- The "Name" column displays the name in the drop-down menus when selecting the shipping service while despatching orders.
- The "Service" column is the courier service to which the shipping rule is linked.
- The "Sales Channel" column provides a drop-down menu to specify whether the rule is linked to a single sales channel or all of them. It can be helpful when linking certain couriers for Amazon VTR.
- The "Configure" button takes you to a more advanced view where you can configure the specific criteria for the shipping rule.
To assign countries to a courier, go to the "Supported Countries" tab at the top-right of the courier configuration page. It is essential to set countries, as the courier will only be available for selection if the countries are specified. Select the countries you will be shipping to, then click the "Save Countries" and "Save Changes" buttons to apply the changes.
To illustrate the impact of the country selection in the supported countries section, I decided to limit the availability of the "Test Label" courier to United Kingdom only. I went to the "Supported Countries" tab and selected only United Kingdom to do this. Specifying the countries where you want to use the courier is crucial, as it will only appear if you do so.
Now, if we return to the one-off shipment page, set the shipping address to United Kingdom, and click on the shipping service drop-down menu, we can see all the configured services for the United Kingdom and "Test Label" is among them. It confirms that the selection of supported countries directly affects the available couriers in Orders. Additionally, each courier configuration you set up will be displayed only for the selected countries, as shown in this example.
