Sending orders to ShipStation
The ShipStation service simplifies shipping and fulfillment processes. With ShipStation, you can print shipping labels and packing slips, ship with popular carriers, send tracking numbers to your customers, and more.
You can connect your Ecwid store to your ShipStation account via the ShipStation app, or integrate both systems by using the Zapier service.
Connecting Ecwid to ShipStation
There are two ways you can connect your Ecwid store to ShipStation: through the app and Zapier.
The first one is through the ShipStation app from Ecwid App Market. The connection process is easy, and once done, the order data will be automatically sent from your Ecwid store to ShipStation. ShipStation app price is from $9 to $69+ / month, with 30-day free trial. Billing for your ShipStation account is handled directly through ShipStation, not Ecwid.
Another way to connect your store is through Zapier — a service that connects different apps or platforms with no coding skills. You can select a trigger (when something happens in your Ecwid store) and an action (what should happen in ShipStation). As a result, you will have an automated task, a “zap”.
To connect your Ecwid store to ShipStation:
- From your Ecwid admin, go to App Market → ShipStation.
- Click Install.
- You will be redirected to the ShipStation website where you need to log in to your account or create a new one.
- Once you log in, ShipStation automatically connects to your Ecwid store. You will need to set up a carrier and select a label layout, then click Complete setup. You can also skip choosing a carrier and shipping label layout.
- You will be redirected to the ShipStation admin where you can see synchronized orders from your Ecwid store filtered by status:
- Sign up for an account with Zapier or log in to your existing Zapier account, if you already have one.
- In your Zapier account, click Make a zap.
- At the “When this happens…” step, in the Choose App & Event section, type “Ecwid” in the search field and click on the Ecwid icon to choose it:
- In the Choose Event Trigger section, select New Shipping Order:
- Click Continue.
- At the “Choose account” step, click Sign in to Ecwid and log into your Ecwid account.
- Click Continue.
- In the Payment Status and Fulfillment Status dropdowns, choose the statuses of the orders that need to be imported into ShipStation.
In our example, those will be Paid and Awaiting Processing statuses:
- Click Continue.
- Click Test trigger to check if the right Ecwid store of yours is connected and if the trigger is correctly set up.
For the test you will need to have an order in your Ecwid store that meets the selected criteria. In our example, that will be an order that needs to be shipped and has Paid and Awaiting Processing statuses. - Click Continue.
- At the “Do this...” step, in the Choose App & Event section find and choose Shipstation:
- Click Continue.
- In the Choose Action Event dropdown, choose the Create Order event:
- Click Continue.
- Click Sign in to ShipStation and specify your ShipStation API Key and API Secret in the popup that will appear.
You can generate new API keys or copy the existing ones in your ShipStation account under Settings → Account → API Settings. - Click Continue.
- In the Customize Order section, select what order information to export from your Ecwid store into ShipStation:
- Click Continue.
- Click Test and Continue, to check what data Zapier will find with the selected values and if they can be imported into Shipstation.
- Name your zap, then click Done Editing:
- Click Turn on zap.
That’s it. You’ve set up an automated task — sending paid to-be-shipped orders into ShipStation.
Now you can place a test order in your storefront to check how the data flows from your online store to ShipStation. Zapier will check your Ecwid account for new orders every 15 minutes (for a faster update you can upgrade to a paid Zapier plan.)
Understanding how ShipStation works with Ecwid
After you connect your Ecwid store to ShipStation, new orders placed in your store will automatically appear in your ShipStation account. ShipStation will receive the following information about each order:
- Order number
- Product name
- Product image
- Price
- SKU
- Product options (for instance, size: S, color: red)
- Order total
- Order date
- Customer email address
- Customer name and address
There may be a delay in synchronization, so if recent orders don't appear in ShipStation, refresh the ShipStation page or click the Update all Stores button in your ShipStation admin.
When the fulfillment status of the order changes to Shipped in ShipStation, the order will automatically change to Shipped in My sales → Orders in your Ecwid admin.
Once the order is marked as Shipped, a customer will receive a shipping confirmation email from your Ecwid store. If a carrier provides a tracking number, it will be included in the mail. Make sure to turn on the Order shipped toggle in Settings → Notifications in your Ecwid admin so customers would receive an automated email from your store.
Setting up ShipStation account and managing orders
To guarantee yourself the most convenient workflow you can set up your ShipStation account to match your business goals.
To begin with, set up your shipping options — add your location and weight of the package to get a rate and create a label. Rates are calculated based on postal codes, address type (residential or commercial), package type and service class. You can learn more about rates in the ShipStation article.
To start creating labels you also need to add your account for any postage provider ShipStation integrates with. You can add more carriers to your ShipStation account any time.
Once you set up your shipping settings and add the carrier you want to ship with, set up your printing settings and choose a type of label you need. Check the ShipStation instructions on how to set up printers in MacOS and Windows.
You can also create labels to ship internationally.
You can create automated rules to speed up the shipping process. Watch this quick video from ShipStation to learn more about order management.