Deutsche Post

Deutsche Post is a postal service and courier company from Germany that delivers mail and parcels. It is the most popular courier service in Germany, so if you sell in Germany or plan to expand your business, you may want to ship your orders with Deutsche Post since your customers may expect it to appear as a shipping option at the checkout.

You can add various Deutsche Post shipping methods to your Ecwid store. You can offer your customers a door-to-door delivery by adding a custom table with rates or delivery through service points that can be added through the Sendcloud app. Depending on your business goals, you can add both options or just one of them.

Adding Deutsche Post door-to-door delivery

The standard delivery method allows your customers to receive a purchase at their home address that they filled in at checkout.

Though there is no automatic integration, you can manually add the necessary Deutsche Post delivery options with their rates to your online store checkout.

To offer Deutsche Post delivery options in your Ecwid online store, follow these steps:

Step 1. Check the Deutsche Post rates that they charge for sending orders of a certain weight to a customer location. This will help you charge your customers the delivery costs that are not lower than your actual delivery expenses.

Step 2. Add Deutsche Post delivery options in your store for different order weights and areas that you sell to:

1. From your Ecwid admin, go to Shipping & Pickup.
2. Click +Add Shipping.
3. Click Set Up Deutsche Post. This method is automatically offered for Germany-located stores. If you run business outside of Germany, click View all carriers and choose Deutsche Post from the list.
4. Set up a delivery option.
   You can set up custom rates for different customer addresses (zones) and order weights. Example:
   

   

   If you don’t want to charge your customers for delivery, you can set up free shipping for all orders in a certain area. Or you can limit free shipping availability by order subtotal, for example, if an order value is above €50 or choose other conditions.

After you set up the Deutsche Post delivery options, your customers will see only the options available for their order and address at checkout and will be able to pick one for their order.

Adding delivery through service points (via app)

Deutsche Post delivers not only door-to-door but offers thousands of acceptance points at a Packstation, in a post office or in a DHL Parcelshop. This method is basically a pick up, when a customer chooses a convenient packstation on the map at the checkout and their purchase is delivered there. This method is becoming one of the most favorite delivery options in Europe.

To set up service point picker at your checkout you need to connect your store to the Sendcloud app. Sendcloud is Europe's #1 shipping platform for e-commerce, so it can complement your store not only with a service point picker but with automating and streamlining your shipping routine.

To add Deutsche Post service points to your store checkout:

1. In the Ecwid App Market, find the Sendcloud app and click Install.
2. Choose to Log in to an existing Sendcloud account or to Create a new account:
   

   

3. A new tab will open where you can enter your Sendcloud credentials or create a new Sendcloud account.
4. After you finish creating new account, go back to your Ecwid admin. You may need to refresh the page to connect your Ecwid store to your Sendcloud account.
5. To activate Deutsche Post service points in your Ecwid store, you should first enable Deutsche Post in your Sendcloud account. To do so, in your Sendcloud account, go to Settings → Carriers & Pricing and enable the needed carrier:
   

   

6. You will have to fill in required information about your business, including your Account Number (EKP).
7. After enabling the Deutsche Post shipping method in your Sendcloud account, go to Settings → Integrations and click on the Edit button to change the shipping settings of your shop:
   

   

8. Tick the box Service Point and choose carriers for which you want to activate this delivery option. In our case it will be Deutsche Post.
   Note that at the checkout your customers will see all service points from all the carriers you enable on this step. If you want to offer only Deutsche Post Packstations, uncheck other carriers.
9. Go to your Ecwid admin and open Shipping & Pickup, then choose the Sendcloud box. The Sendcloud app will open, where you can set up two options for a service point delivery — simple shipping method and advanced shipping method:
   

   

10. (optional) Enabling a simple shipping method will be available to all customers from all countries and they will be charged an entered amount. Fill in an appropriate name such as Service Point Delivery so your customers could understand how their order will be delivered and the cost for this delivery option, then click Save.
11. (optional) Enabling an advanced shipping method will be available to customers and countries that you specified in the selected shipping method. You can choose from the list of existing shipping methods in your Ecwid store you wish to use as a service point delivery shipping method.
12. Click Save.
13. Select which shipping method you want to synchronize with the Sendcloud app. Orders fulfilled by the selected shipping methods will be shown in your Sendcloud account.
14. Select shipping region. If you deliver with Deutsche Post to pickpoints, you should select all cities where you want to deliver to.
15. (optional) Add shipping markup if you need to cover additional handling expenses such as packing or insurance.
16. (optional) Specify the order subtotal before discounts. The delivery method won’t be available at checkout for orders below that amount.

Once your shop is connected to Sendcloud, and you enabled the simple or advanced shipping method, your customers will see the service point map at the checkout:

After a customer places an order, the order’s information will appear in your Ecwid admin and your Sendcloud account in the Incoming orders. Once the order status is changed in your Ecwid store, it will be automatically changed in your Sendcloud account.