When it comes to building a successful business, there are few things more important that order fulfillment. Customers need to have faith in you and that you will deliver the products they ordered on time.
It’s easy for people to become overwhelmed when starting an ecommerce shop.
It is important to build relationships with companies like FedEx or USPS, to figure out how to handle orders from Amazon and Shopify, and to provide excellent customer service. You also need to think about shipping labels and packaging.
Shippo and ShipStation, two of the most well-known solutions for shipping management based on cloud technology, are Shippo (and ShipStation). These tools provide everything you need to run a profitable business, beyond standard shipping services.
Review: Your Guide To Shippo
Shippo simplifies the order fulfillment process for businesses.
The service was founded in 2013 and has been a success for over 35,000 online merchants. All of them continue to use its shipping management tools. Shippo is a solely focused on ecommerce merchants and the products that they sell in the online marketplace. You can integrate the Shippo experience in your online store with a flexible API.
Shippo assists companies with their shipping rates, inventory management and even building relationships with companies such as DHL. Shippo simplifies fulfillment by creating a strong connection between your company’s shipping processes and your company. Once Shippo is connected to your website, it keeps track of customer orders and inventory.
Shippo will then transmit all order information to your online ecommerce system. This allows your small business to keep track of customer orders.
Shippo is a shipping software solution that covers more than the US, unlike other solutions. Shippo ships to almost every country in the world, and is available worldwide. Shippo’s most notable features include:
- Shipping with white-label or branded
- SLA 99.9% uptime
- Completely maintained documentation
- Ship for free or pay to ship
- API calls for real-time sync to your dashboard
- Access to Shippo or carrier accounts
- Popular code libraries
- Shipping assistance internationally
Shippo may lack some features that make it less appealing to small business owners. It’s easier to use Shippo to manage your shipping and handling than to do it all yourself. Shippo, which supports more than 35,000 users, is widely regarded as one of the most affordable options on the market.
The Pros & Cons of Shippo Order Fulfillment
Shippo can be used to manage inventory and order fulfillment. This service, like many other leading fulfillment solutions, comes with a number of great features for small businesses. Shippo can be used to automate and enhance various aspects of your fulfillment process. Shippo reduces shipping costs and makes shipping more efficient with an easy-to-use backend.
Pros
- For beginners, a free trial is available
- Flexible pricing for a variety of packages
- Low-cost carrier rates
- Great back-end environment
- Components that are easy to use
- Many integrations and flexibility
- Convenient best-in-class technology
Cons
- Limited customer service support
- Security features for basic protection
- Billing issues
- Discounts may be lower
Shippo Order Fulfillment: Pros
Shippo makes it easy and quick to automate different aspects of your business. Everything from Magento conversions to eBay orders and Etsy orders can be handled in one place. Shippo offers many benefits.
There are many pricing options to choose from so it is easier to find the right solution for you. Shippo’s interface is easy to use, which makes it an excellent choice for beginners who don’t know much about websites and coding.
Let’s look at some of the main benefits of Shippo more closely.
1. It is easy to use
Shippo can be used by people who ship between 50-5,000 orders per month. This makes Shippo great for small businesses and beginners. There are many ways to try Shippo. The PAYG plan can be added to your ecommerce software or you can try the free trial. Shippo is easy to use with its basic features and simple layout.
2. Flexible Integrations
Integrations with Shippo can be made on an unlimited basis. Integrations with Shippo are possible with over 50 shipping companies, ERPs, inventory management solutions, ecommerce platforms and marketplaces. Shippo can be easily connected to your Etsy or Amazon, BigCommerce and Weebly stores.
3. Simple pricing model
Shippo’s best feature is the variety of pricing options it offers. The number of shipping shipments you make each month will determine which pricing model is best for you. Shippo offers several premium packages and a pay as you go plan for $0.05 per shipping label. Using the same technology that you already use simplifies your day-today operations.
4. The best-in-class technology
Shippo is great because it offers more than one store to each user. You can coordinate your order fulfillment strategy across all stores from one platform if you are an omnichannel seller. Here you can also integrate your marketplace accounts.
Shippo keeps track of all the necessary order information from every transaction. You can then calculate the expected arrival time for a package.
Shippo Order Fulfillment
Shippo excels in many areas. Shippo seems to be a good choice for those who ship between 50-5,000 orders per month. If you sell fewer products, however, you might consider using the free plans offered externally by companies like ShippingEasy.
Shippo can be a great choice for integrations and ease-of-use, as well as flexibility in pricing and functionality. However, there are some areas where it is not so good. These are the main issues that we experienced with Shippo.
1. Limited customer support
You need to know where to turn for help with shopping carts, tracking shipment movements, and packing slips. Shippo does not have the best customer support. Shippo has a resource center where you can find information such as FAQs, tutorials, and informative articles. Shippo agents may not be able to answer all your questions as frequently as you would like.
2. Questions about billing
Many order management and fulfillment businesses may have technical issues. This is especially common with shipping labels and billing issues. Shippo users have reported unexpected shipping label changes and difficulty returning packages and post.
3. Security features for basic protection
Although Shippo offers basic security and privacy features for your company, that is about it. There are no advanced options available, such as the ability to grant permissions to different accounts. All users who access Shippo will have the exact same permissions. The Shippo website doesn’t provide much information about privacy strategies.
4. Not the best deals
Shippo has a very good pricing structure, especially if you like the Pay as You Go option that allows you to buy only what you need. Shippo’s discounts could be lower. Users report that Shippo’s discounted rates are acceptable, but not as good as those offered by some other companies. You might want to shop around before signing up.
Shippo: Verdict
Shippo is a great choice if you’re looking for a shipping and order fulfillment system that’s simple, convenient, and easy to use. This company’s state-of-the-art technology combined with its flexible pricing approach makes it an excellent choice for companies looking to grow quickly.
Shippo’s easy-to-use interface and great usability make it a perfect software for merchants who don’t have much technical knowledge. This product is not for everyone. The security features are basic as mentioned, which can be problematic for companies working in highly regulated industries.
Although the pricing structure and discounts offered by Shippo are great, there are still ways to save money with other providers. Shippo customers occasionally report billing errors and issues.
Customers have a problem with Shippo’s customer service. Although you can find many of the answers to your questions in the FAQ and documentation, it’s not always possible to get real human support. Shippo is not always available to help you with your concerns.
Overall Review: Your Guide to ShipStation
ShipStation , a shipping and order fulfillment platform that is very similar to Shippo, offers ShipStation . This web-based platform works well with shopping carts, ecommerce platforms and shipping carriers. There are many other sales channels that can be used as well.
ShipStation was founded in 2011 by Jason Hodges and Bryon Wier. Since then, it has become one of the most popular shipping software solutions. ShipStation is a multi-carrier web-based solution that streamlines fulfillment. It offers various features that automate and process orders from popular shopping carts.
ShipStation’s unique ability to import data from multiple sources online at once is one of its most appealing features. This allows you to sync your order fulfillment strategies, whether you sell on Amazon, Facebook, or your own website.
ShipStation provides all-in-one order fulfillment services. It allows you to embed a variety digital selling platforms, compare shipping rates between companies, and facilitate customer self-service. Access to advanced features such as geo-tracking can be made available for your deliveries.
ShipStation’s key features include:
- Management of orders
- Integrations with more than 70 platforms
- Uploading CSV and APIs
- Delivery management
- Label creation
- Branding
- Inventory management
- Alerts about inventory
- Reports custom
ShipStation, like Shippo, offers flexible fulfillment solutions and multiple pricing options. The number of shipments that you send each month and the number of business accounts required to calculate your price will determine the pricing.
ShipStation: The pros and cons
ShipStation has been a leading tool for fulfillment in the market today. Companies of all sizes can use the web-based shipping platform to simplify and streamline their shipping strategies. The software offers a variety of powerful integrations, which make it easier for you to track your entire business.
ShipStation has its downsides. ShipStation seems to have a difficult time with customer service. Your options for customer support are limited if you have a lower plan. It’s difficult to get quick responses to your questions, even if you pay a bit more.
Pros
- A wide range of customization options available
- Shipping internationally available
- Many marketplace integrations
- Simple to use back-end interface with automated features
Cons
- Customer service is not the best
- Some integrations are not as effective as others
- Common technical issues include
ShipStation Review: What are the Pros?
We’ve already discussed the advantages and disadvantages of Shippo, but it’s worth looking at the downs and upsides of ShipStation. ShipStation excels at customization and integrations. This makes it an excellent choice for companies who want to get the most out of their software.
Another positive benefit is the intuitive back-end, which focuses on ease-of use. Let’s look at ShipStation in detail.
1. Very flexible
ShipStation can import information from more than 40 sales channels, making it similar to Shippo. ShipStation has been praised by users for its ability to lift data from packages labels and allow you to modify your shipping strategy as you wish.
You can also integrate with top shipping solutions such as Canada Post and Beyond to provide a great ecommerce shipping experience.
2. International presence
Because they are limited in their focus, some fulfillment services can make it difficult for larger companies to get started. ShipStation doesn’t have this problem. Shipping with anyone is possible, from FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) to Royal Mail in any country.
You have many options when you start to expand your business and want to explore new markets.
3. Many marketplace integrations
Customers love Shipping Station for much more than flat shipping rates and customized return labels. This tool can be integrated with many other solutions. You can integrate this tool with ecommerce platforms and customer relationship management tools.
Some of the available integrations include Amazon, Etsy and Shopify, WooCommerce. Magento, Walmart, Weebly and OpenCart.
4. Efficacy of automation
ShipStation allows you to automate many processes, which can make order fulfillment much easier for you. To increase your sales chances, you can ask ShipStation to analyze customer preferences. You can also set filters to control how the system reacts when a particular action occurs.
Automatic alerts can be sent to your email address or to those of your team members. You can also compare the rates of your carriers in real time to lower fulfillment costs.
ShipStation Review: What are the Cons?
There are some limitations that ShipStation has that you should be aware of. Comparing ShipStation and Shippo will require you to carefully consider each element of these tools, from the customer support you have access to, to the integrations that allow for webinars, and stamps.com.
These are the downsides to using ShipStation.
1. Poor customer service
ShipStation does not offer 24/7 customer support. The company provides agents in different countries only for a set time period, which is between 8am-6pm. You can only access phone support for those who are on a higher-paying plan.
Customers often find the technical support difficult to use and don’t always receive the best answers.
2. Integration questions
There is always the possibility that not all integrations will work properly when you have many integration options, such as ShipStation. Some integrations are not as seamless as they should have been. Sometimes, there may be errors in information that is sent to ShipStation.
Customer service can help you if there is a problem with your integration.
3. It is possible to have technical issues frequently
ShipStation appears to be having a major problem with technical issues. Many negative reviews are out there, indicating that technical problems such as slow software, bugs and downtime are very common.
When you are unable to rely on customer support to fix your problem quickly, technical difficulties can be a major issue.
ShipStation Reviews – The Verdict
ShipStation is an excellent service with many solid features. Although the software has been through rigorous testing, it does still occasionally have bugs. ShipStation is a great option for small and mid-sized businesses that need multi-carrier access.
ShipStation offers many great features. You get more integrations than with Shippo and a wider range of advanced features.
This also means it takes longer to learn ShipStation and understand how it works. Once you’ve mastered the basics, however, you can access a number of powerful tools to achieve sensational order fulfillment.
Shippo and ShipStation: The Best Value For Money
We recommend Shippo to customers who need some help with order fulfillment. This is a great tool, easy to use, and loaded with great features. You can also get a free trial and an adjustable pricing structure that will help you keep track of your finances.
Pricing earns Shippo extra points. Shippo pricing may not offer as many options as ShipStation. Smaller companies can still access shipping methods at a fraction of the cost with the pay-as-you go plan.
ShipStation may be a better option for larger companies. ShipStation is the best choice for international shippers. ShipStation offers many advanced features and powerful integrations that will make your life easier.
ShipStation is able to automate certain operations within your service using custom automation rules. Our opinion. Shippo will be the first produce you pick when you start. ShipStation will be your first stop when you are ready to upgrade.
