Details about ShipStation's Royal Mail integration. Includes requirements, connection process, features, submitting a sales order summary, and notes.
ShipStation’s integration with Royal Mail allows UK-based, ecommerce sellers to create domestic and international shipping labels for your small parcels to be delivered anywhere within Royal Mail 's extensive delivery network.
Royal Mail COVID-Related Service Updates
Due to Covid-19, as of 13 March 2020, items requiring a signature on delivery do not need to be signed for by the recipient. Instead, in these exceptional and difficult circumstances a code (XP1) will be entered into the handheld device upon delivery and this will constitute evidence of receipt.
Effective 9 May 2020, Royal Mail will suspend Saturday delivery of untracked letters and small packets. They will deliver these items Monday to Friday as normal.
For up to date information, check Coronavirus: changes to service regularly while the COVID-19 situation continues.
Connection Requirements:
Your Royal Mail account number
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Your Royal Mail Online Business Account username
This is your Royal Mail OBA email address used on the OBA login page.
To qualify, you must dispatch over 20 parcels a week though an active Online Business Account (OBA) with Royal Mail. Learn more about parcel delivery accounts, then visit Royal Mail's OBA enquire and register page to sign up for an account!
Note
Non-OBA accounts are not currently eligible to connect to ShipStation.
Ship From Address
Nickname for the account in ShipStation
Email address (used by ShipStation to notify you when Royal Mail is fully configured in your ShipStation account - it can be the same as the OBA email address, or can be a different one).
To connect your Royal Mail account to ShipStation, follow the steps below:
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Select the Royal Mail tile and click Connect.
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Fill out the registration form with your Royal Mail account information, and choose an Account Nickname you'll use to identify the carrier account in ShipStation.
Email Address vs OBA Email
The email address for your Online Business Account must be entered into the OBA Email field.
The contact email address in the Email Address field is just your preferred point of contact. It can be the same email address or it can be a different one.
Click Connect.
Royal Mail can take up to 5 to 7 business days to approve connecting your account to ShipStation. Once approved, ShipStation will email you a notification to let you know you can start shipping!
Should any error(s) on the registration form cause Royal Mail to reject the registration request, ShipStation will email you to let you know you need to make corrections.
These areas could include:
Shipping Address
OBA Email
Royal Mail Account Number
Once we email you, return to the Carrier Settings (Settings > Shipping > Carriers & Fulfillment) and click the Resubmit Registration link next to the Royal Mail account.
The registration pop-up will appear again so you can re-enter your account information, then click Connect. Once approved, we'll contact you!
ShipStation's integration with Royal Mail supports the following standard features:
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Common ShipStation Features |
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Additional Features
ShipStation's integration with Royal Mail allows for the following additional features:
Feature |
Description |
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Sales order summaries are required for each of your day's shipments. |
Royal Mail requires you to print a Sales Order Summary for your day's shipments. This is how Royal Mail invoices your label fees to your account. In ShipStation, generate your Sales Order Summary in |
ShipStation syncs with your active Royal Mail services |
Royal Mail offers a wide range of different services to dispatch your parcels. ShipStation will sync with your Royal Mail account daily so that only the active services for your Royal Mail account appear in ShipStation. NoteShipStation will only enable services if the services have been approved for your OBA account. If you need to enable or disable Royal Mail services, you must do so through your Royal Mail OBA account page. Contact your Royal Mail account representative if you have any questions about which services are available for your account. |
Saturday Guarantee |
When you create Royal Mail shipments on a Friday, select this option to ensure your parcels get delivered on Saturday. See the Royal Mail page on Special Delivery for more information and restrictions. NoteYou must use a Special Delivery Guaranteed service type with Saturday Guarantee. |
Local Collect |
Designate that the recipient will pick up their parcel at a local postal facility. With this option, the Recipient address used for the parcel should match the local postal facility. See the Royal Mail page on Local Collect for more information and restrictions. |
Safeplace |
Designate that the parcel can be left in a safe location, and provide instructions for the delivery driver on where to leave the package. See the Royal Mail page on Safeplace for more information and restrictions. |
Consequential Loss |
Purchase Consequential Loss coverage to protect against loss, damage, or delay of the parcel. Compensation claims must be made through Royal Mail's Customer Service team within 14 days of posting. For more information on coverage for Consequential Loss, see the leaflet available at Post Office ® branches, or ask at the counter for Terms and Conditions applicable to Consequential Loss. |
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View the Open End of Day section.
You should now see your shipment count for the current date.
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Click Close Shipments for the Royal Mail line item.
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Click Close All, or select the desired shipments and click Close Selected.
Repeat steps 4 - 5 if you need to close another day's shipments.
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Click the Print Selected button to print out the Sales Order Summary.
This will transmit your shipment information to Royal Mail electronically so you can be properly invoiced. When you drop off your day's shipments, be sure to also include the printed form.
Remember these points about ShipStation's integration with Royal Mail:
ShipStation cannot display estimated rates for Royal Mail services, as Royal Mail does not currently allow third-party apps, like ShipStation, to connect to their Rates API.
Set pickups (daily and other schedules) within Royal Mail, not in ShipStation.
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Royal Mail requires you to generate a Sales Order Summary, which you can then print if necessary. Once submitted, ShipStation sends your shipment information back to Royal Mail and you can view your shipment fees through your OBA account.
Important
Once a Sales Order Summary is generated, the labels included in it cannot be voided through ShipStation.
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While ShipStation does display a tracking number for shipments that include tracking, Royal Mail tracking events do not update in ShipStation. All tracking must be done on Royal Mail tracking page. This also means the following ShipStation features cannot be used with Royal Mail services:
Delayed marketplace notifications
Delayed customer email notifications
Delivery email notifications
Branded Tracking Page
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ShipStation does not generate customs forms for Royal Mail services. You must create them outside of ShipStation. For printable customs form templates, as well as country-specific requirements for customs forms, review the following resources:
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To create return labels, Royal Mail must approve you for at least one of the following services:
Tracked Returns 24 - TSN
Tracked Returns 48 - TSS
Royal Mail's connection pop-up does not validate your input. If you input incorrect info into the fields, Royal Mail will contact ShipStation about it (during the “pending” phase). If this occurs, ShipStation will then contact you to get the correct information and resubmit it to Royal Mail.
Royal Mail labels cannot be voided in ShipStation once you have closed the End of Day. You will need to contact Royal Mail to void after that.