ShipStation has expanded capabilities with new inventory, returns, and analytics features. They point out, quite rightly, that what works for a retailer shipping 50 orders per month starts breaking down at 500 orders per month. As businesses grow, their fulfillment needs evolve, and ShipStation are always working with their clients to help grow their business, which is why they are a sponsor of the new ChannelX eBook ‘15 UK Growth Channels‘, where you’ll find new channels to expand on.
Want to know more about the New ShipStation features? Well possibly the best way is to try them out for yourself with a free ShipStation trial – you don’t even need your credit card unless you decide it’s for you!
New ShipStation Features
The new ShipStation features can be broken down into four main building blocks to bolster your back end operations, all from a single platform – Cost Control; Inventory; Returns; and Insights.
Smart Shipping Cost Control with Rate Shopper
When you’re processing 500 orders, that manual rate shopping becomes impossible—and the cost of suboptimal carrier choices starts adding up fast. Instead of defaulting to your “usual” carrier or making quick decisions under pressure, ShipStation’s new Rate Shopper automatically evaluates every shipment against your business criteria and selects the optimal choice from up to 200 carriers
- Automatically compares up to 200 carriers for every shipment
- Selects optimal carrier based on your criteria (cost, speed, or value)
- Start immediately with built-in rules or create custom automation for specific needs
Inventory and Warehouse Management
Inventory has been and always will be a tricky balancing act. too much stock ties up capital, while selling out of a line means lost sales. With ShipStation’s Inventory and Warehouse Management you get forecasting tools that analyze sales patterns to anticipate demand during seasonal spikes. Purchase order functionality lets you use that forecasting data to generate and send purchase orders to vendors in a snap, eliminating guesswork.
- Real-time inventory tracking across all sales channels
- Demand forecasting and automated reorder calculations
- Mobile barcode scanning for receiving and picking product
- Mobile picking for most cost-effective and efficient order fulfillment
- Lot tracking for batch management
Returns and Exchanges
69% of customers are willing to switch brands for more convenient return options, so ShipStation’s Returns and Exchanges feature transforms this pain point into a competitive advantage. Customers use a branded self-service portal to initiate returns on their own timeline, while you get admin oversight and Returns Management.
- Branded customer self-service portal
- Admin oversight and Return Management Authorization lifecycle management
- Integrated exchanges to retain revenue
- Upsell opportunities within the returns process
Analytics
ShipStation Analytics transforms your operational data into actionable insights, whether you’re using our interface directly or integrating the data into your existing business systems through the ShipStation API. Out-of-the-box dashboards provide immediate visibility into shipping costs, carrier performance, and profitability across orders, channels, and products—all powered by 100+ data points.
- Customizable dashboards with cost and performance visibility
- Revenue vs. fulfillment profitability tracking
- Carrier performance insights and trend analysis
- ShipStation API access for existing business intelligence tools
