ShipStation Review

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Date Established

November 2011

Location

Austin, TX

Overview:

ShipStation is a web-based shipping solution for eCommerce retailers. Designed to streamline the fulfillment process, this software offers a huge number of integrations that allow you to synchronize your business with the most popular sales channels, shopping carts, payment gateways, and mail carriers.

The company was founded in 2011 by Jason Hodges and Byron Wier. Based out of Austin, TX, ShipStation boasts 40+ employees and a reputation as a leading company in its field.

Over the course of this review I’ll be highlighting the major features this application has to offer. I’ll also take a look at the community response and volunteer my own thoughts on the user experience. Let’s get into it.

Pricing:

Here are the different plans ShipStation offers:

• Bronze
  • $25/month
  • 500 shipments a month
  • Unlimited stores
  • 1 user
  • Standard labels and packing slips
  • Email and community forum support
• Silver
  • $45/month
  • 1,500 shipments a month
  • Unlimited stores
  • 2 users
  • Customized packing slips and branded labels
  • Live Chat, email and community forum support
• Gold
  • $65/month
  • 3,000 shipments a month
  • Unlimited stores
  • 3 users
  • Customized packing slips and branded labels
  • Live chat, email, and community forum support
• Platinum
  • $95/month
  • 6,000 shipments a month
  • Unlimited stores
  • 5 users
  • Customized packing slips and branded labels
  • Live chat, email, and community forum support
• Enterprise
  • $145/month
  • Unlimited shipments a month
  • Unlimited stores
  • 10 users
  • Customized packing slips and branded labels
  • Live chat, email, and community forum support

There’s a free 30-day trial that includes access to all features, with no credit card required. If you’re not satisfied with the product within 90 days, ShipStation offers a full refund, no questions asked.

Web-Based or Locally Installed:

The software is entirely web-based. There is nothing to install.

Hardware and Software Requirements:

No hardware or software is required. All you need are a web browser and an Internet connection.

Ease of Use:

The user interface (UI) for ShipStation emphasizes function over aesthetic. Vertical and horizontal menus frame the page, with the center of the screen reserved for a table or graph, depending on which tool is in use. The four main menu items are Insights (i.e. Analytics), Orders, Shipments, and Products.

When I first started using the software, I was a little overwhelmed by the UI. There are a ton of options, menus, and sub-menus displayed on most pages. This doesn’t make the software impossible to use, but it does require some patience.

There are plenty of video tutorials available to get you started, along with a large knowledge base and community forums to fill in the gaps. A personal account manager is also available (they’ll contact you via email after signup) to guide you through the setup phase of your account.

One of the more handy features in ShipStation is the ability to create custom views. Custom views allow the user to tailor the user interface to their liking through a number of different criteria. You can choose from a couple different interface sizes, decide which menus you’d like to include, set your default page and more. This feature can be accessed by visiting the Settings page and selecting Display Options. To me, custom views are the mark of pro-grade software, and any application that implements these well is going to get high marks from me.

Automation is another highly sought after feature in enterprise software, and ShipStation includes this as well. Using automation, you can create a set of rules that are applied if an order fits the right criteria. For example, you could set a default shipping service for orders received from a specific country, or do something as simple as automatically add tags to certain types of orders. I really like this kind of functionality, and was glad to see it included here.

While some of the more advanced tools take time to get the hang of, I was creating shipping labels and packing slips within a few minutes of signing up for my trial. It’s very usable software.

Features:

ShipStation has no shortage of great features. Here are some of the best:

• Integrations for USPS, UPS, FedEx and DHL accounts
• Free Express 1 account with discounts on USPS Priority and Express Mail
• Integrations for all major online shopping carts and marketplaces
• API access and Custom Store Integration
• Automatic order retrieval from multiple sales channels
• Customized email confirmations and tracking info
• Shipping rates calculated and compared in real time
• Batch-printing for up to 500 orders at once
• The ability to print labels and packing slips together
• Custom branding on packing slips, shipping labels, and shipping confirmation emails
• Automated shipping options with pre-defined rules and order filters
• Returns processing with a single click
• Reporting tools for orders, products, shipping costs and more. I’ll go into more detail in the next section.

Reports:

ShipStation has great reporting tools that can be accessed on the Insights page. Data is filtered by date range and other criteria, depending on the type of Report. You can also export information to Excel or PDF. Here’s a look at the different options:

• Reports:
  • Order Details
  • Item Demand Summary
  • Shipment Count by User
  • Shipped Items
  • Buyer Comments
  • Country Comparison
  • Postage Purchase History
  • Product Sales
  • Shipping Cost
  • Shipping Manifest
• Exports:
  • Customers
  • Orders
  • Shipped Items
  • Shipped Orders
• Charts and Graphs:
  • Operations
  • Sales Trends
  • Customer Overview
  • Product Highlights

Integrations and Add-Ons:

One of ShipStation’s biggest selling points is that it integrates with an enormous number of carriers, marketplaces and shopping carts. I’m not exaggerating. The list is crazy long, compared to their competitors.

If by chance you have a platform that doesn’t Integrate with ShipStation, you can utilize the API , provided you’re on the Gold plan or above. The Custom Store Integration feature is also available if you need to import orders from a source that isn’t natively supported. Consult with your developers to see which option is best for your company.

Here are the main integrations included in ShipStation:

Carriers:

• Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
• FedEx and FedEx Canada
• UPS
• USPS
• Stamps.com
• DHL Express and DHL Global Mail
• Express 1
• OnTrac
• ShipWire
• Canada Post
• APC
• FirstMile
• Globegistics
• Shipsurance

Marketplaces & Shopping Carts:

• Amazon
• eBay
• Etsy
• BigCommerce
• AmeriCommerce
• Shopify
• Magento
• WooCommerce
• Yahoo Store
• Volusion
• Miva Merchant
• SquareSpace
• Square
• PrestaShop
• Celery
• CrateJoy
• OpenCart
• OpenSky
• Storeenvy
• DEAR Inventory
• Zen Cart

Other Integrations:

• Newgistics
• MijoShop
• CS-Cart
• FoxyCart
• ChannelAdvisor
• StitchLabs
• PayPal
• Brightpearl
• SkuVault
• Connex for Quickbooks

This is only a partial list of the Integrations offered. You can find a complete catalog here.

Customer Service and Technical Support:

All customers have access to support through email, live webinars, the ShipStation knowledge base and the community forum. Gold plans or higher can receive chat support.

My interactions with the Customer Service team were satisfactory, but not outstanding. The turnover time on my support tickets was 1 business day, across the board. The email responses I received read as detached and boilerplate, and they repeatedly suggested that I initiate a feature request if something didn’t work the way I wanted it to. Overall the support team did their job, but I didn’t ever feel like they went above and beyond. Maybe they shouldn’t have to, though.

Types of Support:

• Email
• Knowledge Base
• How-To Videos
• Live Webinars
• Community Forums

Support Hours: 8am – 8pm CST, Monday – Friday

Negative Reviews and Complaints:

While there are not a large number of negative reviews about ShipStation, it didn’t take me long to find complaints. Here’s one from Shopify’s AppStore page:

ShipStation was just great until a few months ago. Then things started going wrong. The app began to lose track of our scale at random times and could no longer read weights. At first we thought it was the computer we were using so we bought a new one but it did not help. I tried downloading ShipStation Connect and reinstalling it but it still did not fix it. So we decided maybe it was our scale and replaced that as well. All to no avail, so I went to the forum to see if there was anyone else having issues. I found not one but many others having the same problem with the printer or the scale.

I also found a review stating that ShipStation doesn’t handle high order volume well. For example, if the software receives 10,000+ orders in a batch, it essentially makes the search algorithm unusable for any of those orders. Companies that work with that kind of volume should take note. UPDATE: ShipStation has addressed this issue with a tool called Cloud Search. According to their support team, this feature is not advertised on their website, but is available as an add-on. For pricing information and more details, speak with a Customer Service Representative.

Overall, customers seem happy with ShipStation. The complaints I’ve found have been about really specific issues, not about the overarching design and functionality of the software.

Positive Reviews and Testimonials:

ShipStation is a BBB Accredited Business and is currently graded A+. There have been zero complaints registered in the last three years.

Here are some customer testimonials from the website:

ShipStation’s robust platform has allowed for us to manage, track, and sort our orders into a format that allows for an efficient operation.

– Kevin Barry, Founder, FilterEasy

I completely rely on ShipStation for my orders, packing slips, shipping labels and pick lists. It just keeps getting better and better.

– Saremy Duffy, Owner, Chicken Boots

Here’s another positive review from the Etsy community:

I bit the bullet a few months ago & love [ShipStation]! Mostly for International orders. It’s the best! Every time I walk into the post office & see that GIGANTIC line I get a big smile on my face cause I never have to do that again. Worth every penny!

Security:

The website employs HTTPS encryption.

Final Verdict on ShipStation:

ShipStation works. The software employs solid design, has obviously been tested thoroughly, and is able to execute its various tasks efficiently. If you’re a small to medium-sized business owner, I can happily recommend this application to you.

It’s not perfect, though. The interface is a little byzantine, and the Customer Service team is competent but joyless. However, if you’re willing to invest some time into learning the workflow, you’ll get a lot out of it.

What I mean to say is, ShipStation is business software for business people. They’re not trying to sell you a story about how startups can change the world, or about how their employees are awesome. They’re trying to sell you a product that makes shipping quicker and easier. And ShipStation does just that.

Check out the 30 day trial right here.

• Bio
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Jon Titterington

Writer at Merchant Maverick

Jon Titterington is a writer from Los Angeles, California. He first started working in tech in 2006.

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