Today, we’re very much pleased to announce that we’ve strengthened our relationship with Volusion! While we’ve had a Volusion integration for ShipStation for some time now, we’ve been working with the booming e-commerce company, and are delighted to tell you that we are now a certified Volusion Partner!

Volusion is a leading e-commerce software platform, powering thousands of e-commerce sites like 3M, Deloitte, and Nalgene. They’ve got a fantastic and very helpful blog where their “2-minute Tuesday” videos and regular postings help companies great and small succeed in the ecommerce world. They also boast free 24/7 support via phone, e-mail, and live chat. If you’re looking for a new shopping cart platform, and already use ShipStation, give them a look.

We really look forward to working tightly with Volusion to help bring all parties involved (meaning, you, too!) the greatest service and software available. We love helping our customers succeed, and making your lives easier, and we’re excited for the opportunity to do that on a more personal level with Volusion and their merchants.

Express 1, a provider of discounted USPS shipping postage, has expanded their services to include even more ways to save money on shipping via USPS.

USPS is, in many cases, the cheapest way to ship your goods from your warehouse or storeroom (perhaps your garage) to your buyer, whether they’re domestic or overseas. You probably started out doing the “I’ll pack these at home and then go to the post office and stand in line to purchase my labels and get my packages on their way.” The flat rate packages were an awesome addition to the postal lineup when they were added, but like so many others, you soon got tired of standing in line day after day. So, you found ShipStation, and started doing things online. Oh, how nice it is to not have to go through that long and laborious process anymore.

Maybe that was your progression in shipping out your own products as you grew. Maybe not. The fact of the matter is, you ship via USPS. And with ShipStation, you don’t have to do all that standing in line and waiting. You get your rates, and print your labels using your own printer.

For those of you who signed up for, and began taking advantage of ShipStation’s free Express 1 account, you saw how awesome their rates were. Well, we’re very pleased to let you—and all of our sellers—know that Express 1 has expanded their offering to include discounted USPS rates on even more products. You can now get deep discounts on all your domestic flat rate priority packages (small, medium, or large boxes, envelope, padded envelope, it doesn’t matter), and awesome Priority and Express Mail rates on anything else, 1 – 70 lbs! If you shipped with Express 1 previously, you know that Express 1’s discounts only extended to a couple of flat rate box types, and only a few of the lower weights, so you know what a huge opportunity this is!

If you ship via Express Mail, you get discounts on those, too. Anything in a flat rate box gets discounted, and if it’s in your own packaging, you get discounts on anything from a half-pound to 10 lbs. If you’re wondering, yes, this has also been expanded (weight limit upped from 2-10 lbs. & expansion in package types), and signifies another way for you to save some cash when shipping your orders out.

But what about international? Those discounted rates are still in place, just like they always were. Which means you have a very well-rounded offering, and tons of options for shipping your orders cheaply when choosing to ship via USPS with Express 1, through ShipStation. Want some details? Here’s a full table of their new, expanded offerings:

* You may use either your own packaging or USPS’s free shipping boxes

At the end of the day, the new expanded product offerings from Express 1 are awesome. Now that you’ve done yourself that huge favor by using ShipStation to avoid those long post office lines and streamline your entire shipping and fulfillment process, do yourself another favor and check out Express 1. Trust me, it’s something you won’t regret.

I’m Erika, the social media & content manager for ShipStation. You’ll find me on Twitter, Facebook, our Community Forums and the other areas of the ShipStation world. In my free time, I’m a lover of video games, my cats, and other generally nerdy things. :)

Right on the heels of a very exciting opportunity, we have another new integration to announce. We have just partnered up with Storenvy to offer all existing 28000+ stores (and all future stores) the ability to fulfill and ship all their orders quickly and efficiently!

For those of you less aware of what awesomeness Storenvy has to offer, here’s the gist: Storenvy offers both a marketplace and a storefront to their customers. As a shopper, you can go search for “Jewelry” and you’ll consequently get bombarded with a gajillion (yes, I actually used that word) results of fantastic, and creative jewelry of all shapes, sizes, and styles. They’re mainly creative based, so it’s not a place you’d go to necessarily find auto parts or something. However, if you’re looking for new cuff links or a dress to wear out on the town, you’ll have plenty of options from which to choose.

The actual integration between Storenvy and ShipStation is really easy to implement, too. (We go over the whole kit and caboodle in our help article here.) Once you do that, your orders get imported automatically, and then you’ll be able to quickly fulfill and ship your orders all while taking advantage of the free Express 1 and DYMO Endicia USPS accounts that come with your subscription.

Interested in learning a bit more about how ShipStation can help you with your existing Storenvy store? Check out our full features list and then watch some of our tutorial videos to see the app in motion.

If you’re not already a Storenvy user, you can check out their offerings (and how you can get a free storefront) here.

I’m Erika, the social media & content manager for ShipStation. You’ll find me on Twitter, Facebook, our Community Forums and the other areas of the ShipStation world. In my free time, I’m a lover of video games, my cats, and other generally nerdy things. :)

Over the past few weeks, we’ve implemented a ton of new features into ShipStation to make your lives easier and to delegate a bit for when you’ve got a ton of shipments to complete.

Let’s Talk Users

First, we’ve enabled orders to be tasked to certain users. So, if you have multiple users on your account, you’ll see this handy new button on your dashboard. Click on it, and a dropdown list of all your users will display. Clicking on one of those names will assign the order to that user, simple as that!

For Gold-and-above plans, you now have some extra security features, too. For any specific user, you can allow only orders assigned to them to be viewed, in addition to only seeing shipments that were created by that user. Finally, you can do something called “workstation approval.” This means that you can restrict the computers on which a person can use ShipStation, cutting down on shipments being created at any other place than where you deem.

Please Note This Important Change…

For everybody, we’re also implementing changes that restrict the ability for a user to be logged into different machines at the same time. This was a necessary change for many reasons, including maintaining data integrity, account security, and keeping the locked out users occurrences to a minimum.  If you currently have multiple individuals that are using the same login for their account, you will need to create new logins for those individuals.  You can do this in the Settings area under “Manage Users”.

Importing Orders & Tracking Info

In June, we reported on the ability to import your orders into ShipStation from a CSV (comma-separated values) file. Well, now the feature is fully out of beta and released to all subscribers on a Silver or higher plan. So, if you need to bulk import some orders, just get or create a CSV file and get to shipping them!

If you have a dropshipper or have ever manually shipped some packages, you’ve been able to mark orders a shipped, but updating the tracking info has been kind of a pain. No more! Now, as long as you’ve got the order and the tracking numbers, you can copy and paste the information directly into ShipStation. Once you’ve done that, you can choose to update the marketplace and/or the customers about that shipment. Voilà! Tons of orders shipped and recorded as such in only a few seconds.

Yahoo! (The company and the expression.)

We’re proud to announce our integration with Yahoo! Merchant Solutions, and add the ability to user your Yahoo! store with ShipStation. Now you can create your labels, communicate with your customers, and do everything you love to do in ShipStation with your Yahoo! store, too.

As you know, we’ve always got something in the works here @ShipStation, and you can bet you’ll see more coming from us in the near future, especially with the busy holiday season coming up soon!

I’m Erika, the social media & content manager for ShipStation. You’ll find me on Twitter, Facebook, and the other areas of the ShipStation world. In my free time, I’m a lover of video games, my cats, and other generally nerdy things. :)

It’s the first week of October. It is, officially, the 4th and final quarter of 2012. Thanksgiving is now just 52 days away, including today. Which means that you have 52 days until Black Friday, and then another 23 until Christmas Day. But…

You’ll be fine. Just follow these tips and you should be a bit more comfortable about the upcoming months. Remember, all this traffic is a great thing for you and your business. :)

1. Research. Before you do anything, you must research your position. See what your competition is doing. Try the Internet’s WayBack Machine and see if you can find out what promotions went on last year. You don’t have to beat it, but some of them may be clever enough to inspire you to make your own version for this year.
2. Pricing. You need to make sure that when people see your products, they immediately go “That’s a great value.” People during the holidays are buying a lot of merchandise, and the more valuable they feel your product is for their money, the better you and they will feel during and after the sale. Don’t offer your products for less than they are worth, but overpricing could kill you this holiday season.
3. Promotions. Sales are the lynchpin of Black Friday and holiday sales. With your pricing strategy, keep in mind the promotions that you’re planning to offer for these days and how you’re going to make sure you are still making a profit on your sales. Remember, most everybody’s horrible at fractions and percentages. So, use that to your advantage. Giving 50% more of a product free and a B1G1 seem the same to people purchasing, but the former is more likely to be easier on your pocket.
4. Shipping. If you don’t offer expedited shipping, now may be a time to look into it. Having the “order by [date] to receive by [date]” message on your website is paramount to preventing the majority of concerns on arrivals for e-commerce stores. For marketplaces & auctions, this is probably not as easy for you, but some sort of notification might be nice in your listings. Consider offering free or discounted shipping for some of your higher-selling products, or creating a discount around “order $X and get free shipping.”
5. Marketing. Every customer pretty much expects that you’re going to offer some sort of sale for Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday. Don’t let yourself get left by the wayside by not telling them about exactly what you’re doing. Make up a snappy title for your e-mail campaign that will leave others looking lame. If you participate in PPC ads, make sure that they’re also eye-catching, advertise whatever promotions you’re running, and call the customer to actually click on your ad. (And then make it worth their while when they actually get to the landing page. After all, you paid for that click.)
6. Record. Write down everything. Next year, around this time, you’ll love yourself for doing this. Time has a funny effect on memories, and writing yourself a diary of the time everything took to manage, what you did, what worked (and what didn’t), and the successes you experienced will help immensely when it’s time to do it all again.
7. Relax. You will get everything done. Don’t try to conquer the world, just do what you do the best that you can. These months are busy. They always have been; they always will be. So, take the moments that present themselves and relax. Wine, beer, potato chips, molten chocolate cake… whatever floats your boat. (You can see that food is my favorite way to indulge.)

As much as you can do ahead of time, do it. Automation can help you tackle this season, as well as a couple of extra hands on deck. Stock up on shipping labels, boxes, tape, and packing materials so that you’re ready to fulfill and ship orders almost as quickly as they come in.

Do you have some pearls of wisdom that you’ve gained through previous seasons? Let me know in the comments!

I’m Erika, the social media & content manager for ShipStation. You’ll find me on Twitter, Facebook, and the other areas of the ShipStation world. In my free time, I’m a lover of video games, my cats, and other generally nerdy things. :)

Our sporting of the fashionable and handy LOCK LACES™

Name: Louisa Eyler

Title: President

Company: Positive Distribution

Website: http://positivedistribution.com/

Louisa is the distributor for LOCK LACES™, a company that offers bungie cord-style laces for athletes’ running shoes. Her company has been tasked with the marketing, logistics and fulfillment for the brand. Unfortunately, she shortly found herself bogged down in hundreds of orders and hours of processing. Luckily, she found ShipStation, and voila, her day cleared up!

“I can have all of my hundreds of orders done, in less than an hour, and that would not be possible without ShipStation.”

We’re so glad you’re on board, Louisa! Congratulations on your successes and we wish you all the best!

Have you been experiencing slower than expected processing speeds with ShipStation? If so, we have some news that we’d like to share.

 
ShipStation makes heavy use of Javascript which allows us to provide a feature-rich user interface. JavaScript speed is very important in optimizing the overall performance of your ShipStation experience, including site navigation, order imports, batch processing and label generation. Unfortunately, all browsers are not created equal when it comes to Javascript performance. The following chart is from a ZDNet article that compared the major web browsers:

 
In the Futuremark Peacekeeper v2.0 benchmark test, Google Chrome was the clear winner in overall Javascript performance. If you’ve tried ShipStation with both Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, you’ve likely come to this conclusion as well. This is one of the reasons Google Chrome is now the most popular browser available (image courtesy of StatCounter.com):

 

 
If you prefer or need to use Internet Explorer over any other browser, then we have found a way to help. To increase the overall speed and performance of ShipStation through your Internet Explorer browser versions 6, 7, 8 and 9, you can install a Google Chrome plug-in called the Google Chrome Frame. The plug-in can be downloaded from the following link. Just hit “Accept and Install”, and you’re on your way to a much faster ShipStation (note, you will need to restart Internet Explorer after installing the plug-in).

 
http://www.google.com/chromeframe

 
Note that the plug-in is only used for web sites that explicitly support the Google Chrome Frame, which ShipStation does, so it won’t affect any other sites that you regularly visit. For your convenience, we have included a video to help better explain how Google Chrome Frame works:

 
We hope that you have found this information helpful and that you are now experiencing ShipStation as it was intended – sleek, powerful, and FAST!

We’re excited to announce Shipping Presets, a powerful feature suggested by ShipStation’s very own user community. Shipping Presets allow you to quickly apply settings to one or more orders.

 
Manage your presets by clicking on the Shipping Presets menu above the shipping fields in the Order Information pane.

 
Click “+ New Preset” to add a new preset. Supply values for some or all of the fields.

 
There are 3 ways to apply shipping presets:

1. Apply a preset to a single order from the Shipping Preset menu.
 

 
2. Press defined hotkey to apply preset to one or more orders.

 
3. Use Bulk Update to apply preset to multiple orders.
 

 
Register now for your 30 day free trial of one of the most powerful shipping applications on the market. You’ll have access to a fully functioning solution containing time-saving features and access to discounted shipping rates!

We have amazing customers who sell great products, and we love to spotlight them in our blog. This month’s spotlight is Conscious Box

Name: Jesse Richardson

Title:  CCO/CMO

Company: Conscious Box

Web Site: http://consciousbox.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/consciousbox
Twitter: @ConsciousBox

Where do you sell online?

You can purchase a subscription at ConsciousBox.com.

How did you come up with the idea to start an eco-friendly monthly box service?

Conscious Box is about helping people transition to a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. With a monthly box, we’re able to introduce subscribers to great products and companies right at their doorstep! In each box, you get the chance to discover new favorites while supporting more conscious consumption. It’s easy, fun, and like having your birthday every month!

What are some of your most memorable products that have been offered in your boxes?

We like to think that every month, all our products are the best. Of course, we’ve picked up a few favorites along the way: Natural Vitality has got the best vitamins and supplements around, Berry Plus sports the most creative packaging we’ve ever seen for laundry soap, and Vega One has introduced us to the most delicious tasting vegan protein blends. That’s not to suggest products like LARABAR, SeedBallz, Kelp Krunch, Wembé, and Planet Inc’s super-powered dishwashing liquid aren’t amazing though. Let’s just say we could go on for days about what memorable products have been featured in Conscious Box :)

How has ShipStation helped your business?

ShipStation has provided us with the shipping solution we’ve been looking for since we started nearly a year ago. Not only do we ship a consistent few thousand boxes each month, but we also deal with dozens of other orders, including press boxes and (of course) the occasional customer service needs. ShipStation brings the demands of each of these tasks together in one place and provides a functionality and layout that makes it all simple. It’s easy to organize our shipments, manual orders are user-proof, and we’ve got a system that we can trust to stay solid.

What is your favorite ShipStation feature?

Since we prefer our whole team to be knowledgeable about shipping, I know we’ve all got our own favorites. Mine, though, has got to be the simplicity behind entering manual orders and keeping track of shipments. It’s easy for me to get list of any new orders we need and remotely print them from my computer, so the labels are ready to go when I am. It’s turned a usually burdensome task into one that is easy for anyone – including the content guy (that’s me).

Looking for an eco-friendly gift box? Visit ConsciousBox.com for a monthly delivery of pure and sustainable products that are handpicked from businesses that care for the planet.

If you would like to be included in our monthly customer spotlight, please contact us and let us know. 

ShipStation is a web-based shipping application that is fully compatible with Mac OSX and Safari. Whether you want to print single or multiple labels, domestic or international, via USPS, UPS or FedEx, ShipStation does it all on your Mac without the need for external software. Our commitment to intuitive and intelligent shipping software was built with Mac users in mind!

ShipStation brings a rich set of features to Mac users who have traditionally been neglected by desktop shipping software. Importing orders from multiple marketplaces and shipping them using USPS, UPS or FedEx is a seamless experience in Safari or any other web browser you choose. Customizable automation rules help you build a shipping process that’s fast, consistent, and tailored specifically to your business needs. Best of all, ShipStation can be accessed from anywhere!

ShipStation Feature Highlights:

• Integrates with over 25 ecommerce platforms, including eBay, Amazon, Sears, and Etsy
• Generates USPS, UPS, and FedEx domestic and international labels, including all supporting international documentation
• Free Endicia subscription with every account
• Discounted shipping rates
• Time-saving features like batch printing and automation rules

At ShipStation, we care about the details too. By offering tools like a multi-carrier rate calculator, address validation checker, and product pick list generator, we help you to make quick and easy shipping decisions from within our platform.

If you’re looking for a powerful shipping application that runs effortlessly on a Mac, check out our 30-day free trial. Jennifer, an Apple user and founder of Gracefully Girly, gave us a shot and said, “I tried ShipStation and I’m in love. Pure love.“ We love hearing from our customers and discovering how we can continue providing top of the line shipping software for online retailers.