---
title: "ShipStation’s 2026 Merchant Insights Report Ebook"
url: "https://www.shipstation.com/guides/shipstations-2026-merchant-insights-report-ebook/"
type: "guides"
modified: "2026-10-14T09:28:42-05:00"
---
REPORT

ShipStation's 2026 Merchant Insights Report Ebook
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What 868 merchants told us about how they manage freight today, where it fragments, and the second shipping workflow that never caught up.

 ![](https://www.shipstation.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/2026-Merchant-Insights-Ebook-Cover-V2-1024x639.png)

ShipStation surveyed hundreds of retail merchants to understand how businesses are navigating today’s economic pressures, shipping challenges, and growth opportunities. Their responses reveal a clear tension: merchants feel confident about their businesses, but rising shipping costs and fragmented operations are making growth harder to achieve.

For 62% of merchants, high shipping and freight rates are major obstacles, but the challenge goes beyond rising costs. Most merchants who ship freight manage it through a third-party provider disconnected from their parcel operation. This results in a second shipping workflow—with separate systems, rate quotes, tracking, and invoices that creates more complexity and less visibility.

At the same time, merchants are looking for a better way forward. Seventy-four percent say having a single provider for parcel shipping, freight, and warehousing would make a big difference.

Download the 2026 Merchant Insights Report for a deep dive into the data and to explore what 868 retail merchants told us about shipping costs, freight, operational fragmentation, and peak-season pressures—and discover why bringing your shipping operations together could be the next step toward more efficient, scalable growth.

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