Connect GLS Germany, Austria, Belgium, France or Ireland

GLS Germany, GLS Austria, GLS Belgium, GLS France and GLS Ireland send GLS parcels through ShipIT, GLS’s shipping system in those countries: parcels within the country, across the EU and to Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe outside the EU, next-day express, express outside Europe, delivery to GLS ParcelShops and parcel lockers, collections with Pick&Ship and Pick&Return, and return labels and QR codes for your customers’ returns. Each country is its own card on All carriers, and all five use the same form. GLS Belgium also ships from Luxembourg. GLS in Denmark is a different card with its own form: see Connect GLS Denmark. For Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia, see Connect GLS (MyGLS); for the Netherlands, Connect GLS Netherlands. The fields that every carrier shares are on Carrier credentials.

You do not pick a sender address on this form. Add your addresses under the organization menu → Manage → Addresses. You choose the sender address on each shipment or in a shipping rule. Connect the card for the country your GLS contract is with. Every outbound product ships from an address in that country (for GLS Belgium, Belgium or Luxembourg). Returns can come from further away: see After you connect.

Before you start

A contract with GLS in the country you connect, and your GLS Contact ID: the ID GLS gave you with the contract that your parcels are shipped from.
Your own app on GLS’s developer portal, with its Client ID and Client secret. GLS must enable the app for ShipIT and for your Contact ID: ask your GLS contact to arrange it. Zippendo books with your app, so your parcels and invoices stay on your own GLS contract.
To send outside the EU, GLS must also enable your app for its Customs API: Zippendo sends the customs data of each parcel there.
For GLS Shop Returns label and GLS Shop Returns QR code, GLS must also enable your app for its Shop Returns API and give you a Shop Returns app ID. Not needed with Test mode on.
For Test mode, an app and a Contact ID that GLS has enabled for its test system. Your live app does not work there unless GLS enables it for testing too.

You can connect the same GLS country more than once, for example once per Contact ID. Give each connection its own Carrier name. Learn more on each card opens that country’s GLS website.

Connect your GLS country

Open All carriers

In the sidebar, click Carriers, then open the All carriers tab.

Find your GLS country

Find the card for the country your GLS contract is with: GLS Germany, GLS Austria, GLS Belgium, GLS France or GLS Ireland. Click Connect on it.

Fill in the form

The Connect carrier window opens. Enter a Carrier name, your Client ID, Client secret and Contact ID. Shop Returns app ID and Test mode are under Optional fields.

Connect the carrier

Click Connect. You see “Carrier connected”, and the carrier appears on the My carriers tab.

Fields on the form

Field	Required	What to enter
Carrier name	Yes	The name you see on My carriers and when you pick a carrier on a shipment. It starts as the card’s name, for example GLS Germany.
Brand	No	Shown only if your organization has brands. The form says: “Only this brand can use this carrier.” Leave it empty to let every brand use it.
Client ID	Yes	The Client ID of your app on GLS’s developer portal. The form says: “The Client ID of your app on GLS’s developer portal, which GLS Germany has enabled for ShipIT.” The country is the card’s own name.
Client secret	Yes	The Client secret of the same app, exactly as GLS shows it.
Contact ID	Yes	Your GLS Contact ID, without spaces, at most 20 characters. The form says: “Your GLS Contact ID, as issued by GLS Germany with your contract.”
Shop Returns app ID	No	Only for GLS Shop Returns label and GLS Shop Returns QR code: the app ID GLS sent you when it enabled Shop Returns. The form says: “Only for the GLS Shop Returns label and QR code products: the app ID GLS enabled for Shop Returns, as GLS sent it to you.”
Test mode	No	A checkbox, off by default. On: GLS’s test system. Off: GLS’s live service. The form says: “Use GLS’s test system. Requires an app and a Contact ID that GLS enabled for testing.”

Connect does nothing until Carrier name, Client ID, Client secret and Contact ID have a value. Zippendo saves your details without checking them with GLS. A mistake shows up the first time you send a shipment.

After you connect

The carrier appears on My carriers with a Connected badge and a Beta badge. You choose the product on each shipment or in a shipping rule, not on this form. See Carrier products and services.

Product	Use it for
GLS BusinessParcel	Delivery to an address in the carrier’s own country. GLS Belgium delivers in Belgium and Luxembourg.
GLS EuroBusinessParcel	Delivery to an address in another EU country that GLS serves by road. Not Cyprus or Malta, and from GLS Ireland not Croatia.
GLS Parcel outside the EU	Delivery to an address in Europe outside the EU, with the customs data GLS needs. See Customs outside the EU. Not offered by GLS France.
GLS ExpressParcel	Express delivery the next working day to an address in the carrier’s own country (for GLS Belgium, Belgium). Add a delivery window as a service, or leave it off for delivery by the end of the day. GLS France delivers by 13:00.
GLS ParcelShop Delivery	Delivery to a GLS ParcelShop you choose on the shipment. Within the country, and to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain. From GLS Austria: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and Poland. From GLS Ireland: those countries, not Ireland.
GLS Parcel Locker Delivery	Delivery to a GLS parcel locker you choose on the shipment, within the carrier’s own country (for GLS Belgium, Belgium). Not offered by GLS Ireland.
GLS ShopReturn (return shipment)	A return label your customer takes to a GLS ParcelShop. GLS delivers the return to the address on your GLS account. GLS Germany and GLS Austria also take returns your customer hands in elsewhere in the EU.
GLS Express outside Europe	Express delivery to an address outside Europe, with the customs data GLS needs. GLS Germany and GLS Austria only. See Express outside Europe.
GLS Pick&Ship	GLS collects the parcel at the sender address on the shipment and delivers it to the receiver. See Pick&Ship and Pick&Return.
GLS Pick&Return (return shipment)	GLS collects the return at your customer’s address and delivers it to the address on your GLS account. See Pick&Ship and Pick&Return.
GLS Shop Returns label (return shipment)	A return label your customer takes to a GLS ParcelShop in their own country. See Shop Returns label and QR code.
GLS Shop Returns QR code (return shipment)	A QR code your customer shows at a GLS ParcelShop instead of printing a label. See Shop Returns label and QR code.

Only GLS Parcel outside the EU and GLS Express outside Europe go outside the EU. Every other product stays inside it, and none goes to the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla, or Åland. Northern Ireland (postcodes starting with BT) is not offered. Each product shows its weight range on the shipment. A parcel takes at least 0.11 kg. Within the country the limit is 40 kg in Germany, 31.5 kg in Austria and Belgium (50 kg for GLS ExpressParcel in Austria) and 30 kg in France and Ireland. A parcel to another country takes 40 kg from Germany and Austria, 31.5 kg from Belgium and 30 kg from France and Ireland, and a parcel to a ParcelShop in another country, or a return from another country, at most 20 kg. GLS Parcel outside the EU takes 31.5 kg (31 kg from Ireland). GLS Express outside Europe takes 50 kg, and less to some countries: see Express outside Europe. GLS Pick&Ship and GLS Pick&Return take the same weight as a parcel within the country. GLS Shop Returns label and GLS Shop Returns QR code take the same weight as GLS ShopReturn. Zippendo stops a heavier parcel before the shipment reaches GLS.

Labels

GLS returns one label per parcel, except for GLS Pick&Ship and GLS Pick&Return, where the driver brings the label, and GLS Shop Returns QR code. Choose Label format on the product: PDF, or ZPL (thermal) for a 203 dpi Zebra label printer. The shipment’s Documents tab lists the label size as 100x150. A shipment with several parcels is one GLS shipment: every parcel gets its own label and parcel number, in parcel order. Give every parcel a weight. Zippendo does not send a parcel without one. GLS issues each label once, when you send. Zippendo keeps it on the shipment’s Documents tab, so you can open and print it again from there. If GLS books the shipment but returns no label, the shipment shows a warning. Do not send it again: ask GLS for the label.

ParcelShops and parcel lockers (service points)

GLS ParcelShop Delivery and GLS Parcel Locker Delivery deliver to a service point. Choose it in the Service point section of the shipment before you send. The search lists up to 20 GLS points nearest the receiver’s postal code, in the receiver’s country: ParcelShops for GLS ParcelShop Delivery, and parcel lockers for GLS Parcel Locker Delivery. See Pick a service point. Both products need the receiver’s email address or phone number, because GLS sends the pickup notice there. Zippendo does not send the shipment without one.

ShopReturn

Use GLS ShopReturn in a shipping rule for return shipments (Inbound). See Inbound and returns. Your customer is the sender: GLS prints their address on the label, and delivers the return to the address GLS holds for your Contact ID. Every parcel gets its own return label, plus a receipt your customer has stamped at the ParcelShop as proof they handed the parcel in. The receipt is stored on the shipment next to the labels.

Pick&Ship and Pick&Return

GLS collects the parcel at the pickup address, so nobody has to hand it in. The driver brings the label, so the shipment has no label and no warning about one.

GLS Pick&Ship collects at the sender address on the shipment, in the carrier’s own country, and delivers to the receiver. From GLS Germany the receiver can be anywhere GLS delivers by road in the EU; from the other countries, within the country.
GLS Pick&Return collects at your customer’s address and delivers to the address GLS holds for your Contact ID. Use it in a shipping rule for return shipments (Inbound). See Inbound and returns. GLS Germany, GLS Austria, GLS France and GLS Ireland also collect elsewhere in the EU by road (from Ireland, not in Croatia); GLS Belgium collects in Belgium and Luxembourg.

The pickup address needs a phone number, because the driver calls ahead. GLS collects on its next working day. A shipment created through the Zippendo API can ask for a later pickup date: a Saturday or Sunday is refused. A pickup time window is not sent to GLS. You do not need to schedule a pickup under Pickups for these products: the booking is the collection.

Shop Returns label and QR code

GLS Shop Returns label and GLS Shop Returns QR code are return shipments (Inbound) through GLS’s Shop Returns service. Your customer is the sender and hands the parcel in at a GLS ParcelShop in their own country. GLS delivers it to the receiver address on the shipment, in the carrier’s own country.

GLS Shop Returns label: a 100x150 mm label. With PDF, the second page holds your customer’s instructions and a receipt the ParcelShop stamps. Choose Label format as for other products.
GLS Shop Returns QR code: no label. The shipment’s tracking information shows Open QR code: send the QR code to your customer, who shows it at the ParcelShop. Not offered when your customer is in France, Ireland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania or Sweden.

Your customer can return from any EU country GLS serves by road except Cyprus and Malta. Spain, France, Italy and Sweden need your customer’s email address. One shipment is one parcel: for several parcels, create one return per parcel. Without Test mode, both products need the Shop Returns app ID on your connection. GLS sets up each country your customers return from for your app; a country it has not set up shows on the shipment as a settings problem.

Express outside Europe

GLS Express outside Europe goes from GLS Germany to Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. From GLS Austria it goes to Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Vietnam. For other countries, ask your GLS depot. India and Indonesia are not offered. It needs the same customs data as GLS Parcel outside the EU (see Customs outside the EU), and also:

An email address and a phone number on both the sender and the receiver.
For a receiver in the United States or Canada, the receiver’s state or province in Receiver’s state, for example NY or ON. A developer using the Zippendo API can also send it as a receiver attribute named state.

A parcel takes at most 50 kg. From GLS Germany, a parcel to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates or the United States takes 40 kg. From GLS Austria, a parcel to Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand or the Philippines takes 30 kg, and to China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States or Vietnam 40 kg. Goods in EUR may be worth up to 5,000 EUR per parcel from Germany and 3,500 EUR per parcel from Austria. The Incoterm codes GLS takes differ per country, for example only 40 to Brazil from Germany.

Customs outside the EU

GLS Parcel outside the EU goes to Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Andorra, Gibraltar, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, San Marino and Vatican City. From GLS Ireland it goes to the United Kingdom only. GLS France does not offer it. When you send, GLS creates the parcels and Zippendo then sends GLS the customs data, so it travels with the parcel. Fill in before you send:

On every order line: Description, Tariff number (the HS code, 8 or 10 digits), Country of origin, Quantity, Unit price and Currency. All lines use one currency. See Customs and documents.
Your EORI number under your organization’s or brand’s customs identifiers. Zippendo adds it to every shipment.
The receiver’s email address or phone number.
For a business receiver in the United Kingdom, the Receiver’s EORI number on the receiver. It must start with the receiver’s country, for example GB.

Zippendo checks all of this before it sends the shipment, and names the order line that is missing something. Each product shows three options:

Incoterm: who pays duties, taxes and the clearance fee, as a GLS code. Without a choice, Zippendo sends 10 (DDP) when the shipment’s Delivery terms are DDP and 20 (DAP) otherwise. GLS takes only some codes to some countries, for example 40 or 50 to Iceland, and 10 or 18 to a private receiver in the United Kingdom. Zippendo stops a code GLS does not take there and lists the ones it does.
Export declaration MRN: goods worth 1,000 EUR or more need an export declaration. Enter the MRN of the one you filed.
GLS files the export declaration: GLS files it for you instead, charged separately.

If GLS refuses the customs data, Zippendo cancels the parcels at GLS and the shipment shows GLS’s reason. Correct it and send again. If GLS does not confirm the customs data, or cannot cancel a parcel, the shipment keeps its labels with a warning: do not hand the parcel over before GLS confirms its customs data.

Services

Choose services on the shipment or in a shipping rule. Each product lists the services GLS offers for that country and route. For GLS BusinessParcel within the country:

Service	Germany	Austria	Belgium	France	Ireland
FlexDeliveryService (the receiver steers the delivery from GLS’s email)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guaranteed24Service (guaranteed next working day)	Yes	No	No	No	No
SignatureService	Yes	No	No	No	No
AddresseeOnlyService (handed only to the named receiver)	No	No	Yes	No	No
DepositService (place of deposit)	No	No	Yes	No	No
CashService (cash on delivery)	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
AddOnLiabilityService (insurance)	No	Yes	No	No	No

FlexDeliveryService needs the receiver’s email address.
DepositService (place of deposit) needs a Place of deposit of up to 60 characters, for example “Garage”, where the driver may leave the parcel without a signature.
CashService (cash on delivery) needs a COD amount in euro. The COD reference is optional. Without one, Zippendo sends the shipment reference.
AddOnLiabilityService (insurance) needs an Insured value in euro.
CashService (cash on delivery) and AddOnLiabilityService (insurance) work only on a shipment with one parcel. For several parcels, split the shipment first: see Split and move parcels.

The other products offer fewer services:

GLS EuroBusinessParcel takes FlexDeliveryService from every country, DepositService (place of deposit) from Belgium, and CashService (cash on delivery) from Germany to Austria and from Austria to Germany. From Austria, FlexDeliveryService does not reach Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania or Sweden.
GLS ExpressParcel takes one delivery window: by 08:00 (Germany), 09:00, 10:00 or 12:00, or on Saturday by 10:00 (Germany) or 12:00 (Germany, Belgium). Austria offers 09:00, 10:00 and 12:00, Ireland 12:00, and France only 13:00, which Zippendo adds for you. It also takes CashService (cash on delivery) in Germany, Austria and Ireland, and AddOnLiabilityService (insurance) in Austria.
GLS ParcelShop Delivery, GLS Parcel Locker Delivery, GLS ShopReturn, GLS Parcel outside the EU, GLS Express outside Europe, GLS Pick&Ship, GLS Pick&Return, GLS Shop Returns label and GLS Shop Returns QR code take no services.

Zippendo checks these limits before it sends the shipment:

Carrier	COD amount	Insured value
GLS Germany	Up to 2,500 EUR	Not offered
GLS Austria	Up to 2,500 EUR	Up to 3,500 EUR
GLS Ireland	Up to 1,000 EUR (GLS ExpressParcel: 2,500 EUR)	Not offered

Your GLS contract decides which services you can use: GLS refuses a service it does not include when you send.

Pickups, tracking and customs

Pickups: you can ask GLS for a one-time collection under Pickups. GLS collects at the address it holds for your Contact ID and moves a day it cannot serve to its next working day. Your regular collections stay as your GLS contract sets them. See Schedule a pickup.
Tracking: once Zippendo switches GLS tracking on, GLS sends tracking updates to Zippendo as they happen, also for most shipments you sent in the 14 days before. Until then, each shipment shows the GLS parcel number and a link to GLS’s tracking page. Shipments sent with Test mode on are not tracked. See Carrier tracking webhooks.
Customs: only GLS Parcel outside the EU and GLS Express outside Europe need customs data. See Customs outside the EU.

Change or remove the connection

To change it, open Carriers → My carriers and click Edit carrier on the card. The Edit carrier page has two sections:

General: Carrier name, and Brand if your organization has brands.
Carrier settings: Client ID, Client secret, Contact ID, Shop Returns app ID and Test mode.

Click Save. You see “Carrier updated”. When you create a new Client secret for your app on GLS’s developer portal, update it here straight away. To remove it, click Delete on the same page, type the carrier name in capital letters, and click Delete. Shipping rules that use this carrier are deleted with it. Shipments you already sent keep their labels and tracking numbers.

Common problems

What you see	What to do
”Couldn’t connect the carrier. Try again.”	Check that every required field has a value, then try again.
”The carrier rejected your login details. Update the carrier credentials under Carriers.” when you send	GLS refused the Client ID or Client secret, or the app is not enabled for the test or live system you chose with Test mode. On GLS Parcel outside the EU it also shows when your app is not enabled for GLS’s Customs API: Zippendo cancelled the parcels, so ask GLS to enable it, then send again.
”The carrier’s settings are incomplete or not valid. Check them under Carriers.”	The Contact ID has spaces or is longer than 20 characters, or GLS has not enabled your app for this Contact ID. The shipment shows which. Ask your GLS contact to enable the app for your Contact ID. On GLS Shop Returns label and GLS Shop Returns QR code it also shows without a Shop Returns app ID, when your app is not enabled for Shop Returns, or when GLS has not set up returns from your customer’s country.
”GLS doesn’t accept this address. Check the address and postal code, then try again.”	GLS does not accept the postal code, street or city. Or a name, street, city or second address line is longer than the 40 characters GLS prints: Zippendo stops it rather than cutting it. It also shows for FlexDeliveryService without the receiver’s email address, and for a ParcelShop or parcel locker delivery with neither an email address nor a phone number for the receiver. The shipment shows the reason.
”Some options for this carrier product are missing or not valid. Check the shipment’s services and options, then try again.”	Zippendo checks these before it sends the shipment: cash on delivery without a COD amount, insurance without an Insured value, an amount above GLS’s limit, cash on delivery or insurance on a shipment with more than one parcel, two express delivery windows, a COD reference over 160 characters, a Place of deposit over 60 characters, a service point in another country than the receiver, or a parcel with no weight or heavier than the product takes. The shipment shows the reason. Nothing was sent to GLS.
”The customs declaration is incomplete. Each item needs a description, a quantity, and a declared value greater than zero.”	On GLS Parcel outside the EU or GLS Express outside Europe: an order line misses its tariff number, country of origin or value, your EORI number or the receiver’s is missing, or the Incoterm is one GLS does not take to that country. On GLS Express outside Europe also: the sender or receiver misses an email address or phone number, a receiver in the United States or Canada has no state, or the goods are worth more per parcel than GLS takes. If GLS refused the customs data after it created the parcels, the shipment says that Zippendo cancelled them. The shipment shows the reason. Correct it and send again.
”The carrier accepted the shipment but refused its customs data, so the parcel can’t clear customs. Don’t hand the parcel over; contact the carrier.”	GLS did not confirm the customs data, or could not cancel the parcels after refusing it. The shipment keeps its labels. Contact GLS before you hand the parcel over.
”GLS couldn’t create the shipment.”	GLS refused the shipment, for example a service your contract does not include, or a point GLS does not accept. The shipment shows GLS’s reason.
”This product delivers to a service point. Select a service point before sending.”	Choose a ParcelShop or parcel locker on the shipment.
”The selected carrier product does not ship between these countries. Choose a different product.”	The product does not cover this route, for example GLS BusinessParcel to another country, a sender address outside the carrier’s country, a destination outside the EU on any product but GLS Parcel outside the EU and GLS Express outside Europe, a country in Europe on GLS Express outside Europe, a GLS Shop Returns QR code from a country GLS issues no QR code in, or Northern Ireland. It also shows for a service the product does not offer on that route, for example cash on delivery from Germany to France.
”The connection to the carrier was lost before it answered. Zippendo has no confirmation that the shipment was created, so check with the carrier before sending again.”	GLS did not confirm the shipment: the connection dropped, or GLS answered with an error after it may have created it. Look up the shipment’s reference in your GLS portal before you send it again.
”The carrier did not respond. Try again in a moment.”	GLS’s sign-in did not answer, so nothing was booked, or GLS did not answer while Zippendo searched for service points. Try again in a moment.

More help: Carrier authentication failures.

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API & events

Connect GLS Germany, Austria, Belgium, France or Ireland

Before you start

Connect your GLS country

Fields on the form

After you connect

Labels

ParcelShops and parcel lockers (service points)

ShopReturn

Pick&Ship and Pick&Return

Shop Returns label and QR code

Express outside Europe

Customs outside the EU

Services

Pickups, tracking and customs

Change or remove the connection

Common problems

​Before you start

​Connect your GLS country

​Fields on the form

​After you connect

​Labels

​ParcelShops and parcel lockers (service points)

​ShopReturn

​Pick&Ship and Pick&Return

​Shop Returns label and QR code

​Express outside Europe

​Customs outside the EU

​Services

​Pickups, tracking and customs

​Change or remove the connection

​Common problems

​Related

Before you start

Connect your GLS country

Fields on the form

After you connect

Labels

ParcelShops and parcel lockers (service points)

ShopReturn

Pick&Ship and Pick&Return

Shop Returns label and QR code

Express outside Europe

Customs outside the EU

Services

Pickups, tracking and customs

Change or remove the connection

Common problems

Related