Connect order channels

An order channel is where your orders come from. Zippendo does not create webshop orders by itself. It imports them from a connected order channel, so you can create and send all your shipments in one place. This walkthrough covers every order channel you can add under Order channels, except Shopify. Shopify is installed from the Shopify App Store: follow Connect Shopify.

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What an order channel does

An order channel is a named connection in your organization. Once it is connected:

• New orders from that webshop or system appear under Orders.
• Its name is listed in the sidebar under Channel orders, so you can open that webshop’s orders with one click.
• Each order shows its Order channel, the customer, the address and the items. Use Create shipment (or Send order if the order already has a shipment) to ship it.

If your organization uses brands, choose a Brand in the order channel’s settings after you connect it. Orders from that order channel, and the shipments made from them, then belong to that brand. An order channel without a brand belongs to the whole organization. Connecting WooCommerce does not ask for a brand. Creating a custom channel does, when your organization has brands.

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The Order channels page

Click Order channels in the sidebar. The page has two tabs: The page opens on Connected when you already have an order channel, and on Catalog when you have none. There are three cards. A webshop or ERP system that is not Shopify or WooCommerce uses Custom channel. Orders your developer creates through the Zippendo API also go into an order channel you already have, usually a custom channel. Each card also has Read more, which opens the matching page of these docs. For Shopify, see Connect Shopify. The rest of this page covers WooCommerce and custom channels. On the Connected tab, each card shows Connected and how many webshops or channels it has, for example “2 webshops”. Every connected webshop is a row on its card:

• Shopify and WooCommerce rows show the name and the web address.
• Custom channel rows show the name and Custom channel.
• Disabled is added when the order channel is switched off.
• If your organization has brands, the row shows the brand.

Click a row to open its settings.

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Leftover order channels

A row with No active connection and Disconnected is left over from a webshop that was removed. It has no settings page. If you no longer need it, click the bin icon (Remove) and confirm with Remove channel. This also deletes every order imported through it, and cannot be undone.

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Connect WooCommerce

The quickest way is one-click connect: you enter your webshop’s address, approve the connection in your own WooCommerce admin, and WooCommerce creates the API keys for you. If you would rather paste keys you created yourself in WordPress, click Enter API keys manually in the same window.

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Before you start

• Admin access to your WooCommerce webshop.
• A webshop address that starts with https://. If it does not, use the API keys instead.
• A sender address under Settings → Addresses, if you want to choose a Default sender address now (the sender for shipments created from this webshop’s orders). You can skip it and set it later.

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One-click connect

Back in Zippendo you see WooCommerce store connected! and New orders will now be imported in real time. The webshop is now on the Connected tab.

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Enter API keys manually

Use this when you already have keys, or when one-click connect cannot reach your webshop. Changed your mind? Click Back to one-click connect. The address you already typed is kept.

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WooCommerce settings

Click the webshop on the Connected tab. The page shows your webshop’s address under the name, and WooCommerce admin opens your WordPress admin in a new tab. The settings are on two tabs. Orders & checkout

• Import orders from this webshop (under What Zippendo is used for) - on by default. Switch it off if another system, such as a warehouse system (WMS) or an ERP, handles the orders and Zippendo is only used for shipping prices at checkout. While it is off, the order import settings below are hidden.
• Automatic sync - regularly checks the webshop for new orders, as a backup in case one is missed.
• Sync interval (minutes) - how often to check, from 5 to 1440 minutes.
• Only unfulfilled orders - import only orders that are not yet fulfilled.
• Create shipments automatically - create a shipment as soon as a new order arrives.
• Mark orders as completed in WooCommerce - on by default. Sends the tracking number back to WooCommerce when you send the shipment.
• Brand - shown if your organization has brands. Orders from this order channel belong to this brand.
• Default sender address - the sender for shipments created from this webshop’s orders.
• Click Save changes when you are done.
• Checkout token - for the Zippendo for WooCommerce plugin, which shows shipping prices and service points at your checkout. Click Generate token, then copy it straight away: it is shown only once. Later you can Replace token or Revoke it.

Connection

• Store URL, Status (Active or Disabled) and Last sync (or Never).
• Test connection - checks that Zippendo can still reach your webshop with the saved keys.
• Webhooks - how WooCommerce tells Zippendo about new orders right away, with their status (Active or Disabled by WooCommerce). WooCommerce switches one off after it fails several times in a row. Click Re-register to set them up again.
• Danger zone - Disconnect removes the order channel. New orders stop coming in. Orders already in Zippendo stay.

There is no on/off switch for a WooCommerce order channel. Status only shows the state. To stop importing orders, switch off Import orders from this webshop, or Disconnect. Every field, and how to install the checkout plugin: Connecting WooCommerce and WooCommerce checkout plugin.

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Create a custom channel

Use Custom channel for a webshop, ERP or warehouse system that has no ready-made connection. Your developer sets up your system to send orders to Zippendo, either to the channel’s Ingest URL or through the Zippendo API with an API token. Tracking updates go back to your system through webhooks in your settings, not through the order channel. After you create it, you get an ingest URL and a signing secret, so your system can send orders to Zippendo.

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Custom channel settings

The settings page is titled with the channel’s name: Your own integration: send orders to the ingest URL, or use the API and SDKs. View documentation opens Custom channels, the technical reference for your developer. Order ingestion

• Ingest URL - the address your system sends orders to. Click Copy and give it to your developer. Always copy it from your own settings page.
• Generate secret - creates the signing secret your system uses to prove the orders come from you. Later you can Replace secret or Revoke it.
• Copy the secret as soon as it appears: Copy the secret now. It is only shown once. If you replace it later, the current secret stops working at once.

What your system must send, and how to test the connection, is described for developers in Custom channels and Custom channel API. Operations Click Save changes after you change Send shipments automatically or Default sender address. Channel enabled and Brand are saved as soon as you change them. Danger zone - Delete removes the order channel. Its ingest URL stops accepting orders immediately.

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Other ways orders come in

The Catalog tab only has Shopify, WooCommerce and Custom channel. Orders can also come in like this, always through an order channel you already have:

• The Zippendo API: your developer creates orders for a custom channel (or another order channel). Zippendo refuses a second order with the same External ID on the same order channel, so an order cannot come in twice. See Custom channels and the REST API quickstart.
• Older manual order channels: they have no card and no settings page. They show up as leftover rows on the Connected tab. Click Remove if you no longer need them.

Channel orders in the sidebar is not another kind of order channel. It lists the order channels you already have, so you can open Orders for one webshop. A custom channel has no separate switch for receiving orders: generating a signing secret is what lets your system start sending them. Tracking updates for your own system are set up under Settings → Webhooks, not on the order channel.

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How orders appear after connecting

WooCommerce tells Zippendo about new, changed and cancelled orders right away, and Automatic sync checks for missed ones at the interval you set. A custom channel gets orders when your system sends them, or when your developer creates them through the API. Either way, they end up in the same list. The columns are Order ID, Customer, Status, Order channel, Shipments and Created. Statuses include Pending, Processing, Fulfilled and Cancelled. See Order statuses. Click a row to see the items, the shipments, the Order information (order number, status, Order channel, total), the customer and the shipping address.

• No shipment yet, and the order is not Fulfilled or Cancelled: the button at the top is Create shipment.
• The order already has a shipment: the button at the top is Send order.
• The Shipments section lists the order’s shipments, or says No shipments yet.

Creating the shipment is covered in Create a shipment. Searching and filtering the list: Orders.

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Troubleshooting

More on late orders: Order sync delays.

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Next steps

Field by field: Connect WooCommerce · Custom channel API · Order channel settings