Create a shipment

A shipment is everything you send to one receiver in one go: one parcel or several. This walkthrough covers both ways to create one in the Zippendo app: a standalone shipment you type in yourself, and a shipment created from an order that came in from your webshop. Creating a shipment does not buy the label. The new shipment is saved as Pending. You send it to the carrier in a second step with Send shipment. That step is covered below and in Labels and printing.

You need at least one sender address and one connected carrier before you can create a shipment. If either is missing, the form or window tells you. Add them first.

Where to create a shipment

There is no Create shipment button on Dashboard itself. From Dashboard, open Shipments in the sidebar, or click Total shipments or In transit to jump to the list.

Dashboard with Total shipments, In transit, and the Shipments item in the sidebar — Open Shipments from the sidebar, or click Total shipments on the Dashboard

Use one of these starting points:

Starting from	What you click
Shipments list	Create shipment at the top of the page
Empty Shipments list	Create shipment in the middle of the page
Orders list	Create shipment in the ⋯ menu on an order row (any order that is not Fulfilled or Cancelled)
An order with no shipments yet	Create shipment at the top of the order
An order’s Shipments section (the order already has shipments)	Add shipment

Shipments list with the Create shipment button at the top — Click Create shipment on the Shipments list

Creating from an order is faster: Zippendo copies the customer, the shipping address and the order lines. A standalone shipment is for one-off sends, samples, or anything that never was an order.

Before you start

Sender address: added under Settings → Addresses (open Settings from the organization menu at the bottom of the sidebar → Manage). It is the “from” address on the label.
Carrier: at least one connected under Carriers. The products you can pick come from that carrier (for example GLS PrivateDelivery or PostNord MyPack).
Order channel: optional. You don’t need one for a standalone shipment.

You do not pick a price on this screen. The form asks for a Carrier and a Product, not a rate. The prices your customers see at checkout are set up separately. See Checkout.

Create a standalone shipment

Open Shipments → Create shipment. The page is called Create shipment. The form has two columns: settings on the left, Parties and Parcels on the right.

Basic information

Fill in Reference * (required, for example ORDER-12345). Set Type * to Outbound (to a customer) or Inbound (a return shipment coming back to you).Pick a Sender address to fill in the sender for you, or leave None (manual entry) and type the sender under Parties. Delivery terms is DAP unless you change it. Change it when customs needs a different Incoterm.

Carrier settings

Pick a Carrier *, then a Product *. The product list only shows products that match the Type: outbound products for Outbound, return products for Inbound. After you pick a product, Zippendo may show:

The weight the product allows (for example “Weight: 0.1 - 31.5 kg”).
Services you can add, such as a notification email or a pickup.
Extra details for the carrier that this product needs.

Parties

You need both a Sender and a Receiver. Picking a sender address fills in the sender for you.You can also add Billing, Return or Freight payer. Turn on Use receiver address as billing address or Use sender address as return address when those addresses are the same.

Parcels

Click Add parcel. The Add parcel window opens. Enter Weight *, Weight unit * and Dimensions (cm) * (length, width and height). Add at least one order line with Add order line: the quantity must be at least 1, and you can leave SKU empty. Click Save.Click Add parcel again for each extra box. Each parcel gets its own label when you send.

Optional sections

Printer settings: pick a Label printer and a Document printer so the label prints when you send. Leave None to download it later.Pickup details: appears only if you add a pickup service. Enter Pickup date *, Time window * and, if you like, Special instructions (optional).Service point: appears only if the product delivers to a service point (for example GLS ShopDelivery). Fill in the receiver’s full address first. Zippendo then picks the nearest service point, which you can change.

Create shipment

Click Create shipment at the top of the page. A message confirms Shipment created, and a window offers View shipments. The shipment is Pending: it has not been sent to the carrier yet.

Required fields

Area	Required
Reference	Yes, on a standalone shipment
Type	Yes: Outbound or Inbound
Carrier and Product	Yes
Sender and Receiver	Yes: name, address line 1, postal code, city and a 2-letter country code
Parcels	At least one parcel with at least one order line
Service point	Yes, when the product delivers to a service point
Pickup date and Time window	Yes, when you add a pickup service
Sender address, printers, extra parties, services	Optional

Email and phone on a party are optional. Many carriers still want the receiver’s phone number to send delivery notices.

Choosing a carrier product

After you pick a carrier, open Product * and choose what you want to send with: home delivery, delivery to a service point, express, or a return product on an inbound shipment.

Carrier settings with GLS Denmark selected and the product list open — Pick a product after you select the carrier. The list only shows products that match Outbound or Inbound

The list shows each product’s name and a short description. It does not show a price. If no products match the type you picked, Zippendo shows No products available, or tells you the carrier has no products of that type. Shipping rules can choose the carrier and product for you, so you don’t pick them by hand every time. This helps most when you create shipments from orders.

Parcels, items and customs

Click Add parcel to open the Add parcel window. Weight, dimensions and Order lines are entered here.

Parcel window with weight, dimensions, SKU, quantity, country of origin, and tariff number — The parcel window: weight, dimensions, order lines and customs fields

Each order line has SKU, Quantity *, Description, Unit price, Currency, VAT %, Location, Country of origin and Tariff number. Country of origin and Tariff number matter when a parcel needs a customs declaration. Delivery terms under Basic information is the Incoterm printed on those documents. Click Add order line if one parcel holds more than one product. Click Add parcel again for a second box.

You split a shipment or move items between boxes after the shipment exists, not on this form. On a Draft or Pending shipment you can use Split shipment (move order lines to a new shipment) or Redistribute parcels (move order lines between boxes). See Split shipment.

Create from an existing order

Use this when the order already has the customer, the address and the order lines. Open Orders, then the order.

Orders list with order numbers, customers, and statuses — The Orders list. Open a pending order to create its shipment

You can only create a shipment for an order that is not Fulfilled or Cancelled. For those orders, Create shipment is hidden.

Open the order

Click the order, or pick Create shipment in the ⋯ menu on its row. On an order with no shipments yet, the button at the top is Create shipment.

Create shipment

The Create shipment window opens. It shows the number of items and Ship to: with the receiver’s name, city and country from the order.

Choose how to ship

If the order has a shipping rule: Zippendo uses that rule’s carrier, product, services and sender address. Click Configure carrier manually instead to choose something else.If there is no rule: pick a Sender address, a Carrier and a Product.

Service point (if needed)

Products that deliver to a service point show Service point *. Zippendo usually fills in the nearest one. To choose another, click Change service point (or Select service point if none is filled in), pick a point near the receiver, then click Confirm selection.

Create shipment

Click Create shipment. The parties and parcels come from the order, so you don’t type them again. The shipment is linked to the order and appears in the order’s Shipments section.

Create shipment window showing the item count, the ship-to address, and the carrier fields — The Create shipment window for an order: address, carrier and product

Once the order has its first shipment, the button at the top becomes Send order. It sends every Pending or Error shipment on the order. To add another shipment (a split, a second box, a later send), go to the order’s Shipments section and click Add shipment.

If you ship the same way every time, give the order a shipping rule first. The Create shipment window then uses the rule, and you only click once. See Shipping rules.

Standalone or from an order

	Standalone (Shipments → Create shipment)	From an order
Receiver and items	You fill in Parties and Parcels	Copied from the order
Reference	You type it	Taken from the order
Carrier and product	You pick them, or apply a shipping rule after you create the shipment	You pick them, or the order’s shipping rule fills them in
Linked to an order	No	Yes, listed in the order’s Shipments section
Best for	One-off sends, samples, moving stock between warehouses	Day-to-day fulfillment

Service points and pickup

Some products deliver to a service point (a shop or parcel locker where the receiver collects the parcel) instead of the door. On the standalone form, pick a service point product (for example GLS ShopDelivery). The Service point section appears. It stays empty until the receiver has an address, postal code, city and country. As soon as those are filled in, Zippendo picks the nearest service point for you. Change service point opens the full list of nearby service points with a map.

GLS ShopDelivery selected and the Service point section showing the selected service point, its distance, and a Change service point button — The Service point section with the nearest service point already selected

When you create from an order, the same choice appears in the window as Service point *. Zippendo usually fills in the nearest service point. Use Change service point to pick another. Create shipment stays grayed out until a service point is selected.

Create shipment window with GLS ShopDelivery and a selected service point — Service point is required for a service point product. The nearest one is filled in

If the search fails or finds nothing, check the receiver’s address and click Retry. More on this: Service point search. A pickup (the carrier collects parcels from you) is something else: it is a service on some products. Adding a pickup service opens Pickup details, where you pick a date, a time window (morning, afternoon, evening, all day, or your own times) and, if you like, instructions for the driver. You can also schedule a pickup later for shipments you have already sent.

Outbound or inbound (return shipments)

Type on the form is Outbound or Inbound.

Basic information with Type set to Inbound and Receiver address — Set Type to Inbound to create a return shipment. The address field becomes Receiver address

Outbound: you send to the customer. The address you pick fills in the Sender. Products such as GLS PrivateDelivery appear. Only addresses marked Sender are listed.
Inbound: the parcel comes back to you. The address you pick fills in the Receiver (your warehouse). Only return products appear (for example GLS ShopReturn), and only addresses marked Return are listed.

The Create shipment window on an order always creates an outbound shipment. For a return after delivery, open the sent shipment and click Create return shipment. This button needs a return shipping rule. See Returns.

When the form will not save

If something is missing, Create shipment does not save. A message shows the first problem. Problems with the parties can also show in a Fix these first box.

Create shipment form showing Reference is required and At least one party is required — An empty form after clicking Create shipment: a message, a field error, and the Fix these first box

Common messages and how to fix them:

Message	What to do
Reference is required	Fill in Reference *
Carrier is required / Product is required	Pick a carrier, then a product
A sender is required. Add a sender under Parties. / A receiver is required. Add a receiver under Parties.	Add both parties, or pick a sender address and add a receiver
At least one parcel is required	Click Add parcel and save the parcel
At least one order line is required	Add an order line to the parcel (quantity 1 or more)
Name is required, Address line 1 is required, Postal code is required or City is required	Complete the party’s address
Country code must be 2 characters	Use a code such as `DK`, `SE` or `DE`, not “Denmark”
Add a receiver address first to find nearby service points.	Fill in the receiver, then pick a service point
No sender addresses yet. Add one on the Addresses tab in Settings. / No carriers connected yet	Add a sender address and connect a carrier

In the Create shipment window on an order, the Create shipment button stays grayed out until the address, carrier and product are set (or a shipping rule is used), and until a service point is selected when the product needs one.

Save or send (getting the label)

There is no separate “save as draft” button. Create shipment saves the shipment as Pending. In practice that is your draft: you can still change the addresses, carrier, parcels and printers. Send shipment is a separate step. It sends the shipment to the carrier, gets the label back, and prints it if printers are set.

Send shipment and Send order use your carrier account, so the carrier may charge you. Each sent shipment also counts toward the shipments included in your Zippendo plan. Check the address, weight and product before you send. You can’t change a shipment the same way once it is Sent.

A pending shipment with Send shipment at the top — A Pending shipment. Send shipment sends it to the carrier and gets the label

Open the shipment

From View shipments, the Shipments list, or the order’s Shipments section.

Check the shipment page

Check the parties, product, parcels and, if needed, the service point. You can fix anything while the status is Pending, Draft or Error.

Send shipment

Click Send shipment. If the shipment is in Error, the same button is called Retry sending. When the send works, the status changes to Sent and the label appears under Documents.

On the order, Send order sends every shipment that is ready, all at once. Next: Labels and printing and Tracking.

After you create

The shipment appears on Shipments. Search for it by reference or tracking number. If it belongs to an order, it also appears in that order’s Shipments section. Statuses you will see (full list: Shipment statuses):

Status	Meaning
Draft	Saved but not ready to send. You can still change and split it. New shipments from this form start as Pending, not Draft.
Pending	Created but not sent yet. Click Send shipment.
Processing	Zippendo is sending it to the carrier and getting the label.
Sent	Sent to the carrier. The parcel may be on its way or delivered.
Partly sent	Some parcels are sent, others are not.
On hold	Paused by an automation with the Set shipment on hold action. There is no hold button on the shipment itself.
Error	The carrier did not accept the shipment. Read the error, fix the data and click Retry sending.
Cancelled	No longer active. Create a new shipment to send the same items.

You are done when the shipment is on the list as Pending. Printing and tracking start after Send shipment.

If something is missing

No address: on a standalone shipment, pick a sender address or fill in the parties by hand. From an order: the order needs a shipping address, and your warehouse must be added under Settings → Addresses.
Customs: set Delivery terms, and on each order line fill in Country of origin and Tariff number. Customs documents appear under Documents after you send, when the shipment needs them.
Service points: fill in the receiver’s full address, pick a service point product, then Select service point.
Return or outbound: set Type to Inbound for a return label you create by hand, or click Create return shipment on a sent outbound shipment. See Returns.

Labels and printing

Download, print, or print the label automatically after you send.

Tracking

Follow the shipment after it is sent.

Shipping rules

Let Zippendo pick the carrier and product, so creating from an order takes one click.

Shipment statuses

What each status means and what to do next.

Field by field: Send a shipment · Shipment parties · Pick a service point · Customs and documents

Getting started

Shipments & labels

Orders & channels

Shopify

Warehouse

Automation

Account

Create a shipment

Where to create a shipment

Before you start