Development of Custom Shipping Apps & Extensions
ShipHawk is a prominent transportation platform that connects retailers, manufacturers, and distributors with major shipping companies in the U.S. as well as around 200 smaller carriers. Their objective was to create integrations for popular e-commerce platforms to provide efficient shipping solutions.
THE CHALLENGE
The transportation industry has unique factors that we considered when creating a shipping cost estimation algorithm. The shipping cost can vary based on the product's physical dimensions or volumetric weight. Additionally, products within the same online store may be stored in different warehouses, and when multiple products are ordered, each item's shipping cost must be calculated individually. Standard shipping modules like UPS, USPS, and FedEx only provide shipping cost estimates, with the subsequent parcel processing typically managed manually or through third-party software. We needed to ensure that all steps, from receiving the delivery request to producing the shipping label, were executed automatically or triggered after order confirmation.
THE SOLUTION
The extension development occurred in two phases: One was a comprehensive solution for Magento 1, Shopify, and WooCommerce, which involved significant effort in incorporating product dimension attributes and calculating parcel sizes for accurate shipping cost estimations. The other involved creating modules for Magento 2 and X-Cart, which download new orders from the e-commerce admin panel to ShipHawk and return order dispatch confirmations and tracking details to the CMS.
THE RESULT
With the launch of the ShipHawk extensions, e-commerce stores can now:
- Connect with numerous delivery carriers and shipping providers
- Establish shipping policies at the shipment or product level
- Import product information with a single click
- Seamlessly sync orders for simpler fulfillment
- Automate all processes from booking to delivery
- Obtain all necessary shipping documentation, etc.