ShipStation is a great extension that connects your WP EasyCart orders to ShipStation for shipping methods, label printing, and automated customer notices for all things shipping, tracking, and labeling.  If you need a more automated way of shipping and tracking with your customers, then ShipStation is a great way to streamline the fulfillment and shipping process.

Download and Installing

First, you will want to visit www.wpeasycart.com -> members area to download your ShipStation plugin.  You may install into WordPress just like any other plugin by visiting your WordPress administrative area -> plugins and uploading it.

ShipStation Account

You will need to sign up for a free trial account or acquire a new ShipStation account to utilize their services.  Please check with them and their website for more information at www.shipstation.com.

Once you get into your ShipStation account and control panel, please visit the ‘Account Settings‘, which is the gear icon in the top right corner.  From here, you will select ‘Account‘ and then ‘API Settings‘.

 

Generate API Keys

Next, you will want to generate API keys to acquire the API key and API secret.  Simply click the button to generate those keys.

 

 

Enter your API keys into WP EasyCart

In order to finish the connection, go to the WP EasyCart -> Settings -> Third Party menu.  From here you should see the ShipStation settings that allow you to enter the API key and API secret that you generated.  Be sure to check that there are no spaces at the end of your keys

Note:  You may enter an ‘Order Key Prefix’ if you have multiple stores so you can tell which location/website the order is coming from.

 

Importing Orders

You can choose to import orders if you have previous orders you would like to have inserted into the ShipStation manager.  ShipStation will let you brand your emails and shipment communications to your liking.

Simply enter the order number/range that you would like to have imported and select ‘import’ to run that process.  You should see the orders appear in ShipStation.

 

Key Features

1. Automatically adds your orders to ShipStation.
2. Products automatically added on import
3. Set a product weight/size and preferred shipping method to have it automatically fill an order with a shipping option.
4. Batch orders that are similar and choose a shipping method and batch print labels.
5. Automatically get USPS deep discounts with ShipStation and print and pay for labels automatically.
6. Automatically choose to send tracking emails on printing of labels.
7. leverage a branded track my package page that is sent via the email as a link.

 

WP EasyCart Products -> ShipStation Products

In order to automate, ShipStation requires you to setup product dimensions, weights, and other settings.  WP EasyCart will send the products to ShipStation, but you must go through products and configure their specific settings on ShipStation.  This allows them to create more accurate packaging and shipping costs.

Branded Email and Tracking Options

You can learn more about this at ShipStation, but we would like to bring this great option to your attention. Instead of leveraging the WP EasyCart shipping emailer we recommend using ShipStation, which will be more reliable in many cases (many servers are not set up properly for automatic email notifications that do not go to spam) and offer additional options that the EasyCart does not offer. Please visit the branding area in your ShipStation Account => Selling Channels => Store Settings and select edit from your store and then select the branding tab to setup your logo and color scheme within ShipStation. Once you do this, you can notify customers via your ShipStation account that includes a link to track the package on a BRANDED shipment tracking page:

To us, this is a very cool feature that gives your customers piece of mind about their order a shipment.

For more information on ShipStation and the options within your ShipStation Account, please visit the ShipStation help guide.