Introduction

The Shipmate plugin for Shopify allows quick and easy integration between your Shipmate and Shopify accounts, giving access to all the carriers and delivery services Shipmate provides, directly inside your Shopify account.

This guide explains how to set up the Shipmate Shopify plugin and configure your accounts to start despatching your orders in Shopify using delivery labels generated by Shipmate.

Requirements

Before you are able to start printing shipping labels using Shipmate with Shopify, you will need the following:

• A Shopify account
• A Shipmate account
• At least one active Carrier and Delivery Service
• A compatible printer

In order to print labels directly within Shopify using the Shipmate Desktop App; you will also need to download the Shipmate Desktop Application .

If you wish to use Routing Rules, you will also need to ensure your inventory inside Shopify has accurate and up-to-date weights and dimensions.

If you send parcels outside the UK, you will also need to ensure your product data in Shopify contains all customs details, including harmonised codes and country of origin.

If you need any assistance ensuring you have everything you need to link your Shopify and Shipmate accounts, please contact support@shipmate.co.uk.

Installing the Shopify Plugin

To link your Shopify store to Shipmate, make sure you are logged in to Shipmate as an administrative user then head to Settings > Sales Channels.

Click the Add a Sales Channel option, then select Shopify from the list of available Channel Plugins.

Enter the URL to your store, e.g., https://mystore.co.uk or https://mystore.myshopify.com and click the Connect button.

Shopify will then take you through an authorisation process to link your Shopify store to your Shipmate account.

You will then be returned to a list of configuration options within Shipmate, but the default options let you get shipping straight away.

Installing the Shipmate Desktop Printer App

Using the Shipmate Desktop App means you no longer have to separately download labels as a PDF document to print them – labels can be sent directly to your label printer in just one click.

First download the Shipmate Desktop App and set it up to use your label printer.

Find out more about installing and configuring the Shipmate Desktop App for Windows or macOS in these user guides.

Getting Started Checklist

The below list sets out everything you need to do before shipping your first Shopify order with Shipmate:

🔗 Make sure you have installed the Shopify plugin

🖨️ Make sure you have downloaded the Windows or macOS Desktop Print App , logged in and set it up with your label printer

🚚 Make sure you have at least one active Carrier Account and Delivery Service

📦 Make sure you have at least one active Packaging Type

🌍 If you are shipping internationally, make sure you have configured VAT & Customs in Shipmate and added the HS Code and Country of Origin to all products in Shopify

With all these tasks complete you are ready to ship your first order.

Using Shipmate on Shopify

The Shipmate Shopify plugin adds a Print Shipping Labels option inside the More actions drop-down menu within Shopify on single and multiple order pages.

This means you choose exactly which orders you want to ship, when – directly from within the Shopify admin portal.

Use the power and familiarity of Shopify’s filtering and tagging features to narrow down the orders you want to ship, then your selected order(s) will be sent securely to Shipmate for onward fulfilment in a simple workflow.

Shipping an Order

From the Shopify Order screen, click the More actions button then select Print Shipping Labels. A new screen will load with your imported order ready for processing.

Simply confirm the parcels and metrics, carrier and delivery service along with any further shipment details then select Generate Labels.

The labels will then be generated and be available for downloading or printing, and the tracking number(s) and tracking URL(s) will have been added to the order in Shopify automatically.

If you are using the Shipmate Desktop App, the Print Labels button will be available and you can click this to send the label(s) straight to your configured printer.

Alternatively, you may leave the process at this stage then print the label(s) when you need them by keying or scanning in the order number in the Scan & Print feature on the Shipmate Desktop App.

Shipping Multiple Orders

From the Shopify Orders list page, use filtering and tags to narrow down the orders you want to ship, select the orders you wish to ship, then click the More actions button and select Print Shipping Labels.

A new screen will load showing your imported orders ready for processing, in the same way as processing a single order.

You can click on each order to open a panel showing the items being shipped alongside further details.

Once you are ready to ship, click the Generate Labels button.

Adding Parcels

Shipmate will automatically calculate the number of parcels from your selected Parcel Handling configuration.

You can add more parcels for an individual order by clicking the Add Parcel button when the order view is expanded. A new parcel is added using your default Packaging Type.

You may modify the parcel size by selecting a new Packaging Type from the list, or enter the metrics directly.

The shipment delivery cost will be updated and you can move items into the newly created parcel.

Removing Parcels

If you want to remove a parcel from your Shipment, first ensure the parcel contents are empty by moving items out of the parcel, then click the Delete Parcel icon.

Upon confirming your intention to delete the parcel, the shipment delivery cost will be updated and the parcel will be removed.

Updating Delivery Address

Sometimes Shopify formats addresses in ways that carriers cannot process, or perhaps you have noticed a mistake in the delivery address.

To update the delivery address for an individual order, click the Shipment Details button on the row of the order you wish to change. The Shipment Details pop-up box will allow you to edit the address.

Once you are happy with the new address, click the Save Changes button.

Changing Delivery Service

You can amend the Delivery Service for an individual order by clicking the Shipment Details button on the order row.

Choose the carrier and delivery service from the two drop-down menus at the top of the Shipment Details pop-up box.

Once you are happy with your new selection, click the Save Changes button.

Any changes to the delivery cost will be updated and the newly selected carrier and delivery service will now be shown next to the order you have changed, ready for generating labels.

Changing Despatch Date

It is easy to generate your shipping labels in advance of despatch using the Shipmate Shopify plugin.

You can amend the Despatch Date for an individual order by clicking the Shipment Details button on the order row.

The Shipmate Shopify plugin always opens with today’s date as the Despatch Date. To change this, simply click on the date from the Despatch Date area of the Shipment Details pop-up box and choose a date in the future.

Once you are happy with your new selection, click the Save Changes button.

Setting Custom Fields

Shipmate handles all key shipping details such as the recipient name and address, contact details and line-level item details to facilitate both domestic and international shipping.

If you need to add more details to your shipments, either to assist with Automatic Routing, or to pass to carriers using Carrier Data Mappings , this can be achieved using Custom Fields .

You can configure Channel Data Mappings to automatically populate Custom Fields with values from your Shopify store, however you might still need to supply certain details on an order-by-order basis.

You can add further details to your Shipment using any Shipment-level Custom Fields you have configured.

Click the Shipment Details button on the order row, then supply the details in the Custom Fields area of the Shipment Details pop-up box.

Once you are happy with your new Custom Field values, click the Save Changes button.

Handling Multiple Fulfilments

The Shipmate Shopify plugin can handle Shopify Orders with split fulfilments, allowing you to ship products as they are in stock, or separate out shipping for items held in different locations, for example.

Split the fulfilments within Shopify as normal, then when you attempt to fulfil an order through the Print Shipping Labels workflow, the first unfulfilled partial fulfilment will be loaded.

Partial fulfilments are denoted by the orange half-filled-circle icon used across Shopify for consistency, and you are able to switch between fulfilments by using the drop-down menu of fulfilments. If you want to ship all remaining items, click the Ship All Items button.

In both cases, whenever the current fulfilment is changed, the items due to be shipped will be updated, and the Delivery Service recalculated using your Delivery Service Conditions and Routing Rules.

Process your shipment as normal, and then the partial fulfilment will be logged against the order. If items are still remaining on the order, it will remain in a partially fulfilled state, for future processing.

If you are processing the last remaining items, you will notice the fulfilment icon will be shown as a green whole circle, denoting the order will be completed when this shipment is created.

Label Printing

There are two methods of printing labels with Shopify using the Shipmate Desktop App .

If you are ready to print your labels straight away, simply click the Print Labels button once you have generated your labels. This will send the labels directly to the Shipmate Desktop App and to your printer.

If you wish to print your labels later, you can enter the Shopify order number in the Scan & Print area of the Shipmate Desktop App and all the labels you originally created for that order will be printed.

Bulk Change Order Operations

You can easily perform the same operation for multiple orders using the Bulk Change feature.

Simply select the orders you wish to apply a change to by clicking the tick-boxes at the beginning of each order row, or use the tick-box in the table heading to select all orders, then click the Bulk Change menu button and select the operation you wish to perform from the drop-down menu.

You can perform each of the following operations in bulk:

• Parcels & Metrics - Updates Number of Parcels and Size & Weight Metrics
• Shipment Details Updates details such as Despatch Date and Delivery Service
• Include Includes selected Orders in Import
• Exclude Excludes selected Orders from Import

Selecting the desired option will perform the operation in bulk for all of your selected orders. Each of the individual operations are described in detail separately in this guide.

Some aspects of features are disabled when performing a bulk action – for instance, it is not possible to update delivery addresses for multiple orders, as this would likely lead to error. There are also some other preventative measures in place to help avoid making mistakes when applying operations over multiple orders.

Excluding Orders from Import

If you wish to exclude orders from your import, simply select the tick-box for each unwanted order, then click the Bulk Change menu and select the Exclude option.

Shipmate will then ignore the selected order(s) when you generate your labels.

Including Orders in Import

If you have previously excluded orders from your import that you wish to reinstate, simply select the tick-box for each excluded order, then click the Bulk Change menu and select the Include option.

Shipmate will then reinstate the selected order(s) for further processing and generating labels.

Bulk Changing Parcel Metrics

Shipmate will automatically calculate the number of parcels from your selected Parcel Handling configuration.

You can edit the number of parcels as a bulk change by selecting the orders you wish to update, clicking the Bulk Change menu and selecting the Parcels & Metrics option.

This opens a pop-up window where you can provide the details of each of the parcels required for your order. Use the Add a Parcel button on the left-hand side of the pop-up to add more parcels, or the trash bin icon on the row of each parcel you wish to discard.

You may either choose a Packaging Type from the list you may have configured on your Shipmate account, or enter the metrics directly.

Once you are happy with the number of parcels you want to generate and their individual metrics, click the Confirm button.

You will then be returned to the Generate Shipping Labels screen where you can review the updated number of parcels, with each row being updated with the new number of parcels and cost, together with the New Parcels Summary reflecting the total number of parcels you are going to be generating.

Bulk Changing Shipment Details

You can edit Shipment Details as a bulk change by selecting the orders you wish to update, clicking the Bulk Change menu and selecting the Shipment Details option.

You may then update any combination of the following details, all held on the left-hand side of the Shipment Details panel:

• Carrier & Delivery Service
• Despatch Date
• Custom Fields

Once you are happy with your updates, click the Save Changes button.

Your changes will be applied to each selected order and you will be returned to the Generate Shipping Labels screen where you can review the shipments prior to generating labels.

Automatic Routing

Shipmate can automatically determine the most suitable carrier and delivery service for each of your Shopify orders using Routing Rules.

Routing Rules take the guesswork out of choosing the most suitable carrier and delivery service for each order, allowing you to pre-define criteria that need to be met in order for certain delivery services to be used, from a wide range of options including, in summary:

• Parcel dimensions and weight
• Order contents such as SKUs or value
• Destination country or UK postcode area
• Operational aspects such as current day or time
• Shopify Delivery Service selected at checkout
• Any Custom Fields you have configured, including values mapped from SKUs to Parcels and Parcels to Shipments

Routing Rules are configured within the Shipmate Web Portal and when activated will be evaluated every time you click the Print Shipping Labels option from within Shopify – whether for a single order or when shipping multiple orders.

Find out more about configuring Routing Rules in Shipmate

Non-Packable Item Handling

Shipmate treats Non-Packable Items as products that are shipped as they are and cannot be packed alongside other products.

Non-Packable Items are always shipped:

• by themselves, as their own parcels,
• using the product weight, and
• using the product packaging dimensions.

Typical examples of Non-Packable Items include:

• Items of flat-pack furniture, whereby the shipping label is affixed directly to the box
• Fragile items that use specialist packaging
• "Non-conveyable" items that are shipped by themselves

Non-Packable Items can be set up as SKUs in the Shipmate SKU Library by choosing the appropriate Item Packing option. SKUs are considered to be Packable by default.

Once configured, whenever a Shopify order contains any Non-Packable products, the Non-Packable rules will apply to those items. This means they will be given their own parcel, overriding any other Parcel Handling and Item Packing rules and no other items may be placed in the same parcel. All remaining items will be packed according to your configured Parcel Handling and Item Packing rules.

Shopify Plugin Settings

To amend your Shopify Channel settings inside Shipmate, you need to be logged in as an administrative user on your account, then simply click the Settings icon in the lower-left corner.

From the Settings menu select Sales Channels. This will open a page listing all of the available channels on your account. Simply click the blue Settings link next to the Shopify logo. This will open the Shopify Channel Settings page.

Applying a Brand

Your Shipmate account may operate multiple Brands, allowing you to personalise the customer experience for each of your customer-facing brands.

Brands provide the following functionality:

• Quick visual distinction between brands across the Shipmate Web Portal
• A branded customer-facing Tracking Portal for your customers to track the delivery progress of their orders
• Branded shipping documents such as Despatch Notes and Commercial Invoices
• Brand-specific returns details on labels (when supported by the carrier)

When you first link your Shopify store to Shipmate, your account’s default Brand will be applied. If you operate multiple Brands and want to update the Brand associated with your Shopify store, simply click the Edit button next to the current applied Brand, then choose the required Brand from the list. When you confirm your selection, the Shopify Plugin will be updated to be associated with the newly selected Brand.

Find out more about configuring Brands in Shipmate

Order References

Shipmate is able to use the Shopify Order Number, Shopify Order Name or Shopify Order ID as a reference for your Shipments and Parcels.

By default new installations use the Shopify Order Number - this is the same as the order number you see inside Shopify. In most circumstances this does not need to be changed. If however you would like to choose a different option, the following options apply the order references as follows:

• Shopify Order Number - this is the customer-facing order number without any prefixes, suffixes or formatting applied - e.g., 1234
• Shopify Order Name - this is the customer-facing order number with any prefixes, suffixes or formatting applied - e.g., #MYSHOP-1234
• Shopify Order ID - this is the internal Shopify Order ID / long ID used to uniquely reference each order

To choose which reference you wish to use, simply select the relevant option from the Parcel Reference section of the Channel Settings, then click Save.

Shipment Weight Handling

You can choose how the shipment weight is handled by choosing from the following options:

• Use Packaging Type Weight - this applies the default weight as set in your Packaging Types. Best suited when most orders are similar in weight, or fall within agreed maximums with your carrier(s).
• Use Shopify Total Weight - this applies the total weight of the products in the order. Best suited when orders vary in weight and you have accurate product weights configured on your store.

Select the option you wish to apply, then click Save. These settings will apply when you next process an order.

Parcel Handling

You can configure how many parcels are calculated when shipping each order, as your starting point. You can always change the number and size of parcels, but by choosing the Parcel Handling option that best suits the products you sell, you minimise the likelihood of having to change how many parcels you are sending for each order.

Simply choose the option that best suits your requirements, from the following options:

• X parcel(s) per order – ideal if you know most orders are sent in the same number of parcels
• One parcel per X item(s) – ideal if you know on average how many items fit in each parcel
• One parcel per X.X kg total order weight – ideal if you sell your product by weight

Select the option you wish to apply, then click Save. These settings will apply when you next process an order.

Item Packing

You can configure how the items in your order are packed into parcels automatically.

Simply choose the option that best suits your requirements, from the following options:

• Distribute items – this will place entire items into single parcels according to the selected Parcel Handling option. Ideal for most situations whereby products are shipped as a whole unit.
• Split items – this will place a copy of each item in the order in each parcel, with the value and weight divided by the total number of parcels. Ideal for loose product or when it isn’t necessary to state exactly which item is in which parcel.

Select the option you wish to apply, then click Save. These settings will apply when you next process an order.

Tracking References

Shipmate is able to return either the carrier’s tracking reference, or the Shipmate Unified Tracking Reference, which you can use to notify your customers so they are able to track the progress of their orders.

If you opt for the Carrier’s tracking reference, customers will have the direct tracking reference for the carrier however if you subsequently make any changes to their delivery, they might not be informed automatically.

If you use the Shipmate Tracking Portal, you should opt for the Shipmate Unified Tracking Reference, as this will provide you with the Unified Tracking Reference needed to link to the Tracking Portal.

To choose which tracking reference you would like to use with Shopify, simply select the relevant option from the Tracking Reference section of the Channel Settings, then click Save.

Fufilment Tags

Shipmate can apply tags to Shopify orders when they are fulfilled. This makes filtering and reporting on orders easier within Shopify and can assist as part of your despatch workflow.

To use this feature, provide a text-based tag to be applied as the Order Fulfilment Tag.

Select the option you wish to apply, then click Save. These settings will apply when you next process an order.

Fufilment Notifications

You can choose whether Shopify will notify customers about their order fulfilment when you create labels in Shipmate, according to your operational requirements:

• Notify Customer – this will send the ’Your order is on the way’ email as labels are generated. Ideal when you despatch your orders on-demand and the parcels are collected the same day you process them.
• Do Not Notify Customer – this does not notify customers, instead allows you to return to Shopify at a later time to mark the orders as despatched and notify your customers. Ideal when you batch-process orders in advance.

In both cases tracking numbers and links are sent over to Shopify automatically upon label creation, so you do not need to add these in manually later.

Select the option you wish to apply, then click Save. These settings will apply when you next process an order.

Data Mappings

As standard, Shipmate will map most data required to ship a simple order from Shopify, however you may have further requirements to bring data captured on your store over to Shipmate for use with Routing Rules, or Carrier Data Mappings. This can be achieved using the Data Mappings facility.

Examples of data you might wish to map over from Shopify could include:

• Parcel Shop / Locker Locations – if selected as part of your checkout flow and stored as a custom field or particular address line
• Specified Service – if your customer has selected a particular delivery service they wish to use, or time slot
• ///what.3.words – if your customer has provided a what3words location and you want to pass this to the carrier

To configure Data Mappings, within the Shopify Channel Settings screen, select the Data Mappings tab.

You can then add multiple mappings by first selecting from the Channel Data menu and mapping that by selecting an option from the Shipmate Data menu. Click the + button to add more mappings. You may need to set up Custom Fields on your Shipmate account first if you need to store additional data Shipmate does not support as standard.

Once you have finished configuring your Data Mappings, click Save. These settings will apply when you next process an order.

Shipmate will then apply values from Shopify to the corresponding location on Shipmate you have selected, whenever that data is present on an order.

Removing Shopify

If you no longer require Shopify on your Shipmate account, you can delete the channel by clicking the vertical ellipsis ⋮ more options button from the Shopify Channel settings page and selecting Delete. A pop-up dialogue box will ask you to confirm whether you wish to delete the channel.

Confirm you wish to remove the channel and it will be disconnected from your Shipmate account. You will then be returned to the Channels page, where you can view, enable or re-enable other Channels.

Print Labels Button Inactive

If the Print Labels button is inactive or ’greyed out’, this is because Shipmate cannot discover an active Desktop Print Client App linked to the same user account as the account accessing the Shopify workflow.

This could be for a number of reasons, such as the Print Client App not being installed or running, not logged in to the same user account, or the connection is being blocked by a firewall.

Try checking the following steps before attempting to re-ship the order:

• Make sure you have downloaded the Windows or macOS Shipmate Print App and installed it on your computer
• Make sure the Windows or macOS Shipmate Print App is running – it will be in the System Tray (’Systray’) on Windows (bottom right near the clock – you may need to expand the visible icons to see it), or on the menu bar on macOS (top-right of the screen)
• Make sure the Windows or macOS Shipmate Print App is logged in to the same user account as you are accessing Shipmate from in your web browser

Try shipping the order again. If after checking the above steps the Print Label button is still inactive, try the following:

• Try restarting the Shipmate Print App – the connection may have dropped
• Check the Shipmate Print App is not being blocked by a firewall or anti-virus software – you may need to add an exception rule to allow the app to connect to the Internet
• Check connections are not being blocked by a network firewall – you may need to add an exception rule to allow connections to https://print.shipmate.co.uk and https://api.shipmate.co.uk

Try shipping the order again. If you still cannot print, try replicating the issue on another computer and user account. If issues persist, you may consider raising a ticket with Shipmate support for further assistance.

Delivery Service Conflicts

When you make changes to the configuration of a shipment, you may encounter an error saying that Parcel Changes Conflict with Selected Service.

This usually happens when you have made changes to the shipment that are in conflict with rules or ’service conditions’ associated with the current selected Delivery Service for that order.

For example, the Delivery Service may only be able to ship one parcel at a time and you have selected two, or perhaps you have exceeded the weight or size allowance for the selected service.

To find out the specific reason for the conflict, click the Show error link.

You then have the choice to either Undo Changes, which will restore the order to the previous state making it compatible with the Delivery Service again, or Apply New Service, which will search your Shipmate account for other compatible services that could be used to ship this order.

Version History

Version 2.5.1 - March 2026

Updates include:

• NEW FEATURE – Shopify workflow now supports Multiple Fulfilments
• NEW FEATURE – Shopify workflow now compatible with Non-Packable Items
• Improved – An error message now appears when parcel setup is in conflict with the delivery service

Version 2.5.0 - September 2025

Following customer feedback we have added further automation options to the Shopify channel and allow you to view the items you are shipping.

Updates include:

• Improved user interface with item-level details and visual parcel management
• More parcel handling options including X parcels per order, One parcel per X items and One parcel per X.X kg of order weight
• Ability to choose whether items are packed distributed across parcels or split across all parcels
• Ability to add a bespoke tag to orders when they are fulfilled
• Data Mappings allow you to map additional data from Shopify to Shipmate

Version 2.0.0 - April 2021

Following customer feedback we have completely overhauled the Shipmate Shopify plugin to integrate more seamlessly with the Shopify user experience, while offering simpler despatch operations through improved data validation, a clearer layout and bulk change operations.

Updates include:

• New Unified User Interface that closely matches the Shopify user experience
• Simplified despatch operations with improved data validation
• Bulk change operations
• Ability to choose Fulfilment Status option on label creation

Version 1.2.0 - October 2020

Updates include:

• Ability to edit the number of parcels for each individual order
• Ability to choose whether to use the Shopify Order Number or ID within Shipmate

Version 1.1.0 - November 2019

Updates include:

• Ability to choose whether to return Carrier's tracking reference or the Shipmate Unified Tracking Reference

Version 1.0.0 - November 2018

Initial version facilitates integration between Shipmate and Shopify. Features include:

• Single and Bulk order importing
• Saves tracking reference and URL into Shopify
• Print labels using Shipmate WebPrint™
• Select between one label per order or item
• Multi-User Label Printing
• Sets order status to "Fulfilled" when label is generated