Automation Rules Overview
Setting up Automation Rules in your Shippo account allows Shippo to make shipping selections on your behalf automatically. Once your Automation Rules are set, all new orders added to Shippo will be automatically processed and adjusted according to the preferences you programmed. Automation Rules are a great time saver for tasks that are repeatable and predictable within your fulfillment workflow.
For instance, I could create an Automation Rule that says: If an order of three or fewer t-shirts are purchased from my store, then Shippo will automatically assign a poly mailer as the packaging for that order.
With Shippo’s Automation Rules, you may use any combination of the following order properties to automatically assign:
- Package
- Carrier Service Levels
- Sender Address
- Tag
with the following conditions:
- Item Name
- Item SKU
- Order Quantity
- Order Weight
- Shipping Destination: Domestic/ International
- Shipping Destination: State/ Province (U.S. & Canada)
- Shipping Destination: Zip Code (U.S. & Canada)
- All Countries: where you can choose the individual countries that apply to the rule.
Setting up your Automations
Shippo Automation Rules are based on an if/then system. Meaning, if your order has a specific property, then a specific action will follow.
To create an Automation Rule:
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- From the Orders page, click the Settings icon.
- Then, select Automations under Shipping and click Create New Rule.
- In the If section, select the order property (weight, item name, etc.) for which orders your rule should apply to.
- Select what action should be taken on those orders (i.e apply x package template).
- Give your Automation Rule a name and description.
- Click Save.
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Once you click Save, Automation Rules will apply to all new orders imported into Shippo (from either your connected stores or a CSV import).
You can add as many rules as you'd like but please keep in mind that the order of your rules affects how they apply to your orders.
Managing Automation Rules
Automation Rules run in a specific order to ensure you have total control over how your orders are processed. Rules will run in sequence from top to bottom in the order you specify on the Automations page. So, order matters.
To reorder your Automation Rules, simply drag and drop your rules into the appropriate sequence. Click on any part of the Automation Rule within your Automation Rule list to select and drag an automation rule.
- <5lbs = package B
- <2lbs = package A
- <2lbs = package A
- <5lbs = package B
Tips To Successfully Manage Automation Rules
- More than one automation rule may be applied to an order (e.g. an order may have a package assigned to it through one rule and a carrier service assigned to it through a different rule)
- Only one of the same actions can be applied to an order. The action listed first in the rules automation management list will apply first (e.g. an order meets conditions for two different packages to be applied. The package Automation Rule listed first on the Automations Rules list will ultimately be the package assigned to the order)
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Automation Rules process in order from top to bottom and may be reordered by clicking and dragging rules into the desired order
Want to learn more? Check out our Automation Rules FAQs.