Many shop owners know the problem: Which packaging should I use for this order? Does the entire order fit in one box?
This is exactly where the Automatically pack shipments option comes in, which you can activate in the settings under Pick & Pack > Pack. By activating this option, Shiptastic will take care of packing the shipments for you. From now on, when shipments are created for an order, Shiptastic uses an algorithm to check which packaging should be selected. If the items do not fit into one of the stored packages, an additional shipment is created.
This solves several problems at once:
- You no longer have to manually decide which packaging can be used for which order or shipment.
- You can ensure that, for example, a maximum of 12 bottles fit into one shipment. If more than 12 bottles are ordered, another shipment is created automatically.
- Now that the problem of automated packing has been solved, you can work even better with the automatically created labels.
Preparations
In order for the algorithm to work properly, the following requirements must be met:
- Your product data should include both the weight and the dimensions – this is the only way the algorithm can check whether the product fits into a pack or not. If your products have inner packaging, you should specify the dimensions of this packaging. You can optionally enter different shipping dimensions on the product edit page under Shipping.
- You should have entered your available packaging under Pick & Pack > Packaging.
Separation by shipping class
If you use different shipping classes for your products, you can optionally specify in the settings that only products of the same shipping class may be packed in one shipment. This allows you to ensure, for example, that bottles can only be packed together with other bottles.
Configuration of the buffer zone
A small distance is normally required between the packaging and the products it contains. You can configure this buffer zone in the settings as either a fixed or percentage distance. Alternatively, you can also define special internal dimensions for each packaging in the packaging detail settings. In this case, the buffer for this packaging is ignored.