ShipStation add-on for Cs-cart
Effortless Shipping Management for your Business
ShipStation is a SaaS (Software as a Service) shipping platform that allows you to manage all your small parcel and LTL shipping needs in one place.
At the most basic level, you import your orders from an order source - usually from an online store, though there are other methods - set the carrier and shipping service for the shipment, get the postage rates, and print the labels.
ShipStation notifies the stores and your customers of the shipments and provides tools to track shipments and manage returns.
ShipStation also provides tools to manage your shipping work-flow, track your processes to eliminate confusion and mistakes, and use powerful automation to minimize how much manual work you have to do.
Features Supported by Our ShipStation Shipping Platform add-on:
‘Order Importing’: Easily import orders from cs-cart, including online stores and other platforms.
‘Carrier Integration’: Integrate with multiple carriers and shipping services to compare rates and choose the best option for each shipment.
‘Label Printing’: Generate shipping labels directly within the platform.
‘Notification System’: Automatically notify both stores and customers about shipments, providing tracking information.
‘Return Management’: Handle returns efficiently with tools to manage the process smoothly.
‘Work-flow Management’: Track shipping processes to minimize errors and confusion.
‘Automation Tools’: Utilize powerful automation to reduce manual work and increase efficiency.
‘Live shipping rates’: Provides accurate, real-time shipping rates on the checkout page, calculated using the customer’s address.
Overall , ShipStation provides a comprehensive solution for managing all aspects of small parcel and LTL shipping in one convenient platform.
Why our ShipStation CS-Cart add-on is the ultimate choice for smooth and secure Shipping Management?
- Hassle-Free Integration: This add-on ensures a smooth and hassle-free integration process, allowing you to quickly and effortlessly connect your CS-Cart store with the ShipStation Shipping Platform.
- Easy to access: Our accessible add-on is widely favored as it is extremely user-friendly and offers fast and reliable services. Minimal technical expertise is required for effortless integration into your CS-Cart store.
- Live shipping rates: If a vendor has connected their ShipStation account and configured their preferred carriers, customers will see live shipping rates for that vendor’s products at checkout, making rate handling much easier.
- Order creation at ShipStation: Once order placed at CS-Cart and if vendor connected their ShipStation account via addon settings then Order will be pushed seamlessly to Vendor's ShipStation account as well.
- Shipment update back to CS-Cart: Once shipment is created from ShipStation, then shipment with tracking number will able to created in CS-Cart to keep all synced. This process works when the designated button is clicked and the webhook is properly subscribed, as explained in Setup step 4 below.
Installation Steps :
- Open the Add-ons drop-down and select Downloaded add-ons
- Click on gear wheel and select manual installation
- Upload the zip file and click ‘Upload and install
- Add on installed successfully
Setup (Single Vendor) :
1. Go to the Storefronts section from the settings.
2. Edit your current storefront.
Note : Follow the steps in the 'How to Get Your ShipStation API Keys' section to obtain the API and Secret keys required for this setup.
3. At the bottom of the General tab, you'll see the ShipStation settings section. Fill in the required details and save the changes.
- Enable Shipping: Toggle to activate ShipStation integration for this storefront.
- Api key: Enter your ShipStation API key.
- Secret key: Enter your ShipStation secret key.
- Weight Unit: Select the unit of measurement for package weight (e.g., pounds, kilograms).
4. After saving the changes, return to the same section to configure the Carrier and Webhook settings.
- Carrier - Required for live shipping rate calculation. Make sure at least one carrier is set up.
- Webhook - Required to properly sync shipments from ShipStation back to CS-Cart, including tracking updates.
Note: You can review or manage webhooks in ShipStation by navigating to Dashboard Settings > Integration Partners > Webhooks (Manage Settings). All existing webhooks will be listed there, and you can also create new ones manually if needed.
Setup (Multi Vendor):
1. Once the add-on is installed in Multi-Vendor, each company will have its own settings section under its profile details.
- As Admin : Navigate to Vendors > Vendors.
- As Vendor : Navigate to Profile > Seller info.
Note : To restrict ShipStation access to selected vendors only, a user group condition is used. Details can be found in the ‘User group Condition Setup’ section.
2. Edit the vendor/company profile details. (for Admin User)
Note : Follow the steps in the 'How to Get Your ShipStation API Keys' section to obtain the API and Secret keys required for this setup.
3. At the bottom of the General tab, you'll see the ShipStation settings section. Fill in the required details and save the changes.
- Enable Shipping: Toggle to activate ShipStation integration for this storefront.
- Api key: Enter your ShipStation API key.
- Secret key: Enter your ShipStation secret key.
- Weight Unit: Select the unit of measurement for package weight (e.g., pounds, kilograms).
4. After saving the changes, return to the same section to configure the Carrier and Webhook settings.
- Carrier - Required for live shipping rate calculation. Make sure at least one carrier is set up.
- Webhook - Required to properly sync shipments from ShipStation back to CS-Cart, including tracking updates.
Note: You can review or manage webhooks in ShipStation by navigating to Dashboard Settings > Integration Partners > Webhooks (Manage Settings). All existing webhooks will be listed there, and you can also create new ones manually if needed..
Live Shipping Rates Flow (optional):
If a vendor has connected their ShipStation account and configured their preferred carriers, customers will see live shipping rates for that vendor’s products at checkout.
Create Shipping Methods -
- Navigate to Setting > Shipping methods > Add Shipping methods
- Choose 'ShipStation' for rate calculation, give the shipping method a name, and then create it.
- After creating the shipping method, navigate to the 'Configure' tab to set up the service, address type, and additional cost. Then save the changes.
- To make the shipping method accessible to all vendors, click the gear icon next to the Save button and select 'Allow shipping for all vendors.
Note : These ShipStation methods are only shown for vendors who have enabled ShipStation and configured a carrier that supports the selected shipping service.
Place Order / Checkout page -
Now, when a customer places an order with a vendor who has enabled ShipStation and configured the corresponding carrier and shipping method, live shipping rates will be displayed on the CS-Cart checkout page.
Note : If multiple shipping methods are configured for a vendor's carrier, all corresponding ShipStation options will be displayed on the CS-Cart checkout page—provided they are available for the customer’s address.
User Group Condition Setup:
To restrict certain vendors from accessing ShipStation functionality, follow this setup.
Prerequisite: Ensure that the 'Vendor Privileges' add-on is installed. This add-on allows you to create user groups for vendors as well.
Make sure the add-on is active before proceeding with the steps below.
1. Navigate Users > User Groups.
2. Create a new user group, set the Type to Vendor, and enable or disable the 'Allow ShipStation Shipping' option as needed. Configure any additional settings as required.
3. Assign the created user group to the main(root) vendor of the company.
Navigate to Vendors > Vendors, select the desired company, then click "View Vendor Admins" from the sidebar.
Identify the vendor with the lowest User ID—this is the root vendor.
Click Edit, go to the User Groups tab, and assign the newly created user group.
How to Get Your ShipStation API Keys :
- Log in to your ShipStation account and click the Settings icon in the top-right corner of the dashboard.
- Under the Account section, navigate to API Settings.
- In the API Keys section, make sure API Version 1 is selected, then click the Generate API Keys button to obtain your API Key and Secret Key.
Order Sync Flow :
- Select a product from a vendor who has ship station enabled and Click ‘Add to Cart’%201.png?1716624622283)
- Select any payment method and Click on Place Order.
- Now the order is placed at admin panel at Orders -> View orders%208.png?1716624940482)
- Also the same order is placed at ShipStation Awaiting Shipment.
- Now , Open the Order # 808 , Provide the required details like Ship From , Weight , Service and Package and ‘Create + Print Label’ Button generated for valid inputs
- Afterward the Status of the Order will changed to Shipped
Note : The User can also take the print of Packing Slip at ShipStation where Shipment is Created
- Choose shipping service and generated Tracking number is also updated under order placed at cs-cart admin panel automatically.
%209.png?1716625446481)
Using this add-on, you can easily generate Shipment at ShipStation and Tracking Number at admin panel where the order is placed providing valuable insights into the performance of your shipment process.
By connecting the ShipStation add-on to your CS-Cart store in just one step, you can simplify provide customers with a quickly generate discounted shipping label , print a label or batch orders for rapid multi-label creation.
By choosing CartModules, you unlock efficient shipping solutions that streamline operations , elevate customer satisfaction, drive conversions and facilitate significant business expansion. Experience the convenience of seamless shipping processes with our ShipStation processes with our ShipStation Integration add-on.
