Order Routing assigns a Ship From Location to a shipment based on which locations have the order items in stock, and are located closest to the recipient. When an order contains multiple items that need to be shipped from multiple locations, Order Routing will split the order into multiple shipments and assign the best Ship From location to each shipment.
Additionally, you can specify whether you wish Order Routing to prioritize shipping from the closest Ship From Location to the recipient or to prioritize the fewest number of Ship From Locations, even when it means an order will not be shipped from the closest location to the recipient. Learn more about this feature in the Introduction to Order Routing help article.
If Order Routing cannot determine the correct course of action, it will not apply to the order. This can happen if the recipient address cannot be verified or if the products in the order are not assigned a location. The shipment will use the default Ship From Location instead.
This article will guide you through how to configure and enable the Order Routing feature. If you already have Order Routing enabled and want to update the Ship From Locations for your products go to Order Routing: Update Ship From Locations.
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A US or Canada-based ShipStation account.
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An account on the Premium subscription plan.
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All of the products you wish to have Order Routing applied to must be added to the ShipStation Product catalog and each of these products must be assigned a Ship From Location.
Configuring Order Routing requires several steps. Our onboarding process will take you through all of them.
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Launch the Order Routing setup
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Create a product file
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Assign Ship From Locations and upload the product CSV file
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Review the product settings, set the routing priority, and enable the feature
The sections below will take you step-by-step through the entire process.
Products that you wish to auto-route must be included in the ShipStation product catalog and have a Ship From Location assigned. Follow the steps in this section to download a CSV (Comma-Separated Value) file containing your current products in ShipStation. You will add any missing products to the CSV and assign active Ship From Locations.
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Click the Export Product CSV button to download a CSV file containing the products currently in ShipStation. The file will download to your computer as a .zip file to your browser's download folder.
SKU, Name, and ActiveShipFrom Fields
The downloaded CSV file contains multiple columns for the products already in ShipStation. In the following steps, you will review and update information in the SKU, Name, and ActiveShipFroms fields. All other information can be left as-is.
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Locate and open the downloaded CSV file. We recommend opening the file using a spreadsheet application like Excel or Google Sheets.
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Review the products contained in the file and add the SKU and Name for any products that you wish to add.
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Select Continue.
You are now ready to assign Ship From Locations to your products.
Next, add the Ship From Locations for each product in the file. Once all Ship From Locations have been added, the file will be ready to import to ShipStation.
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Add the Ship From Locations for each product into the ActiveShipFroms column.
For products with more than one Ship From, separate each Ship From Location with the pipe symbol (|). Add a pipe symbol by pressing SHIFT + \ on your keyboard.
Ship From Locations in ShipStation
The Ship From Locations you add to the ActiveShipFroms column in the CSV file must match the Ship From Location names in ShipStation for the file to be imported successfully. Review the current, active Ship From Locations in ShipStation at
Settings > Shipping > Ship From Locations. -
Save the file to a location on your computer that you can easily access. Then, exit the file.
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Click the Select File button in ShipStation.
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Locate and select the product CSV file you saved in the previous steps. Click Open.
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Verify that the correct CSV file is selected. Then, click the Upload File button.
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Click continue once the upload is complete.
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Select Save Setup.
Next, you will review your products to ensure all Ship From Location assignments are correct and enable Order Routing.
Before you enable Order Routing, review the products in ShipStation to ensure they are assigned to the correct Ship From Locations. Then, you will specify the fulfillment priority and enable Order Routing.
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Click Products in the informational banner on the Order Routing screen to open the Products page in a separate browser tab.
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Review the Active Ship Froms column for each product to ensure the correct Ship From Locations are assigned.
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(Optional) Correct any incorrect Ship From Location assignments.
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Check the box to the left of the products you wish to update.
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Select the correct locations for the selected products from the Active Ship Froms drop-down menu.
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Switch back to the Order Routing browser tab or go to
Settings > Automation > Order Routing. -
Select whether to prioritize shipping from the closest location or shipping from the fewest number of Ship From Locations.
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Products Closest to Customer: Select this option if you wish to prioritize shipping from the Ship From Location(s) closest, geographically, to the recipient address. Order Routing will split the order into as many shipments as needed.
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Fewest Ship From Location(s): Select this option if you wish to prioritize shipping from the location that can fulfill the most order items and is closest to the customer. This will avoid splitting the order unless necessary, even if the Ship From is further away.
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Toggle the Order Routing switch to on.
Order Routing is now configured and enabled. Order Routing will apply to newly imported orders.
Learn more about how automation applies to orders in ShipStation.
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Order Routing will not apply to orders manually created in ShipStation.
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Marketplace updates will not apply to orders that have been split into multiple shipments by Order Routing.
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Order Routing will not apply to Shopify orders containing items with a zero quantity. This is so that quantity updates sent from Shopify can be applied to the order in ShipStation.
The Error
When uploading the product CSV file during the setup process, you encounter the error:
! ERROR - Row XX [Location Name] Active Ship From does not exist
What it Means
The Ship From Location listed in the error message was not found and needs to be added to the Ship From Locations in ShipStation.
What to Do
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Cancel out of the Order Routing setup.
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Go to
Settings > Shipping > Ship From Locationsin ShipStation. -
Click the Add New Location button and add the missing Ship From Location.
The Ship From Location name is indicated in the error message. For example, in the mage here, St. Louis needs to be added as a Ship From Location.
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Follow the steps to configure Order Routing and upload the file again.