You can create labels for many orders at once using a process called Batching. A Batch is a a collection of orders you want to process together and it can be an efficient way to organize your workflow.
Currently, each user in your account can have up to five open batches at a time. Batches appear on the bottom left of your ShipStation Orders screen, and the open batch number will also display in the Open Batch column of your Orders grid. Once a batch has been processed, you can then view specific batch information in Shipments > Batches.
Batches Are User Specific
This means that while other users can view orders that are in another user's batch, only the user who created the batch can edit the batch or process it.
Improved Batches in ShipStation V3!
In ShipStation V3, the batch feature has been greatly expanded to provide more flexibility. New batch features include an unlimited number of batches, custom batch names, and more.
There are two ways to create a batch:
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Click +Create a New Batch in the left-hand sidebar.
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Select orders from the Order grid and select Add to Batch from the shipping sidebar. In the drop-down menu select Create New Batch.
There are two ways to add an order to a batch:
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Drag and drop the orders from the Orders grid to the batch area in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
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Select the desired orders, choose Add to Batch from the Shipping Sidebar, then select the batch number where you want to add those orders.
Orders Can Be in Only One Batch
ShipStation will save you from any duplicate shipments by only allowing an order to be in one batch at a time. If you attempt to add an order to a batch but the order is already in another batch (including another user's batch), ShipStation will prompt you to move the order.
Processing a batch simply means to create the labels for all of the orders contained in the batch.
When you are ready to create the labels for a batch, do the following:
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Select the batch number from the sidebar in the Orders tab.
You should then see all orders contained in the batch in the Orders grid.
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Click the Process Batch button.
A screen will then display the batch’s progress. You can close this window and the batch will continue to process in the background.
When the batch is finished processing, a pop-up will appear with your available options.
From here you can print labels, packing slips, and other documents.
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Click the Labels button to print the labels right away.
If you are not ready to print, close this window. You can print at any time from the Label Queue or by selecting the shipments from the Batches screen in the Shipments tab and clicking Print.
You can also mark a batch as printed, add notes, or archive the batch in the Batches screen.
Process Batch Best Practice
The best practice when using batches is to use the Process Batch button. If you instead select the orders within a batch and click Create Labels, this will cause ShipStation to auto-create a new batch with these orders and then process within this new batch.
When this occurs, you may see the orders remain in your previously created batch, even though their status has changed to Shipped. If this happens, simply cancel the open batch, and select the new batch from your Label Queue or Shipments > Batches window to print the labels.