Parcelforce is one of the UK's leading parcel delivery services. ShipStation's integration with Parcelforce is available to UK-based ShipStation accounts and provides access to both domestic and international shipping services when you connect your existing business account.
Interested in a Parcelforce account? Visit Parcelforce's Enquire about an account page to get started.
Connection Requirements:
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UK-based ShipStation account
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An active account with Parcelforce via a Royal Mail Online Business Account (OBA)
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A Royal Mail Account Number
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A Posting Location number
Shipment Requirements:
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All shipments through Parcelforce must include both a first name and last name in the Ship To and Ship From addresses as well as a Ship To Phone Number.
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All shipments require both weight and dimensions.
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You must generate sample labels with test credentials and have those sample labels approved by Parcelforce. Once approved, you can enter your production credentials to start creating real labels.
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Daily sales order summaries.
Parcelforce requires you to create and print a Sales Order Summary, which you must then hand to the driver who picks up the parcels. You cannot close shipments with dispatch dates in the future, only past or current-date shipments.
See the Create a Sales Order Summary section for instructions.
International Requirements:
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VAT and EORI numbers are required.
We recommend contacting ShipStation Support to update your Royal Mail account-level EORI and VAT numbers inside our systems.
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Printed copies of the commercial invoice with required international shipments. Parcelforce provides the Commercial Invoice or CN23 form when required by the shipment.
The first time you connect your Parcelforce Worldwide account to ShipStation, you must connect it as a test account and generate sample labels that Parcelforce must approve. Once approved, you'll remove the test account connection and reconnect your account as a live connection.
To connect your Parcelforce Worldwide account in test mode for sample labels:
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Click the Add Carrier button.
Select the Parcelforce tile and fill in the requested information to connect your Parcelforce carrier account to ShipStation.
ShipStation's integration with Parcelforce supports the following standard features:
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Domestic Return Labels must be enabled in your Parcelforce account. |
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One label message of 30 characters or less is supported. |
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ShipStation's integration with Parcelforce allows for the following additional features:
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Feature |
Description |
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Consequential Loss |
Purchase Consequential Loss coverage to protect against loss, damage, or delay of the parcel. Compensation claims must be made through Royal Mail's Customer Service team within 14 days of posting. For more information on coverage for Consequential Loss, see the leaflet available at Post Office ® branches, or ask at the counter for Terms and Conditions applicable to Consequential Loss. |
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Local Collect |
Designate that the recipient will pick up their parcel at a local postal facility. With this option, the Recipient address used for the parcel should match the local postal facility. See the Royal Mail page on Local Collect for more information and restrictions. |
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Safeplace |
A shipping option that's available to add to Royal Mail tracked services. It designates that the parcel can be left in a safe location, and provide instructions for the delivery driver on where to leave the package. See the Royal Mail page on Safeplace for more information and restrictions. Safe Place is only available on Royal Mail tracked services and cannot be used in conjunction with services that require a signature. ShipStation can send a Safeplace message if specified in the Shipping Options. This field is limited to 30 characters. |
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ShipStation syncs with your active Royal Mail services |
Royal Mail offers a wide range of different services to dispatch your parcels. ShipStation will sync with your Royal Mail account daily so that only the active services for your Royal Mail account appear in ShipStation. NoteShipStation will only enable services if the services have been approved for your OBA account. If you need to enable or disable Royal Mail services, you must do so through your Royal Mail OBA account page. Contact your Royal Mail account representative if you have any questions about which services are available for your account. |
Parcelforce Domestic Services:
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Express 9
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Express 9 Courier Pack
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Express 9 Secure
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Express 10
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Express 10 Courier Pack
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Express 10 Exchange
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Express 10 Secure
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Express 10 Secure Exchange
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Express 24
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Express 24 Courier Pack
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Express 24 Exchange
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Express 24 Large
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Express 24 Secure
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Express 24 Secure Exchange
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Express 24 Sunday
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Express 24 Collection
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Express 48
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Express 48 Collection
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Express 48 Large
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Express 48 Large Collection
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Express AM
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Express AM Courier Pack
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Express AM Exchange
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Express AM Large
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Express AM Secure
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Express AM Secure Exchange
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Express AM Sunday (B2B)
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Express PM
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Express PM Exchange
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Express PM Secure
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Express PM Secure Exchange
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Express Collect
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Euro Priority
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Euro Priority Pack
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Parcel Rider
Parcelforce International Services:
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Euro Economy
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Euro Priority
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Euro Priority Pack
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GlobalBulk Direct
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Global Economy
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Globalexpress
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Globalexpress Envelope Delivery
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Globalexpress Pack Delivery
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Globalpriority
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Globalpriority Returns
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Globalpriority H M Forces
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Globalvalue
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Ireland Express
Parcelforce Package Types:
Confirmation Options:
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Adult Signature
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PIN on delivery
Starting 1st May 2025, Parcelforce will support B2B not at risk, B2B at risk, B2C, C2B, and C2C movement types for shipping from Great Britain (GB) to Northern Ireland (NI), aligning with the Windsor Framework.
Parcelforce adjusted their shipping solution (EDI and API) to support sending parcels to Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
API Users: While not required to create a label successfully, you can declare the movement_indicator in the windsor_framework_details object. If you know the shipper and recipient UKIMS numbers, you should declare them in the tax_identifiers object in both the ship_to and ship_from objects.
See the Gov.UK Guidance page about Declaring goods you bring into Northern Ireland 'not at risk’.
Windsor Framework Parameters
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Parameter |
Required by the carrier |
Description |
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Movement Indicator |
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B2B, B2C, C2B, or C2C If no movement indicator is provided, the default is B2C. |
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Not-at-Risk flag |
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Parcelforce will declare the shipment to be At Risk or Not At Risk. The carrier will choose Red or Green lane based on the provided values.
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Sender UKIMS Number |
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Required only for B2B. It can be the UKIMS number of either the Sender or Recipient. |
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Receiver UKIMS Number |
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Required only for B2B. It can be the UKIMS number of either the Sender or Recipient. |
Data Expectations
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Movement Indicator |
Requirements |
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B2B parcels with UKIMS authorization |
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B2B parcels without UKIMS authorization |
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B2C/C2C/C2B parcels |
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Parcel Contents Record: One or more Parcel Contents Records must be present for each Generic Parcel Information Record for International shipments to ALL destinations for Customs clearance, and for GB to NI shipments for Windsor Framework declarations. One record should be present for each type of content within each parcel (International shipments) or consignment (GB – NI Windsor Framework shipments). This record type is not applicable to GB Domestic, NI-to-GB, or NI-to-NI shipments.
Shipments sent with Royal Mail or Parcelforce Worldwide include carrier SMS and email notification shipping options. If enabled for the shipment, the phone number and/or email address on the order will be sent to the carrier when you create the label. The carrier will then send SMS or email notifications (whichever you have selected) to your customer as the shipment approaches its destination.
Please note that these notifications are not sent by ShipStation.
You can enable one or both of these notification options on a per shipment basis, for multiple shipments at once using the Bulk Update option, or automatically using an automation rule.
To enable these notification options for multiple shipments:
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Make sure the shipments have been configured with a Royal Mail or Parcelforce Worldwide service.
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Select the shipments from the Orders grid.
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Go to the Bulk Update menu and choose Other Shipping Options.
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Select which notification option to enable (you can choose to enable one or both).
ShipStation will update the notification options for all selected shipments.
When using automation to set the SMS or email notification options, the shipment must first have the carrier set correctly. If the shipment does not have the carrier set first, the notification options will not be present to enable for the shipment.
Since automation rules apply to orders when they import, this means you'll need to use additional automation to set the carrier and service first. You can use any import automation to do this, like Service Mapping or Product Defaults. Or, you can create another automation rule that sets the carrier and service prior to the rule that sets the notification.
To create a rule that enables the notification options:
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Name the rule.
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Select Orders match these specific criteria and choose Carrier from the first criteria drop-down menu. Then, set the criteria so it includes either Parcelforce or Royal Mail (or both if you use both carriers).
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Set the Action Type to Set Notifications (Royal Mail / Parcelforce) and check which notification options you wish to enable - SMS, Email, or both.
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Save the rule.
Going forward, ShipStation will now automatically enable these notification options for orders that import into Awaiting Shipment when Parcelforce and/or Royal Mail is set as the carrier.
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By default, Parcelforce/Royal Mail shipments do not have a confirmation type selected.
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Channel Islands: Parcelforce/Royal Mail requires customs docs for shipments to Guernsey and Jersey. Please use the country code GE and JE, respectively, and include the customs docs with the label. The shipment's customs docs will not work with GB as the country code.
Isle of Man (IOM) shipments do not require customs, and there is no option to select IOM as a country code.
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ShipStation cannot return estimated rates for Parcelforce/Royal Mail services, as Parcelforce/Royal Mail does not currently allow third-party apps, like ShipStation, to connect to their Rates API.
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Address line has a character limit of 35.
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Only Label Message 1 is supported. It has a character limit of 20.
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You must set pickups (daily and other schedules) within Parcelforce/Royal Mail, not in ShipStation.
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Parcelforce/Royal Mail's connection pop-up does not validate your input. If you enter incorrect details into the fields, Parcelforce/Royal Mail will contact ShipStation during the “pending” phase. If this occurs, ShipStation will then contact you so you can re-enter and resubmit it to Parcelforce/Royal Mail.