Setting Up Multiple Shipping Accounts for a Single Carrier

ShipHero's 'warehouse profiles' feature allows you to connect multiple shipping accounts from the same carrier (i.e., two FedEx accounts). This article explains why multiple accounts from the same carrier may be needed for your operations and how to set this up using different warehouse profiles.

Why use Multiple Accounts with the Same Carrier?

How does it work?

How to Connect Multiple Accounts to the Same Carrier

Step 1: Create a New Warehouse Profile

Step 2: Connect the Additional Carrier Account

Step 3: Assign the New Profile to Orders

Why use Multiple Accounts with the Same Carrier?

At first glance, having two or more accounts with the same shipping carrier might seem inefficient. Why complicate things when one account could handle it all? However, for many businesses—especially those with multiple locations or complex operations—using separate accounts with the same carrier isn't just common, it's a smart strategy.

Here are some common reasons businesses choose to have multiple accounts with the same shipping carrier:

• Multiple Locations: Each warehouse or branch office might have its own account for localized management.
• Varying Rates & Services: Accessing different discounted rates or specialized services based on specific shipping needs.
• Departmental Billing: Allocating shipping costs to different departments or cost centers for budgeting.
• Client-Specific Billing: Managing separate billing for individual clients, common for fulfillment services.
• Automation & Integration: Optimizing shipping workflows and choosing the best account automatically via software.

How does it work?

The system first looks at the warehouse the order is shipping from, then the profile associated with the order when generating labels.

For accounts with a single warehouse, you MUST have a separate profile for each account you need to connect for the same carrier; this way the system is able to identify the correct carrier account when generating labels.

For example:

I have one warehouse and two UPS accounts based on where an order is shipping to. ABC123 is used for domestic orders and XYZ789 is used for international orders.

Most of my orders are domestic, so I use the "Default" profile when connecting ABC123.

To connect XYZ789, I create a new profile "International," connect the account to this profile, and then assign my international order to that profile as well.

If you have multiple warehouses, you can "reuse" the profiles from the first warehouse to connect a different carrier account to the second warehouse. This is because the system first looks at the warehouse the order is shipping from, then the profile associated with it.

For example:

I have two warehouses and two UPS accounts based on where the order is shipping from. ABC123 is used for orders shipping from my NY warehouse and XZY789 is used for orders shipping from my CA warehouse.

I can use the default profile when connecting ABC123 to the NY warehouse AND the default profile when connecting XYZ789 to the CA warehouse.

How to Connect Multiple Accounts to the Same Carrier

To connect multiple shipping accounts to a single carrier and ensure that the system uses the correct carrier account when a label is generated, please make sure you follow the process in each of the steps below.

Step 1: Create a New Warehouse Profile

This profile will be used to connect the additional carrier account and assign specific orders to use this carrier account when shipping. Please follow the steps below to create a new warehouse profile.

1. Go to the My Account>Warehouses page.
2. Click Add A Warehouse.
3. Select Create A New Profile and name it to be easily identifiable.
4. Select the physical warehouse that this new profile and its associated carrier account will be used for.
5. Complete all required profile details, such as the invoice address, return label address, invoice logo, and contact email.
6. Select Save.

Step 2: Connect the Additional Carrier Account

Using the profile you just created, you will now connect it to the additional carrier account. Please follow the steps below to connect the account.

1. Go to the Shipping>Carriers page.
2. Click Connect Carrier and select the Carrier from the list.
3. From the dropdowns, select the new warehouse profile you just created and the physical warehouse this carrier account will be linked to.
4. Enter the specific Carrier Account details (i.e., account number, API keys, credentials) as prompted by the system.
5. Hit Connect.

Step 3: Assign the New Profile to Orders

Now that you've created your new warehouse profile and connected your additional carrier account, the final step is to tell ShipHero which orders should use this new setup. There are several flexible ways to assign this new profile to your orders:

Update the Profile at the Store Level:

If you want all the orders from a connected sales channel to ship with a particular shipping carrier account, assign the new warehouse profile. To do this:

1. Go to My Account>Stores,
2. Clicking the hyperlinked Profile next to the store name.
3. Selecting the Profile from the dropdown and hit Save.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Applying a new profile at the store level only affects future orders imported from that store. For existing orders, you will need to update them manually (see sections below).

Manually Update the Profile on an Order

There are two ways to manually update the profile on an order.

1. On the order details page: In the Details section on the right, select the desired Store Profile from the dropdown and hit Update Details to save changes.
2. From the Manage Orders page: Go to the Orders>Manage Orders page, filter for and select the orders you need to update. Hit the Bulk Edit button and select the Profile from the dropdown. Then select Save.

Assign a Profile via Automation Rules:

Alternately, you can set up an automation rule to assign that new profile to orders matching specific criteria you define. To do this:

1. Go to the Orders>Automation Rules page.
2. Select Create New Rule.
3. Choose the Triggers to set the criteria and the Action: Set Profile; then, select your profile from the dropdown.
4. Name your rule and hit Create.

NOTE: Automation rules will only apply to new orders that meet your criteria. For detailed information on setting up automation rules, refer to our article: How to Use Automation Rules.