Automation Rules can set carrier and label options on an order before it reaches the pack station, including the shipping method, insurance, signature requirements, and special handling flags. Setting these automatically keeps packers from having to remember them and prevents label errors at print time.
Before You Begin
Carrier and service options depend on the carriers connected to your account. An action only takes effect when the selected carrier supports that service. Set up your carriers and shipping method mapping before you build these rules. To use Set profile, create the warehouse profile first, because a rule can only select a profile that already exists.
For every trigger and action ShipHero offers, see Automation Rule Triggers and Actions Reference. If you are new to Automation Rules, start with How to Use Automation Rules in ShipHero.
Note for 3PLs: Shipping methods, warehouse profiles, and shipping boxes belong to a single client account, so rules using these actions need one selected client. See How to Create Automation Rules for 3PL Clients.
Table of Contents
- How to Create a Shipping and Label Automation Rule
- Available Shipping and Label Actions in ShipHero Automation Rules
- How to Create a Warehouse Profile for Automation Rules
- Common Shipping and Label Automation Rule Examples
How to Create a Shipping and Label Automation Rule
Note for 3PLs: Select at least one client in the Clients selector before choosing a trigger or an action. Triggers and actions stay unavailable until a client is selected, because every Automation Rule is owned by a client account. Actions that point to one client's own records, such as a warehouse, list, or status, are disabled when you create a single rule for several clients at once. See How to Create Automation Rules for 3PL Clients.
- Go to Orders > Automation Rules.
- Select Create New Rule.
- Enter a Name for the rule.
- Select a Trigger and the value the order must match.
- Select your action from the Action dropdown. See Available Shipping and Label Actions below for every option.
- Select Create.
Important
Automation Rules apply only to orders that import after the rule is created. Orders already in ShipHero are not updated retroactively.
Available Shipping and Label Actions in ShipHero Automation Rules
| Action | Description | Action Values | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Set shipping method | Sets the shipping method and overrides your shipping method mapping. | Select carrier and then shipping method. | Use for a regional carrier set up through the API, because shipping method mapping only rate shops against natively connected carriers. Also use it to override a method another rule has already set, which avoids label errors at the pack station. |
| Set profile | Assigns a specific warehouse profile to the order. | Select profile. | Use for settings that must survive the whole order lifecycle: which carrier account is billed for third-party shipments, a stable value to query in the API for reporting, or 3PL billing that charges B2B and D2C orders differently. |
| Set insurance | Sets insurance based on the sum of the products' retail value. | On/Off | High value shipments and items that are hard to replace, insured at the price the customer paid. |
| Set insurance amount based on product value | Sets shipping insurance based on the sum of product value (replacement cost). | On/Off | The same shipments, insured at replacement cost instead of retail. Cover is cheaper, so this suits business to business shipments and orders going to another country. |
| Set requires signature | Sets the signature required flag on an order. Only carriers that provide this service are eligible in rate shopping. | On/Off | Use on high-value orders where delivery should be confirmed by whoever receives it. Trigger on Order Total so every order above your threshold gets it. |
| Set adult signature required | Tied to the carrier label. The carrier selected must support adult signature (21 and over). | On/Off | Removes the need for the packer or the customer service team to remember to do this. |
| Set Saturday delivery flag | Adds Saturday service for carriers that do not deliver seven days a week. Cannot be used with business addresses. | On/Off | Use with a day definite service such as FedEx Express or UPS Express, where it adds Saturday to the delivery day count. Saturday is otherwise skipped as a non-business day. |
| Set alcohol tag | Tells the carrier the order contains alcohol. This usually requires adult signature and may trigger other carrier shipping processes. | On/Off | Removes the need for the packer or the customer service team to remember to do this. |
| Set dry ice weight | Adds the dry ice weight set in the rule to the total weight of the order at the packing station. | Enter weight value. | Food customers pack dry ice, but dry ice is not a SKU and its weight affects the shipping cost. Dry ice also usually has to ship on specific services. |
| Set FedEx Dangerous Goods | Sends a JSON to FedEx with the dangerous goods code. Requires assistance from support@shiphero.com to provide the correct JSON. | Support assistance required. | Use when an order contains dangerous goods and ships with FedEx. Trigger on a list of the affected SKUs so the declaration is applied every time one of them is ordered. |
How to Create a Warehouse Profile for Automation Rules
A warehouse profile is a named set of order settings that points at one of your warehouses. Because the profile stays on the order for its whole lifecycle, Set profile is a common way to carry billing, reporting, and invoice settings through fulfillment. One of those settings is the invoice note, the message printed on the invoice or packing slip.
- Go to My Accounts > Warehouses.
- Select Add a Warehouse.
- Select Create a New Profile and enter a name, for example "California Residents".
- Set the warehouse as Primary.
- Enter your invoice note and any other settings this profile should apply, then save.
Profiles are created from the Add a Warehouse screen, but you are not adding a physical warehouse. You are creating a profile that points at a warehouse you already have.
The invoice note field holds plain text and has no formatting options. Once the profile exists, it appears in the Set profile dropdown when you build a rule.
Pro-Tip
A new profile will not reach orders that are already in ShipHero. Apply it to those manually, either one order at a time or to several at once with Bulk Manage.
Common Shipping and Label Automation Rule Examples
| Use Case | Trigger | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Route PO box orders to USPS | Address 1 contains "PO Box" | Set shipping method to a USPS service |
| Insure high-value orders | Order Total is greater than your threshold | Set insurance to Yes |
| Require signature on expensive orders | Order Total is greater than your threshold | Set requires signature to Yes |
| Flag alcohol shipments for the carrier | SKU is on a list of alcohol SKUs | Set alcohol tag to Yes, and Set adult signature required to Yes |
| Add dry ice weight to frozen orders | SKU is on a list of frozen SKUs | Set dry ice weight to the weight you pack |
| Bill B2B orders to a separate carrier account | Order Profile or Order Tag identifies wholesale orders | Set profile to your B2B warehouse profile |
| Print a state-specific note on the invoice | State equals the state you need, for example CA | Set profile to a profile that carries your invoice note |
Pro-Tip
Set shipping method overrides your shipping method mapping, so place these rules low in your rule list. A rule higher up that sets a different method will be overwritten by this one, which is usually what you want for exceptions like PO boxes, military addresses, Alaska, Hawaii, and outlying islands.