About the Subscription Timing API

Use the Shipium Subscription Timing application programming interface (API) to determine when a given subscription shipment should be shipped out or sent to a warehouse for shipping in order to hit a particular delivery date based on your organization's historical shipping speeds and the location of the address to which the shipment is being sent.

When calling the Subscription Timing API, you pass the desired delivery date, the destination postal code, and the postal code from which you expect the shipment to be sent (e.g., your warehouse's postal code) using the shippingOptions structure.

This document includes details below and walks you through some typical examples. For more technical information, visit the Subscription Timing API Reference.

Set up Delivery Promise for your organization

To start using Delivery Promise, you’ll need to complete the following steps. Your dedicated Shipium Implementation team member will assist you with each one.

Set up your Shipium account
You’ll set up your organization’s account within the Shipium platform.
Configure your fulfillment network
All warehouse or store origins and origin schedules are set up on the Shipium platform and configured to your organization's exact network properties.
Configure your time in transit (TNT) calculation hierarchy and upload shipment data
TNTs are needed for the most accurate EDD. You'll set up your preferred TNT structure and upload your organization’s historical shipment values. Generally, Shipium requests that you upload 12 months of data.

Retrieve subscription timing guidance

The Shipium Subscription Timing API is designed to be flexible to fit your organization’s business strategy and technical capabilities. All API calls assume you're using one of the authentication mechanisms detailed in our authentication documentation. The endpoint for all Subscription Timing API calls is included in the table below.

API type	API endpoint
POST	https://api.shipium.com/api/v1/subscription/timing

The following table provides all required and optional field descriptions for calling the Subscription Timing API. You can find additional support in the Subscription Timing API Reference.

Request field	Required/Optional	Field properties	Description
`customerCountryCode`	Required	string enumeration Limited to 2 characters and ISO 3166 standards	Shipment’s destination country
`customerPostalCode`	Required	string Limited to valid USPS postal ZIP codes	Shipment's destination postal code
`desiredDeliveryDate`	Required	string date Limited to the ISO-8601 standard OR a date only in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.	The date on which you want the shipment in question to be delivered on or before. Note that this value should be in the timezone of the delivery postal code. If you provide only date, that will be assumed.
`options.shippingOptions.fromCountryCode` `options.shippingOptions.fromPostalCode`	Optional, should be paired	string enumeration 2 character ISO 3166 standards country code and a valid USPS postal ZIP code value.	Dictate the origin that will fulfill the shipment by using the country code and postal code.
`options.shippingOptions.originId`	Optional	string enumeration Shipium-generated originID value for the particular origin	Dictate the origin that will fulfill the shipment by using the originID.
`options.shippingOptions.shipOption`	Optional	string enumeration One of the valid values for `shipOption`, listed below.	Dictate the shipOption that will be used and thus the likely ship time available for the shipment, if needed.

The primary elements of the response (other than the request elements) are listed in this table. The primary pieces of data returned are the fcDropDate and the shipByDate, representing when a shipment should be sent to the fulfillment center (FC) and when it should be shipped, respectively, in order to get it to the customer by the requested desiredDeliveryDate.

Response attribute	Description
`subscriptionTimingId`	Unique Shipium-generated ID associated with the request and response.
`fcDropByDate`	The date by which the fulfillment center (FC) should begin processing of the shipment in order to hit the desired delivery date that was requested. This value is calculated based on the `shipByDate` and a calculation using the FC processing time configured for the appropriate origin.
`shipByDate`	The date by which the FC should ship the shipment in order to hit the desired delivery date that was requested.
`estimateSource`	The source of the times in transit (TNTs) that were utilized as part of the calculation. This will be one of `"ShipiumCalculated"`, `"PartnerProvided"`, or `"CarrierProvided"`.

Basic subscription timing request and response

This example shows a typical Subscription Timing API call cURL request:

curl --request POST \
  --url '<<api_url>>/api/v1/subscription/timing' \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header $AUTHSTRING \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{"customerCountryCode": "US","customerPostalCode": "98103","desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20"}'

Here is the request body JSON expanded:

{
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20"
}

This is a typical response:

{
    "subscriptionTimingId": "8ffa82ab-e67a-4b9f-bed6-d3b29b088bb1",
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "shippingOrigin": {
        "countryCode": "US",
        "postalCode": "97005",
        "shipiumOriginId": "a97a9ffc-ce6c-44dd-9831-7497bf0838ce"
    },
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20T00:00:00Z",
    "shipByDate": "2021-11-17T22:00:00-07:00",
    "fcDropByDate": "2021-11-16T00:00:01-07:00",
    "estimateSource": "ShipiumCalculated"
}

Advanced subscription timing request and response

Many users of the Subscription Timing API may need to pass additional details, such as:

the expected FC from which the shipment will be sent; or
details of a shipOption other than Standard.

This example shows an advanced Subscription Timing API call cURL request:

curl --request POST \
  --url '<<api_url>>/api/v1/subscription/timing' \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header $AUTHSTRING \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{"customerCountryCode": "US", "customerPostalCode": "98103", "desiredDeliveryDate": "2020-04-20", "options": {"shippingOptions": {"fromCountryCode": "US", "fromPostalCode": "87121", "shipOption": "Standard"}}}'

Here is the request body JSON expanded:

{
  "customerCountryCode": "US", 
  "customerPostalCode": "98103", 
  "desiredDeliveryDate": "2020-04-20", 
  "options": {
    "shippingOptions": {
      "fromCountryCode": "US", 
      "fromPostalCode": "87121", 
      "shipOption": "Standard"
    }
  }
}

This is the response:

{
  "customerCountryCode": "US",
  "customerPostalCode": "98103",
  "desiredDeliveryDate": "2020-04-20T00:00:00Z",
  "fcDropByDate": "2020-04-17T00:00:00Z",
  "shippingOrigin": {
    "countryCode": "US",
    "postalCode": "87121",
    "shipiumOriginId": "3adcd9f9-06de-4620-894f-7b1e6db1a815"
  },
  "options": {
      "shippingOptions": {
      "fromCountryCode": "US", 
      "fromPostalCode": "87121", 
      "shipOption": "Standard"
      }
  },
  "shipByDate": "2020-04-18T00:00:00Z",
  "estimateSource": "ShipiumCalculated",
  "subscriptionTimingId": "b903b8b0-84b4-11ea-ab12-0800200c9a66"
}

Call and response with advanced options

In some situations, your organization may need to pass additional shipping options due to specialized fulfillment information. These cases are more complex, so you should consider carefully before using them in your integration.

Ship option override

shipOption

Retrieve the estimate for a different ship option.

Available ship options for the API call request:

Standard
SameDay
NextDay
TwoDay
ThreeDay

curl --request POST \
  --url '<<api_url>>/api/v1/subscription/timing' \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header $AUTHSTRING \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{"customerCountryCode": "US","customerPostalCode": "98103","desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20","options": {"shippingOptions": {"shipOption": "NextDay"}}}'

Here is the JSON request body expanded:

{
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20",
    "options": {
        "shippingOptions": {
            "shipOption": "NextDay"
        }
    }
}

This example shows the response when extra options are used:

{
    "subscriptionTimingId": "169b7732-5e6d-4a91-90f8-9fc98439f1aa",
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "shippingOrigin": {
        "countryCode": "US",
        "postalCode": "98327",
        "shipiumOriginId": "3adcd9f9-06de-4620-894f-7b1e6db1a815"
    },
    "options": {
        "shippingOptions": {
            "shipOption": "NextDay"
        }
    },
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20T00:00:00Z",
    "shipByDate": "2021-11-18T22:00:00-08:00",
    "fcDropByDate": "2021-11-17T00:00:01-08:00",
    "estimateSource": "ShipiumCalculated"
}

Ship from origin postal code override

curl --request POST \
  --url '<<api_url>>/api/v1/subscription/timing' \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header $AUTHSTRING \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{"customerCountryCode": "US","customerPostalCode": "98103","desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20","options": {"shippingOptions": {"fromCountryCode": "US","fromPostalCode": "97005"}}}'

Here is the JSON request body expanded:

{
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "options": {
        "shippingOptions": {
            "fromCountryCode": "US",
            "fromPostalCode": "97005"
        }
    }
}

This example shows the response when extra options are used:

{
    "subscriptionTimingId": "93740852-b10f-45eb-bbcf-167260d956d7",
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "shippingOrigin": {
        "countryCode": "US",
        "postalCode": "97005",
        "shipiumOriginId": "a97a9ffc-ce6c-44dd-9831-7497bf0838ce"
    },
    "options": {
        "shippingOptions": {
            "fromCountryCode": "US",
            "fromPostalCode": "97005"
        }
    },
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20T00:00:00Z",
    "shipByDate": "2021-11-15T22:00:00-08:00",
    "fcDropByDate": "2021-11-12T00:00:01-08:00",
    "estimateSource": "ShipiumCalculated"
}

Ship from origin override

curl --request POST \
  --url '<<api_url>>/api/v1/subscription/timing' \
  --header 'accept: application/json' \
  --header $AUTHSTRING \
  --header 'content-type: application/json' \
  --data '{"customerCountryCode": "US","customerPostalCode": "98103","desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20","options": {"shippingOptions": {"originId": "a97a9ffc-ce6c-44dd-9831-7497bf0838ce"}}}'

Here is the request body JSON expanded:

{
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "options": {
        "shippingOptions": {
            "originId": "a97a9ffc-ce6c-44dd-9831-7497bf0838ce"
        }
    }
}

This example shows the response when the shipping origin is provided:

{
    "subscriptionTimingId": "a3be42a0-ab6b-47fa-a5f1-c720143e70f7",
    "customerCountryCode": "US",
    "customerPostalCode": "98103",
    "options": {
        "shippingOptions": {
            "originId": "a97a9ffc-ce6c-44dd-9831-7497bf0838ce"
        }
    },
    "shippingOrigin": {
        "countryCode": "US",
        "postalCode": "97005",
        "shipiumOriginId": "a97a9ffc-ce6c-44dd-9831-7497bf0838ce"
    },
    "desiredDeliveryDate": "2021-11-20T00:00:00Z",
    "shipByDate": "2021-11-16T22:00:00-08:00",
    "fcDropByDate": "2021-11-15T00:00:01-08:00",
    "estimateSource": "ShipiumCalculated"
}

📘
More information on the API responses
As with all Shipium API responses, this API follows the API Response Codes standards unless otherwise specified.