About Shipium's APIs

Your organization can use a single Shipium application programming interface (API) to meet a specific need, or take advantage of multiple APIs. Like standard APIs, ours enable communication between two application software entities, or endpoints, using rulesets and definitions.

The following diagram shows the Shipium APIs in sequence order:

What Shipium's APIs do

Each of Shipium's APIs can enhance your organization's shipping operations:

You can combine APIs at different points in the ecommerce chain, or use a single API to meet a specific need. Use the individual links in the table above or scroll down for more details for each API and guidance for when to use each one.

Delivery experience with delivery estimate API

Most customers want to know when a product will be delivered even before they buy it. For this reason, using delivery estimates is critical to cart conversion.

When to use this API:

1. When your organization shows a customer a product, the API registers a page view and produces an accurate delivery estimate date.
2. When a customer checks out, the API creates a representation of your order, maps deliveryEstimateIds to quantities in the order, and provides other order properties.
3. When a shipment leaves your FC, the API reports when your organization has shipped a package containing one or more items.
4. The API tracks the package(s).
5. On delivery, the API updates the delivery date/time.

For full details, see Delivery Experience Flow: Using Delivery Estimates.

Delivery experience (order-based) API

If you use order-based implementation instead of delivery promises, this API manages the rest of the flow.

When to use this API:

1. After a customer purchases a product from your organization's site, you use the API to create a representation of your order and map products to quantities in the order, plus other order properties.
2. When your FC ships a package, the API handles both of the following cases:
   • The shipment contains exactly what was in the order.
   • The shipment contains the complete or partial contents of multiple orders.
3. On delivery, the API records the delivery date/time.

For full details, see Delivery Experience Flow: Order-Based.

Subscription timing API

If you use a subscription model, a common problem is knowing when to ship product to your customers to hit an approximate delivery date.

When to use this API:

• You can solve the problem of knowing when to ship by using information on your organization and carrier transit times to recommend when to ship each package.

For full details, see Subscription Timing API Overview.

Package sizing API

When shipping product to your customers, your organization needs to determine package sizing.

When to use this API:

1. You can determine an appropriate set of packaging types and sizes for one or more items in a shipment.
2. Special processes and hazardous materials can be covered too.
3. Your organization sets up the sizes and types of packages available at each FC in your network, and the API does the rest.

For full details, see Package Sizing Flow.

Carrier and method selection API

Optimizing carrier and method selection is one of the key places where ecommerce models can reduce costs.

When to use this API:

1. You can find the least expensive shipping carrier and shipment method that meets a set of rules you define for any given shipment.
2. Once the carrier and method have been determined, your software can obtain a label for that shipper as appropriate (see the next API below).
3. Or use our one call flow as a single interface to all the major carriers.

For full details, see Carrier and Method Selection Flow.

Carrier label service API

After determining shipping carrier and method, your organization will need to determine postage and obtain an appropriate shipping label.

When to use this API:

1. You can purchase postage and obtain an appropriate label for your shipper, after using the carrier and method selection API.
2. You can also use this API on its own, if desired.

For full details, see Carrier Shipment Label Flow.

Carrier and method selection and labeling in one call

You can determine shipping carrier and method, and determine postage and an appropriate label in one single call, reducing your organization's network overhead.

When to use this API:

1. You can combine the functions of the previous two APIs in a single call.
2. You can optimize carrier selection and shipping method.
3. You can purchase postage and obtain an appropriate label for your shipper.

For full details, see Carrier and Method Selection with Label Single Call.

Terminology guide

See Common Terms and Definitions.