Woocommerce & Royal Mail DMO
- Thread starter Babymoos
- Start date
The biggest problem i have is that i am unable to tell the weight until the parcel is packed. This means twice as much work with labelling as i will have to revisit each parch once packed. There is also more danger of sticking the wrong delivery address on the parcel. This change is a real pain. How are others getting the correct weight of a packed parcel? Easy if its multiples of a few items of similar shape and size, but we have a couple of thousand of various weights, size and some require additional protection. I cant see how i can be 100% confidant the weight will be correct. If i guess wrong what happens to the parcel?
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Abe Choi
Hey @bharris
If you are using royal mail then weight isn't too big of a problem because you can use average weight in OBA and potentially in DMO. However if you are using other carriers, you have to be exact or they will revenue protect (billing you the correct amount). Some carriers dont mind because they weigh and measure every package anyway. The only way to get weight and dimensions automatically without manually doing it yourself or pulling from a data source would be commercial equipment using lasers.
If you do have a range of SKUs that you ship out consistently, then I would use an order management system that can store dimensions and weights of final packaged amounts and then can auto generate the shipping label with all the correct information. Given that you have 1000s of various products, I'm assuming you make the most profits from only a small set and I would start here given that your profits are healthy and the orders are consistent. The long tail of other skus, you may want to address over time (doing 10 new skus a day), instead of doing everything in one go.
Shipping MULTI sku orders is very difficult to get right, even amazon, sends boxes too large for items sometimes. this usually requires a warehouse guy to with experience to see what is the best way to save on volume.
How I've gotten around sticking the wrong shipping label over the old one is by having more information on the shipping label itself. So we include: Order ID, sku, quantity, warehouse location and various other custom fields depending on the SKU.
These added fields on the shipping label first mitigate mispicks and mispacks but also helps when we need a brand new shipping label and makes it that much easier to identify the right one to overlay with the new label.
If you are using royal mail then weight isn't too big of a problem because you can use average weight in OBA and potentially in DMO. However if you are using other carriers, you have to be exact or they will revenue protect (billing you the correct amount). Some carriers dont mind because they weigh and measure every package anyway. The only way to get weight and dimensions automatically without manually doing it yourself or pulling from a data source would be commercial equipment using lasers.
If you do have a range of SKUs that you ship out consistently, then I would use an order management system that can store dimensions and weights of final packaged amounts and then can auto generate the shipping label with all the correct information. Given that you have 1000s of various products, I'm assuming you make the most profits from only a small set and I would start here given that your profits are healthy and the orders are consistent. The long tail of other skus, you may want to address over time (doing 10 new skus a day), instead of doing everything in one go.
Shipping MULTI sku orders is very difficult to get right, even amazon, sends boxes too large for items sometimes. this usually requires a warehouse guy to with experience to see what is the best way to save on volume.
How I've gotten around sticking the wrong shipping label over the old one is by having more information on the shipping label itself. So we include: Order ID, sku, quantity, warehouse location and various other custom fields depending on the SKU.
These added fields on the shipping label first mitigate mispicks and mispacks but also helps when we need a brand new shipping label and makes it that much easier to identify the right one to overlay with the new label.
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Hi Ade,
I have been told that the average weight will not be available from October and each parcel has to have the correct weight recorded in the 2D barcode. Currently we print a invoice/packing note which has a integrated label with the customers delivery address and the correct PPI mark on it. As we use OBA we untilise the average weight pricing which makes it very easy as the PPI mark is either 48, 24 or 1st class (special delivery and international) all of which is easy to automate. Now if each parcel has to be correctly weighed, i will have to print a packing note, pack the box weigh it then either fill in the DMO print the new posting label. This is a real pain and at a single stroke gets rid of all the automation of order processing. As you say Amazon with there resources get it wrong and then the packer changes the box size, that change changes the parcel weight and is not correctly recorded on the 2D barcode. Other than it being a way for Royal Mail to charge more without putting their prices up and stopping people sending post they haven't paid for. I cant see any benefit for the customer. I don't care if a parcel is tracked through the Royal Mail system i am only interested when it is actually delivered.
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Abe Choi
I understand the feeling. From what they have communicated to me as a service provider and a merchant using OBA, OBA will still be a usable product as they know they will not be able to get full compliance from merchants right away.
Two things you might want to consider
1. Integrated A4 labels are expensive and require a laser/inkjet printer. Given you have created an internal workflow to automate, move to 4x6 thermal labels. They are FREE from Royal Mail when you are an OBA/DMO customer. All you need is a thermal printer
2. the 2D Barcode will not give you scan events as it moves through the system it will do as you suggested, show delivery event only.
Two things you might want to consider
1. Integrated A4 labels are expensive and require a laser/inkjet printer. Given you have created an internal workflow to automate, move to 4x6 thermal labels. They are FREE from Royal Mail when you are an OBA/DMO customer. All you need is a thermal printer
2. the 2D Barcode will not give you scan events as it moves through the system it will do as you suggested, show delivery event only.
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S
stall
We've just implemented a solution for a customer where we connected digital USB scales to a computer so the package could be weighed after packing, at which point we then print out the Royal Mail label - all totally automated.
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Abe Choi
@Happy2Help remember that as a Royal Mail customer you can get free 4x6 inch thermal labels which are the perfect size for 2D barcodes. So now you dont have to pay for integrated labels or printer ink.
Most of our merchants have switched from A4 integrated labels to 4x6 for the cost savings as well as time. They no longer have to fold the A4 and use a digital invoice where they can further upsell via coupons, special messaging or just request feedback.
Most of our merchants have switched from A4 integrated labels to 4x6 for the cost savings as well as time. They no longer have to fold the A4 and use a digital invoice where they can further upsell via coupons, special messaging or just request feedback.
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The only problem with that is 4x6 is bigger than the about 70% of the boxes i use so i have to now use a bigger box with extra packaging. This does not fit well with our environmental policies. Why does the label have to be so big?
At the moment my picking note contains the address label, so the the picker/packer goes around the warehouse picks the items puts them into the box peals the label off, puts the invoice/pick list inside, seals the box sticks the label on (i know its obvious) then onto the next parcel. (we are only small so no need for mass picking, conveyor belts etc.)
I have had conformation that the end total i will be charged will still be calculated on the average weight, however no one at Royal Mail can say if i enter the wrong weight for each parcel the parcel might get stopped and the customer charged for the additional postage (my parcels are always on average under 1kg, however that's an average and a few are well over 1kg).
This whole additional process just adds so much more work in the packing area, increases the risk of sending the parcel to the wrong address and i cant see any benefit for me at all.
I also do not have any network or wifi covering my warehouse.
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Abe Choi
@bharris in terms of the 4x6 label I can understand it doesnt work for some merchants. I believe it is Royal Mail getting in line with global standards as the 4x6 is the go to size. At the same time, it gives more room on the label for all the future changes like the 2D barcode.
I agree about environmental concerns so that is where we no longer print A4 invoices and just send email invoices that can be printed by the customer. That is why we put warehouse location, sku and quantity on the label itself. It saves us paper, ink and time (folding and making sure its the right invoice) overall so it's a win for us. If you have to move to a larger box, most likely wont make sense or if your customers demand an A4 invoice. We haven't had complaints from the A4 invoice to the digital.
I agree about environmental concerns so that is where we no longer print A4 invoices and just send email invoices that can be printed by the customer. That is why we put warehouse location, sku and quantity on the label itself. It saves us paper, ink and time (folding and making sure its the right invoice) overall so it's a win for us. If you have to move to a larger box, most likely wont make sense or if your customers demand an A4 invoice. We haven't had complaints from the A4 invoice to the digital.
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Coming back to the OP's initial question...
1. Do not bother getting the WooMedia WooCommerce Royal Mail & Parcelforce addon, it is cr*p.
2. I've found the Woocommerce Advanced Shipping addon much easier to setup and better despite needing manual input.
In terms of the rest of it.
The 4x6 labels are a pain in the butt but the last 2 inches are currently dead space so you can fold them over the edge. Look at different ways to apply the label on various package sizes and you'll soon figure out how to make them work. We have 5" cube boxes and 000 size envelopes in use and we can make it work but it isn't what I'd call pretty.
As for DMO, yes it's a pain in the patookis also but you can adjust for it by using systems like Linnworks and a LOT of prep work getting detailed weights for your individual product items and figuring out packaging rules that get it right the bulk of the time. We're still coming to terms with it but you can always adjust stuff like Linnworks before processing the Royal Mail label and really the key balance comes down to two primary issues:
1. Making sure you charge a reasonable rate for the postage from your customers
2. Making sure you don't under declare a package weight to get hit with a charge or over declare the weight and pay too much.
Good luck with it.
1. Do not bother getting the WooMedia WooCommerce Royal Mail & Parcelforce addon, it is cr*p.
2. I've found the Woocommerce Advanced Shipping addon much easier to setup and better despite needing manual input.
In terms of the rest of it.
The 4x6 labels are a pain in the butt but the last 2 inches are currently dead space so you can fold them over the edge. Look at different ways to apply the label on various package sizes and you'll soon figure out how to make them work. We have 5" cube boxes and 000 size envelopes in use and we can make it work but it isn't what I'd call pretty.
As for DMO, yes it's a pain in the patookis also but you can adjust for it by using systems like Linnworks and a LOT of prep work getting detailed weights for your individual product items and figuring out packaging rules that get it right the bulk of the time. We're still coming to terms with it but you can always adjust stuff like Linnworks before processing the Royal Mail label and really the key balance comes down to two primary issues:
1. Making sure you charge a reasonable rate for the postage from your customers
2. Making sure you don't under declare a package weight to get hit with a charge or over declare the weight and pay too much.
Good luck with it.
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0
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