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Shipping Integration

One Shipping System for All Carriers

In a classic multi-channel scenario, you create shipping labels via the portal of each carrier – DHL Business Customer Portal, DPD MyDPD, GLS ShipIT, UPS Worldship, and so on. With five carriers, that means five different logins, five different interfaces, and tracking numbers must be manually assigned to orders.

merchantCENTRAL unifies this: One dialog, all carriers.

Shipping Integration: One Dialog, All Carriers

The Label Creation Process

Step 1: Request Label

The Create Label dialog is opened from the sales order (or via the Shipping Label List). The hub automatically populates:

  • Delivery address from the sales order
  • Weight from the item master data
  • Carrier based on configuration or last usage

Step 2: Hub Delegates to Connector

The hub fires the event OnCreateShipmentLabel. The responsible carrier connector responds:

Carrier Connector Technology
DHL ALN MCDHL REST API v2
DPD ALN MCDPD SOAP/XML
GLS ALN MCGLS REST API v3
UPS ALN MCUPS REST API (OAuth 2.0)
Rhenus ALN MCRH BORD512 Flat-File via SFTP

Step 3: Receive and Store Label

The connector calls the carrier API and receives: - Tracking number (shipment number) - Label data (PDF or ZPL as Blob) - Optionally return labels, customs documents, COD labels

Everything is stored in the central table ALN MC Shipment Label.

The hub automatically creates a Tracking Entry in the Marketplace Order. The marketplace connectors detect new tracking entries and send the shipping confirmation back to the respective marketplace API.

Tracking Flow: Label β†’ Marketplace Confirmation

Supported Features per Carrier

Feature DHL DPD GLS UPS Rhenus
Create Label βœ“ βœ“ βœ“ βœ“ βœ“
Bulk Labels βœ“ (up to 30) – – – –
Cancel Label βœ“ – βœ“ βœ“ –
Return Label βœ“ – βœ“ – –
End of Day βœ“ – βœ“ – –
PDF Label βœ“ βœ“ βœ“ βœ“ –
ZPL Label βœ“ – βœ“ βœ“ –
Customs Documents βœ“ – – – –
Cash on Delivery βœ“ – – – –
Connection Test βœ“ βœ“ βœ“ βœ“ βœ“

Carrier Products

Each carrier offers different shipping products:

DHL

  • V01PAK – DHL PAKET (domestic)
  • V53WPAK – DHL PAKET International
  • V54EPAK – DHL Europaket
  • V62KP – DHL Kleinpaket (small parcel)
  • V66WPI – Warenpost International

DPD

  • CL – DPD Classic
  • E830 / E12 / E18 – DPD Express
  • IE2 – DPD International Express
  • PL – DPD ParcelShop

GLS

  • PARCEL – BusinessParcel (domestic/EU/international)
  • EXPRESS – ExpressParcel

UPS

  • 11 – UPS Standard
  • 07 – UPS Express
  • 65 – UPS Express Saver

Rhenus

  • LTL (Less Than Truckload) via BORD512 format
  • Multiple packages (colli) per shipment

Automatic Carrier Mapping

The hub automatically recognizes the associated carrier based on tracking number patterns:

Carrier Tracking No. Pattern Example
DHL Starts with 00, 12-20 digits 00340434161094042557
DPD 14 digits numeric 01234567890123
GLS Starts with a digit, 11-12 digits 12345678901
UPS Starts with 1Z 1Z999AA10123456784
Hermes 12-16 digits, various formats H1234567890123456

This mapping is used when a tracking number comes from an external source (e.g., dropshipping) and the correct carrier needs to be assigned.

If the optional app merchantCENTRAL Print Service is installed, labels can be automatically printed after creation:

Label Format Print Path
PDF HTTP POST β†’ ECIService β†’ Windows Printer
ZPL HTTP POST β†’ ECIService β†’ Zebra Thermal Printer (TCP/IP)

The Print Service reacts to the hub event OnAfterCreateShipmentLabel and automatically sends the label to the configured printer.