API2Cart offers simple options for automated order import from stores
To automate order shipping and fulfillment, shipping management software must first automate order import from stores.
Setting up automated order import from online stores is one of the main challenges shipping management software owners face when developing their system.
Merchants build their stores on different shopping carts and often use several additional sales channels, such as Amazon and eBay, which means shipping management systems have to sync with all of these platforms.
Let’s take a look at how you can use API2Cart to automate order import from shopping platforms.
Shipping management systems
A shipping management system gives store owners the ability to import multiple orders into one single dashboard. This feature is highly beneficial for retailers, as they can manage orders, add tracking details, and access data from various shopping platforms in one place.
To run such functionality, shipping management systems need to be integrated with shopping carts. A unified API solution such as API2Cart allows shipping management software providers to make integrations with shopping carts much easier — see how you can run your store with AI and no developer required for related automation approaches.
Before looking at how you can use API2Cart to automate order import, let’s consider the problems associated with integrating shopping carts individually.
Difficulties with shopping cart integrations
Some shipping software providers choose to integrate shopping carts individually. This proves to be incredibly time-consuming and expensive, as there is a lot of technical work involved. Moreover, shopping cart integrations require significant ongoing maintenance, since new versions of platforms are released regularly. For example, connecting to a platform like PrestaShop on its own involves following its specific API requirements — see this PrestaShop API integration guide for developers for details.
How API2Cart can help automate importing orders
API2Cart is designed to make shopping platform integrations simple and unified. It allows you to integrate once and never worry about maintaining separate connections.
When you use API2Cart, you get notified every time a new order is placed on any connected store. There are several methods you can implement to learn about new orders on stores, including:
By setting up a webhook for the order.add event, you will receive a notification every time a new order is placed. Compared to polling an API, using webhooks is much more efficient, as it reduces server load, saves API requests, and provides more up-to-date information.
- Order.list method
Another option for tracking new orders is to run the order.list method regularly to get a list of orders to import into your system. This method allows you to filter orders by ids, store id, customer id, customer email, order status, order ids, financial status, fulfillment status, shipping provider, and time parameters such as created_from, created_to, and modified_from, modified_to.
- Order.shipment.tracking.add method
Automatically insert a shipment tracking URL or update tracking info in the eCommerce store by using order.shipment.tracking.add to keep end customers informed.
- Order.shipment.update and order.shipment.add methods
Create shipments and add tracking numbers to orders with the help of the order.shipment.update and order.shipment.add methods.
- Order.update method
Update order statuses via the order.update method.
Conclusion
API2Cart allows you to connect with a wide range of shopping platforms, including Shopify, OpenCart, WooCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, BigCommerce, Amazon, and many others — including popular marketplaces covered in this list of popular eCommerce marketplace services. By using API2Cart, you only need to perform one integration instead of numerous separate ones, gaining access to order data from stores on any of these platforms.
To learn more about how a unified shopping cart integration can benefit your business, drop us a message or schedule a quick call with our expert!
