Royal Mail launches e-commerce shipping and tracking platform
Royal Mail has launched a new parcel tracking and platform to improve its offering for e-commerce businesses. The new Shipping and Tracking application programming interface (API) should allow UK e-retailers the ability to connect more easily with Royal Mail shipping services, including international shipping.
The company said its customers would be able to track the progress of their shipments, retrieve the tracking history of items and customize their reports.
The new system uses a common technical language to link up Royal Mail’s systems with a retailer’s order processing system for “seamless” shipping and tracking capabilities, the firm said.
Nick Landon, the managing director of Royal Mail Parcels, said the new API will help e-retailers improve and speed up the integration between their own IT systems and Royal Mail.
“The new API provides the potential for improved parcels management as well as enabling e-retailers to connect their systems to Royal Mail software much quicker than previously,” he said.
Royal Mail’s new Shipping and Tracking API comes as part of a range of new online shipping tools the company has developed recently to help it compete in the UK e-commerce sector and help restart growth in its stalled parcels business.
The company now has an Online Postage solution available for consumers and small businesses, while business customers have the Despatch Manager Online system if they don’t want to use the new API integration.
Despatch Manager Online is typically used by smaller businesses and those shipping high volumes, with Royal Mail developing a Direct Feed variant to allow for batch downloads for multiple parcels.
