What is Shipping Optimiser

Shippit's Shipping Optimiser is a free tool that is accessible to all stores and can be used to provide insights and recommendations to your multi-carrier mix so that you can get the most optimal delivery outcomes.

With the Shipping Optimiser, you can:

1. View Instant Carrier Insights
   See instant analysis on transit time, delivery on-time percentage, and delivery costs per carrier.

2. View Suggested Carrier Mix Recommendations
   See our recommendations for which carriers can be enabled to provide the lowest estimated delivery costs.

3. Apply Recommendations
   In 1 or 2 clicks you can apply the recommendations, and they will take effect immediately.

Get started with Shipping Optimiser

Access to the Shipping Optimiser requires at least store administrator permissions. The carrier mix recommendations can only be modified by a user who has Head Office & Store Admin (non-read only) permissions. Please contact your Shippit Admin to give you the correct permissions.

Note: The Shipping Optimiser is currently available for stores based in Australia only.

Click the main menu to the right of the page header, and select the Insights option. Some users may remember this option previously as "Reporting" On loading the Insights page, click the "Shipping Optimiser" tab

Using the Shipping Optimiser

Step 1: Select Store

To view recommendations you must choose the store you would like to analyse from the dropdown.

Step 2: Select Preferences

Fine-tune your preferences for insights and recommendations:

Preference	Available Options
Service Level	Standard domestic orders Standard international orders Express domestic orders Express international orders Priority domestic orders On-demand domestic orders
Allocation	Cheapest Shipping cost
Date Range	Orders past 30 days

For merchants currently using Fastest allocation instead of Cheapest, this version of Shipping Optimiser may not suit you as insights and recommendations are based on allocation for Cheapest only.

Note: We plan to include insights and recommendations for stores based outside of Australia, as well as other options for Allocation and Date Range in future updates. 

Step 3a: View Current Carriers and Insights

See your current carrier mix and insights based on past completed orders. This includes any carriers that are currently disabled but have a record of completed orders in the past.

We display 4 metrics:

Metrics	Details
Avg speed	The average of all transit times for each carrier
Avg on time	The average on-time delivery percentage for each carrier
Total orders	Total volume allocated
Total costs	Total cost based on carrier allocation

Step 3b: View Recommended Carriers and Insights

Shows optimal carrier mix based on your preferences, past completed orders, and recent data of all carriers in Shippit. Recommendations will be applied to Shippit resell rates, as well as BYO rates.

Estimated metrics are based on similar recent orders running on the Shippit platform.

Metrics	Details
Avg speed	The estimated transit times for each carrier
Avg on time	The estimated on-time delivery percentage for each carrier
Total orders	The estimated total volume allocated
Total costs	The estimated total cost, based on carrier allocation

Step 4a: Apply Recommended Carrier Mix

If you wish to change your carrier mix to the recommended carrier mix, click the “Enable” button. Note that these are just estimates based on historical data. Real carrier performance and costs can change weekly so actual performance will vary.

When you click the “Enable” button to apply the recommended carrier mix in Settings, a final warning will show to confirm the changes to your current carrier mix.

Once the recommended carrier mix is applied, new carriers will be enabled on Carrier Settings. Note that you can revert to your original carrier mix by updating these settings if needed.

Step 4b: Apply Customised Carrier Mix

If you wish to change your carrier mix to a custom carrier mix, click the "Customise" button. In the “Customise” screen, you have the option to modify the carrier mix, project different allocation scenarios, and see the impact on key delivery metrics: speed, on-time percentage, volume, and costs.

• Customise carrier mix
  You can pick and mix carriers by ticking or un-ticking the carrier checkboxes

• Forecast the impact of the customised carrier mix
  Shippit will calculate an allocation projection & key delivery metrics based on your customised carrier mix by clicking on the “Calculate” button

• Apply customised carrier mix in Settings
  Shippit will apply your customised carrier mix in Settings after clicking “Update carriers” button. This will be applied only for Shippit resell rates.

When you click the “Update carriers” button to apply customised carrier mix in Settings, a confirmation modal is displayed to ensure this action is explicitly required before completing.

After confirming, your new carrier mix will be immediately available. New orders will start to be allocated to the recommended carriers you enabled.

Once your carrier mix is applied, any new carriers will also be enabled in your Carrier Settings. Remember that you can revert to your original carrier mix by updating these settings if needed.

Note: In some cases, your customised carrier mix may end up not servicing ALL past orders.

Some orders may only be serviceable by a limited set of carriers. For example, PO Boxes and Locked Bag addresses are only serviceable by Australia Post in Australia and so other couriers like CouriersPlease or Fastway cannot service these types of orders. In these scenarios, you will get a warning. You can still apply this carrier mix despite the orders not being serviceable, OR you can simply select more carriers to ensure that you can service all past orders.

Revert Recommended Carrier Mix

In a situation where you want to revert back to your original carrier mix, simply go into Settings > Carriers to change your enabled carriers.

To revert to the original carrier mix, use the ON/OFF toggles for your carrier of choice and hit the “Update” button at the bottom to apply the changes.

If you cannot change the ON/OFF toggles, please raise a support request and we will assist.

Carrier Recommendations

For this version, our recommendations will only add carriers to your carrier mix, but will not remove any.

If cost savings are found, and the Shippit Optimiser recommendations are applied, only the following Domestic Standard carriers based in Australia on Shippit Rates will be included:

• Allied

• Fastway

• TNT

• Couriers Please

Shipping Optimiser does not support adding the following carriers in the recommendations yet:

• Other Domestic Shippit carriers not listed above
• Other Shippit Express, Priority, or International carriers
• Your own carriers connected to the platform

F.A.Q.

How does the Shipping Optimiser work with carrier settings?

Generating Shipping Optimiser insights & recommendations does not affect carrier settings. However, if the Shipping Optimiser recommended carrier mix is “applied,” this may turn on additional carriers in the carrier settings.

How does the Shipping Optimiser affect the allocation or quoting workflow?

Generating Shipping Optimiser insights & recommendations does not affect allocation settings or quoting. However, if the Shipping Optimiser recommended carrier mix is applied, this may affect the allocation and quoting of new orders based on the newly enabled carriers.