One of the benefits of using Fourthwall is having the ability to self-fulfill products along with Fourthwall partner products and digital products. When you are doing fulfillment, you want to use the best tools to make your life easier, and that is why we have our ShipStation Integration. ShipStation makes it easy to import and manage self-fulfilling orders and print shipping labels.
This article will go over the setup process, what data and actions get synchronized between Fourthwall and ShipStation, and synchronization schedules when that data is transferred. Let's get into it!
Setting up ShipStation Integration
To set up ShipStation integration with your Fourthwall shop, within your Dashboard, go to Settings > Apps > ShipStation. This will take you to the screen below, and here, you will input your API key and API secret, which can be found on your ShipStation API keys page in your ShipStation account.
After you enter your API key and secret and click Connect to ShipStation, it will take you to an updated ShipStation app screen, where it will show as "Active" for the integration. Here, you will be able to select the correct ShipStation shop you want to integrate the orders from your Fourthwall shop. If you want to disconnect the ShipStation integration, you can also do that from this screen by clicking "Disconnect".
Data Synchronization Flows
➡️ From Fourthwall to ShipStation (push)
The following actions sync automatically from Fourthwall into ShipStation and should only originate from your Fourthwall Dashboard to avoid any data issues in the integration. We synchronize the following actions:
- Edit shipping address
- Cancellation and partial cancellation of order
- Variant change (not possible once the order ships)
It's important these actions are done in your Fourthwall Dashboard because, for example, if you edit the address directly in ShipStation, this will modify it for shipping, but the order in Fourthwall is not updated, and when the supporter checks the order status or gets the shipping notification email, it will show the old address. This causes the supporter to worry and contact you for support.
⬅️ From ShipStation to Fourthwall (pull)
The ShipStation integration only synchronizes tracking from ShipStation into Fourthwall. The tracking number creation results in the Fourthwall order gaining a “shipped” status, and shipping notification will be sent once the tracking history shows as in transit. No other order modifications made in ShipStation will synchronize with your Fourthwall orders or your Dashboard.
Please note that manual flow "Marked as Shipped" in ShipStation (where you purchase shipping label outside of ShipStation) would not trigger ship status to your Fourthwall shop. For the regular shipping flows where the label is bought and printed via ShipStation (most common), the data will flow to your Fourthwall shop and get marked as shipped.
Data Synchronization Cycles
- Any order cancellation, variant changes, and/or address updates done in your Fourthwall dashboard will synced immediately on your ShipStation account.
- For new orders placed via your Fourthwall site, there is a 24-hour delay for new orders being sent to your ShipStation account.