Choosing between shipping softwares: Analytics and reporting

Your shipping data holds enormous power for your overall business, so the ability to analyze it and report against it is a critical capability of any shipping platform. Here are the critical data elements you will want your shipping solution to be able to report on:

  • Ship Date
    • Date the shipment enters the mail stream (should match the date on the shipping label)
  • User
    • Which user created the shipping label
  • Order Date
    • Date the customer placed the order on your website
  • Order Total
    • The total amount your customer paid to you including item cost, shipping charge and taxes  (should match the Order Total on your website)
  • Store
    • The website that the order was placed from
  • Order Number
    • Unique order identifier (should match the order number on your website for quick recognition)
  • Ship From
    • The Return Company/Name on the shipping label
  • Ship From Address
    • The Return Address on the shipping label
  • Recipient
    • The Ship To name on the shipping label
  • Purchase Billing Address
    • The Billing Address associated with the payment method for the order
  • Recipient Shipping Address
    • The Ship To Address on the shipping label
  • Email Address
    • The email address is typically associated with the recipient to receive the shipment confirmation email
  • Carrier
    • The mail carrier who is transporting and delivering the package
  • Rate Provider
    • Which postage account the label postage was charged to
  • Service Type
    • The carrier service of the package (typically determines how quickly the shipment will be delivered)
  • Package Type
    • The package option selected for the shipping label (should match the actual package of the shipment)
  • Confirmation Option
    • If you pay an additional fee for extra delivery confirmation (e.g., Signature Confirmation), will list the add-on
  • Quantity
    • Number of items shipped in the order
  • Weight (oz)
    • The weight (in ounces) of the shipment (helpful for accurate postage cost, but also for future reference to understand the items in the package)
  • Zone
    • The Zone relates to the distance between the origin and delivery address (the smaller the zone number, the closer the delivery; the larger the number, the farther away)
  • Destination Country
    • Helps to distinguish between domestic and international shipments (can be useful to determine the percentage of shipments you send out of the country)
  • Tracking Number
    • Great reference to determine delivery status of a particular shipment
  • Shipping Paid (By Customer)
    • How much your customer paid to you for shipping
  • Postage Cost
    • How much you actually paid for the shipping label
  • Insurance Cost
    • If you added insurance,  will list the amount you paid (directly relates to the declared value for coverage)
  • Total Shipping Cost
    • The cost of the shipping label plus any insurance and additional confirmations
  • Shipping Margin
    • The difference between how much your customer paid you for shipping and the amount you paid for the shipping label: Did you make or lose money? (This helps to determine how much you should charge on your website.)
  • SKU
    • Unique identifier of your items (helps to determine your most popular items and can be used to manage inventory)

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