A Guide to Seamless Integration: Choosing the Right Solution to Integrate NetSuite with Your Shipping Carrier

Within the e-commerce and logistics landscape, seamless integration between your ERP system and shipping carrier is crucial for optimising operations and delivering superior customer experiences. For businesses leveraging NetSuite as their ERP solution, finding the perfect integration to connect with a shipping carrier can be a game-changer. 

We’ve created this comprehensive guide to help you navigate this process effectively, along with exploring the benefits of a pre-built NetSuite shipping solution like OneShip.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Current Processes

Before diving into integration, take stock of your current shipping and logistics procedures. Examine how orders are processed and shipping labels are generated. Pay attention to any manual tasks involved and assess the administrative time devoted to them. Consider the costs associated with printing, including paper, ink, and maintenance. Identify opportunities for automation to streamline operations and enhance efficiency. This thorough evaluation provides valuable insights into your workflow, helping you identify areas for improvement and informing your integration strategy for optimal results.

Step 2: Assess Your Requirements

Commence by thoroughly assessing your shipping needs and requirements. Delve into factors such as your shipping volume, including how many packages you typically handle daily, weekly, or monthly. Consider the destinations of your shipments, whether they are domestic or international, and any unique considerations pertinent to your business’s shipping operations.

Additionally, consider the frequency with which you are likely to switch carriers to capitalise on competitive pricing. Determine whether the prospect of switching carriers presents a potential obstacle due to costly and time-consuming integration processes. By addressing these aspects upfront, you can ensure that the integration solution you ultimately select aligns seamlessly with your business’s shipping objectives and long-term strategy.

Step 3: Research Integration Solutions

In your search for the ideal integration solution, prioritise essential factors such as NetSuite compatibility – can you seamlessly work directly within NetSuite? – carrier support, ease of use, scalability, and feature offerings. Additionally, critically assess the solution’s ability to adapt to carrier switches, ensuring your competitiveness in a dynamic market. Watch out for potential hidden fees, complex setup processes, and limitations on customisation. 

Investigate the ongoing support and updates provided by your solution provider, ensuring they have long term goals to continuously enhance integration features and capabilities. By scrutinising aspects such as data security, reliability, and ongoing support, you’ll confidently select a solution that not only maximises your shipping operations but also maintains your competitive edge by remaining agile and adaptable.

Step 4: Evaluate Integration Options

When evaluating integration options, delve into your research findings. Take into account various factors, including compatibility with NetSuite. Ask essential questions such as whether your team will need to operate on separate platforms and if data synchronisation occurs automatically. Additionally, consider the range of supported carriers, the ease of implementation, pricing structures, and the availability of ongoing support. Ultimately, select an integration solution that closely aligns with your business needs and objectives.

Step 5: Test and Implement

Once you’ve chosen your integration solution, proceed with testing and implementation in a streamlined manner. Collaborate closely with your solution provider to configure the integration according to your requirements, product and service rules. 

Thorough testing is essential to ensure seamless functionality and compatibility with NetSuite. Test various scenarios, such as order processing and label generation, to identify any issues. Verify that all essential features work as expected, ensuring smooth operations across devices and systems. Involve stakeholders in user acceptance testing to gather feedback and address usability concerns. By prioritising thorough testing and implementation, you can minimise disruptions and maximise the benefits of streamlined shipping processes.

Step 6: Continuous Improvement

It’s essential to continually monitor and optimise your shipping processes to identify areas for improvement. Stay engaged with your integration solution provider to remain informed about updates and new features. By leveraging ongoing support and embracing new functionalities, you can maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of your integrated shipping operations. Regularly review your processes and seek opportunities to enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and deliver superior customer experiences. With a commitment to continuous improvement from your solution provider, you can stay ahead of the curve and drive ongoing success in your shipping operations.

The Benefits of a Pre-built Shipping Solution like OneShip™

Navigating the complexities of individual carrier integrations can be a daunting and resource-intensive task, often leading to significant time and cost expenditures. However, leveraging a pre-built NetSuite solution like OneShip offers a plenty of advantages:

• Time and Cost Savings: OneShip streamlines the integration process by offering prebuilt connections to over 100 UK and EU shipping carriers. This eliminates the need for individual integrations with multiple carriers, resulting in considerable time savings and a drastic reduction in integration costs.
• Simplicity and Ease of Use: OneShip seamlessly sits directly within the NetSuite environment, bypassing the complexities of navigating separate platforms and minimising the admin time typically consumed by switching between separate systems through automated shipping data entry and carrier selection service rules. Its intuitive interface and pre-built connectors to major UK and EU carriers allows you to maintain competitiveness in a dynamic market by switching carriers to suit your budget and customer needs. 
• Ongoing Support and Updates: OneShip is purpose-built exclusively for NetSuite, offering assurance that its development is dedicated solely to optimising the NetSuite environment. As a certified SuiteApp, OneShip undergoes rigorous Built For NetSuite accreditation twice a year to ensure seamless functionality with NetSuite Update Releases. With OneShip, you’ll benefit from continuous support and updates, ensuring your integration stays current and fully functional. Rest assured that OneShip’s NetSuite-certified design guarantees compatibility and scalability, seamlessly accommodating your business’s growth and evolution.

Choosing the right solution to integrate NetSuite with your shipping carrier is a critical step in optimising your logistics operations and delivering exceptional customer experiences. By following this comprehensive guide and considering the benefits of a pre-built solution like OneShip, you can streamline integration, reduce costs, and drive business success.

Ready to simplify integration and unlock new opportunities for growth? 

Contact us today to learn more.