Merchant API: shipping labels (last-mile delivery)

About this article

This article describes how to retrieve shipping labels from a marketplace to support last-mile delivery.

Table of contents

Introduction

Overview of the process

• Get orders
• Create shipments
• Retrieve shipping labels

Marketplace-specific settings

Introduction

Last-mile delivery is the transportation of goods from a warehouse/distribution center to the final delivery destination — the customer. Some marketplaces, such as Shopee, Lazada, Miravia, noon, TikTok Shop, and Trendyol, offer last-mile delivery services, alongside marketplace fulfillment services. The last-mile delivery service focuses solely on the delivery aspect of the logistics process, excluding picking and packing of the goods. You pick and pack the goods; the marketplace completes the delivery to the buyer.

To compare the order flow with and without last-mile delivery, check out the flowchart Merchant API data flow: last-mile delivery.

Overview of the process

Follow these steps to ship your orders using last-mile delivery.

Get orders

1. Retrieve new orders from ChannelEngine via GET /v2/orders/new.
2. Acknowledge orders via POST /v2/orders/acknowledgement. Store a merchantOrderNo for each order.
3. Pick and pack the items in your warehouse.

If an order cannot be delivered (e.g.: due to insufficient stock), follow the cancelation process. Otherwise, proceed to shipment creation.

Create shipments

Depending on the marketplace, you either select a carrier from the channel's list of available carriers or automatically use the carrier that the marketplace provides, which is the case for marketplaces that offer last-mile delivery services.

With carrier selection

Marketplaces like bol, Amazon, and Kaufland require you to select a carrier (i.e.: shipping method) when creating a shipment.

1. Retrieve available carriers via GET /v2/carriers/{merchantOrderNo}.
2. Select a carrier and store its code.
3. Create a shipment via POST /v2/shipments/channelmethod. Include merchantShipmentNo, merchantOrderNo and package data (i.e.: items, weight, and dimensions). Use the code of the selected carrier as ChannelMethodCode.

Without carrier selection

Other marketplaces like Shopee, Miravia, TikTok Shop, and Trendyol do not need you to select a carrier. The marketplace determines the shipping method.

• Create a shipment via POST /v2/shipments/channelmethod. Include merchantShipmentNo, merchantOrderNo and package data (i.e.: items, weight, and dimensions). 

Retrieve shipping labels

After you create a shipment, ChannelEngine requests a shipping label from the marketplace. This process runs in real time or as a scheduled task, depending on the channel configuration.

Some channels (e.g.: Shopee) rely on periodic imports, so the label may not be available immediately. Handle temporary unavailability using polling or retry logic.

1. Retrieve your shipping label via GET /v2/orders/{merchantShipmentNo}/shippinglabel or GET /v2/orders/documents. Formats you may receive are PDF, PNG, or ZPL.
2. Download and print the label, then attach it to the parcel.
3. If required by the marketplace (e.g.: Miravia), update tracking and shipment status via PUT /v2/shipments/{merchantShipmentNo}.

Marketplace-specific settings

Marketplaces that offer shipping labels to sellers may require specific settings to enable retrieving shipping labels via ChannelEngine. These settings may include, in the channel's Setup step:

• Go to Plugin specific settings, Fulfillment type. From the dropdown, select Delivery by [marketplace name] or Last-mile delivery, depending on the available options in the plugin. Some marketplaces allow you to fulfill orders via a combination of fulfillment programs and, therefore, do not have this setting in the Setup step.
• In Advanced settings, you may need to configure the following settings:
  • Realtime shipment export - select Yes to export your shipment to the marketplace as soon as you create the shipment in your system. Select No to optimize your environment's performance.  
  • Pack order after import - select Yes to automatically update the status of incoming orders to Packing.

In all cases, read your marketplace's specific guide to understand which settings and which steps to follow to retrieve your shipment's shipping label. E.g.: some marketplaces require that sellers participate in exclusive programs to obtain the relevant shipping labels for last-mile delivery. Yet others have specific requirements for carrier mapping. 

Find your marketplace guide in the ChannelEngine Help Center at Marketplaces.