Data Integration

Use our flexible integration options to provide the data needed to keep your customers updated throughout the delivery process.

Overview

Data forms the building blocks of the parcelLab platform that enables you to provide your customers with the best post-purchase experience.

The order data you send us, along with the data we receive from your carriers, is used to:

• Trigger communication

• Display order and delivery information in the emails and other communication channels, such as SMS, that your customers will receive

• Display order and delivery updates on the Order Status page

Data Integration Methods

The data integration methods that can be used with your e-commerce systems and carriers are described in the following sections.

Data Integration: e-commerce Systems

You can use the following methods to send order data to parcelLab from your e-commerce system:

• API - the most flexible method of data integration is API, whereby all the necessary order information can be submitted and received instantly

• File transfer via SFTP - if you want to send us order data using file transfer, the preferred transfer channel is through our SFTP server with certificate-based authentication

We support multiple file formats, which allows for easy integration.

• Email BCC - the lowest effort for data integration is to send order and tracking information to parcelLab via email in BCC

There are limitations in terms of flexibility as the email needs to contain all the necessary information for orders and trackings.

Alternatively, you can provide parcelLab with access to your event bus systems to receive order and tracking data. For more information on event bus integration, refer to the following page:

Event Bus Integration

Data Integration: Carriers

To provide updates on orders, an interface method is needed to enable us to get the relevant data from the respective carriers.

For most carriers, we recommend requesting specific interface credentials from the carrier. These are referred to as "private" interfaces, whereby parcelLab can query the carrier on your behalf by using your direct account with the carrier to retrieve data. This offers the possibility to extract more detailed information that otherwise would not be shared due to privacy restrictions.

The following methods can be used for parcelLab to receive data from your carriers:

• File transfer - our preferred method for carrier integration is file transfer, where the data can be downloaded by parcelLab, or the files are uploaded to parcelLab’s SFTP servers

• API - for integration via API, carriers can either provide parcelLab with an API endpoint to call, or they can call parcelLab’s API to send the required information

For further information on carrier interface methods, refer to the following page:

Carrier Interfaces

You can also extend your post-purchase experience to marketplace orders, enabling you to track marketplace shipments even when carrier credentials are unavailable. For more information on marketplace tracking, refer to the following page:

Marketplace Tracking

FAQs

To help you get started integrating with parcelLab to send and receive data, see our FAQs below.

If you have any further questions relating to the available integration options, please contact your parcelLab representative.

How do I send order and tracking data to parcelLab?

For us to track your deliveries, you need to send us the tracking information for every shipment and parcel via API (with the v4/track/orders endpoint for new integrations), file-based transfers, or including us on BCC of your emails.

Use the parcelLab API v2 LTS only if you already have an existing integration (via the order endpoint).

If order details are available to you before the actual tracking information, you can submit the order details in advance to enable parcelLab to monitor the lead time between order creation and dispatch and trigger actions, such as alerts or delay emails. You can then send the courier and tracking number data when it’s available to help connect future trackings to the order.

For further information on sending tracking and order information, see our flexible integration options.

How do I integrate my carriers?

To set up a carrier integration, an interface method is required in order for us to get the relevant data from the respective carriers via API, webhooks, or file-based transfers. We recommend requesting the interface credentials form the carrier so parcelLab can use your direct account with the carrier to retrieve the data and provide detailed information about the shipment status.

For further information on carrier interface methods, see our carrier integration guide.

What happens when I send an update for a tracking record?

Our system adds the new piece of data as a field to the database as a record update (as opposed to a re-write). This means that the original tracking record data is not deleted but supplemented by the additional data that is sent.

For further information on updating orders, see our API documentation:

• v4 API (new integrations)

• v2 API (existing integrations only)

How can I retrieve the delivery date of a tracking?

You can get delivery dates for a tracking, such as actual delivery dates via our API (v4/track/orders endpoint for v4 and order endpoint for v2) as well as webhooks.

For further information on retrieving tracking details, see our API documentation:

• v4 API for new integrations

• v2 API for existing integrations only

Can I use the parcelLab API to generate an API token?

Yes, we have an API (via the tokens endpoint) you can call to create, revoke, and retrieve API tokens.

For further information on managing API access, see our API documentation.

How can I test and validate data sent via API to the parcelLab system?

There are two ways to test the parcelLab system.

1. Test your credentials for calling the parcelLab API. You can use our mock endpoints (that is: /order/mock or /track/mock) to validate your authentication and payload. When using the mock endpoints, our system does not process the data in the payload, and simply returns a 202 response if the production endpoint would have accepted the payload. This is useful if you are waiting for your developers to set up, to ensure that the credentials are ready to use in implementation.

2. Test the parcelLab system end-to-end. For more thorough testing, you can use the production endpoints and submit your test payloads according to our Data Model. The client field should be used to segment data into different test environments. This will process your test trackings and data, which you can review in the parcelLab App using your test account. For more information on end-to-end testing, please contact your Implementation Manager.