Product Updates 2024
Review the parcelLab features, improvements, fixes, and carrier integrations released during 2024.
Select a tag on the right to view releases with enhancements for that feature area.
Introducing the parcelLab Copilot and AI Email Editor
We've officially launched our next set of AI-powered features, the parcelLab Copilot and AI Email Editor.
New Features
Take a tour of the latest updates in our interactive demo!
Copilot
Introducing Copilot, your new AI-powered parcelLab assistant! The Copilot uses parcelLab’s documentation to provide in-App support for all users from customer service agents to experience designers.
Generate Messages with AI
Easily create and customize new message types using our new AI Email Editor. The generated messages follow parcelLab’s best practices, providing pre-filled content and layouts in your shop’s default languages as well as maintaining your brand’s tone of voice from your existing communications. You can also leverage this AI-powered tool to translate your existing messages into additional languages, expanding their reach to more customers.
For further information on getting access to the AI Email Editor, please contact your parcelLab representative.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
Accounts
The display name for an account (configured from Settings > Accounts) is now shown in the account selection drop-down menu rather than the technical name.
User Management
Updated user permissions to ease user management.
Insights
Promise analytics are now enabled in the parcelLab App for users with reporting access.
Engage
Trackings
Improved filtering for trackings.
Messages
The country assigned to messages is now displayed in the message configuration in the Email Editor and can be configured for new or existing messages in conjunction with the relevant language (for example: language and country = English and United States).
Delete function now available in the Email Editor to delete message types, messages, and layouts.
Campaigns
Different content types (for example: campaign banners and product recommendations) can now be displayed simultaneously on the Order Status page without one content type taking precedence over another.
Improved Google Analytics compatibility to help retailers track purchases driven by parcelLab’s Product Recommendations.
Convert
Promise Configuration
Fixed a bug where mandatory fields for configuring Delivery Methods in Promise were displayed as optional fields.
Fixed a bug where Promise configurations were deleted from parent accounts if the configuration was edited in a child account.
Engage
Trackings
Fixed a bug where the link to tracking details from the Exceptions report was not loading correctly.
Fixed an issue where no results were shown when searching for emails due to an automatic date filter being applied.
Communication
Fixed a bug where the full webhook URL was not displayed in the list view of webhook records in the Communication module.
Campaigns
Fixed an issue where changing accounts on the campaigns page opened an invalid URL.
Leverage our Benchmarking analytics and trigger return flows via API
We’re delighted to announce the launch of our Benchmarking analytics to help you compare your logistics and communications across the industry, and added a new API to trigger returns flows.
New Features
Take a tour of the latest updates in our interactive demo!
Leverage Benchmarking Insights
Our AI-powered Benchmarking analytics tool is now officially available! This feature allows you to gain key insights into the performance of your logistics and email communications against industry standards and identify areas for improvement. The Carrier and Communications reports for Benchmarking can be found in the Tracking and Communication modules respectively in the parcelLab App once the feature is enabled.
For further information on getting started with Benchmarking, please contact your parcelLab representative.
Trigger Return Flows after Verifying Return Shipments
The Return Processed Trigger gives you the flexibility to close a return and issue refunds and exchanges after return shipments have been reviewed and processed in your warehouse. Our Return Processed API enables easy transmission of the data to parcelLab and the subsequent triggering of return flows based on the acceptance or rejection of the return.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
Profile
Users will now be prompted to complete their user profile after logging in. This is in order to learn more about our users so we can provide more valuable and tailored experiences based on specific user roles and responsibilities.
Insights
"SLA exceeded" filter added to Fulfillment & Delivery > Delivery Exceptions to improve analysis for delivery exceptions.
Report toggle added to the Promise dashboard to switch between delivery date and first delivery attempt calculations.
"Status" filter added to Campaigns > Analytics > Campaigns Overview report to differentiate campaigns by status.
Return rate logic updated in the Returns dashboard so returns must now have an
InTransitdate to confirm the item was handed over to a carrier or drop-off point to ensure more accurate data.
Retain
Returns Portal Configuration
Shopify retailers can configure the refund of the original shipping cost to customers who request a return, building on the existing capability to issue refunds for taxes and product costs. This improvement also supports orders placed through TikTok Shop, by complying to the platform’s requirement for refunds.
Shopify retailers can now select to deduct a fixed cost per item returned as a restocking fee, as an alternative to deducting label costs from the refund amount.
Platform
Accounts
Fixed wording on warning message shown when a user navigates to a page where their account does not have the feature enabled.
Engage
Trackings
Fixed an issue where the email address was not pre-populated when requesting an export.
Fixed a bug where the full shop name was not returned in the Shop filter.
Fixed an issue where emails were showing as test when they were live.
Campaigns
Fixed wording for the Audience and Customer Segmentation field descriptions to indicate users must select an audience and/or a customer segment for campaigns.
Fixed a bug where the End Date field was shown as optional for campaigns.
Enhanced trackings search and return management features
We’ve improved the search for the Trackings module in the parcelLab App and added new features to enhance return management for oversized returns and orders including gifts with purchase.
New Features
Take a tour of the updates in our interactive demo!
Enhanced Search and Filtered Views for Trackings
The Trackings module features an extended list of filters that can be used to customize search results and tracking data exports. Filter combinations can be saved as a view and easily applied across multiple parcelLab accounts.
Optimize Return Labels by Weight
You can now minimize return label cost for bulky returns by weight. By identifying which products will require multiple labels, you can optimize your returns process and reduce friction for customers returning oversized items through your Returns Portal.
Manage Returns with Free Gifts
We’ve added a new feature enabling the return of free gifts with purchase in your Returns Portal. Free gifts can be selected for exchange, or automatically included in the return registration if the original purchase item connected to the free gift is returned.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
Insights
"Average articles per order" metric added in Fulfillment & Delivery > Overview > Overview of logistics performance report.
"Claim value" metric added in Fulfillment & Delivery > Delivery Claims > Overview of claims report.
"Language" dimension added in Engagement > Emails > Comparison of email types performance report.
"Problem descriptions" dimension and “Category” and “Article price” metrics added in Returns > Item Insights > Problem descriptions given by customers report.
"Daily clicks" and "Average clicks on campaign" added as separate scorecard for web view in Campaigns > Analytics.
"Blank" values in scorecards replaced by "0" in Campaigns > Analytics.
Engage
Trackings
Available documents section added to tracking details to download relevant attachments (for example: return labels and QR codes) for return trackings created in the Returns Portal.
Experience Design
Navigation has been updated to group related topics, with the addition of a new Experience Design section that includes functionality such as Journeys and Campaigns.
Campaigns
Preview enabled for product recommendations to check how they will display on the Order Status page before publishing in campaigns.
Engage
Campaigns
Fixed an issue so an audience and/or customer segmentation can be selected in Campaigns.
Retain
Return Registrations
Fixed a bug where return labels were not generated for Swiss Post returns.
Returns Portal Configuration
Fixed a bug where refund methods were not shown when a global compensation method was selected in the Returns Portal.
Fixed an an issue so US addresses are displayed in the correct format in the Returns Portal.
Updated Trackings and Communication modules and new App improvements
We’re excited to introduce our enhanced Trackings and Communication modules, new user management and notification center in the parcelLab App as well as customer segmentation in Campaigns.
New Features
Take a tour of the updates in our interactive demo!
New Interface for Trackings and Communication Modules
The parcelLab App features refreshed and enhanced Trackings and Communication modules, enabling further optimization of customer care for order and return requests. Improvements include a new timeline view for parcel status and notifications, more flexible search function, and a dedicated return tracking details page.
New User Management
User management is now accessible from the parcelLab App. Easily create new users and update user permissions with a more granular set of available user roles. You can now deactivate users instead of deleting them, which enables user reactivation if required later.
Notification Center
We’ve added a new Notification Center to the parcelLab App, providing you with an overview of App alerts that need resolution. This enables users to resolve issues detected in your parcelLab setup in a timely manner (for example: renewing voucher codes).
Customer Segmentation Builder
Implement targeted and personalized marketing campaigns for specific customer groups with our new Customer Segmentation builder. You can now set up customer segments to include in your campaigns that focus on specific customer behaviors to boost customer retention and revenue (for example: promote personalized offers or recommendations for recent customers with a high average order value).
Product Recommendations for Order Status Page
Offer personalized product recommendations on your Order Status page based on the most recent customer purchases with parcelLab’s new recommendation engine. With the new product recommendation content block in Campaign Manager, you can choose to display up to 10 products to showcase items that are likely to be purchased together or are best sellers to enhance customer engagement and retention rates.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
Profile
Users signing in after the previous session expired are now directed back to the last visited page.
Improved error messaging for App users.
Status Model
Strikeexception reason andReceptiondelivery location have been added to our status model to provide defined events for these types of delays and deliveries respectively.
Retain
Returns Portal Configuration
The Returns Portal is now available in the following languages: Albanian, Bosnian, Chinese, and Serbian.
The total weight of returned items can now be saved and used with return carrier filters based on these values.
UPS return labels have been converted from GIF to PDF to provide a more suitable format for printing.
New Claims Manager report and Postscript integration
We’ve enhanced our Claims Manager feature with a new report to identify areas for improvement in fulfillment and delivery and integrated with Postscript to send your SMS communications.
New Features
Take a tour of the updates in our interactive demo!
Delivery Claims Report
We’ve added a new Claims report to the Fulfillment and Delivery dashboard in the Analytics module. The report provides an overview of delivery claims and their reasons, giving you the opportunity to leverage on insights from using our Claims Manager to enhance operational efficiency and improve customer satisfaction.
Postscript Integration
Connect Postscript with parcelLab through our seamless integration to send your proactive delivery notifications via Postscript using trigger events and order data from the parcelLab system. This allows you to continue connecting with your customers through SMS while delivering an outstanding post-purchase experience.
Add Reusable Content in Emails
Create a consistent look and feel to your emails with our new Partials feature, allowing you to easily configure reusable HTML content, known as partials, and insert them into your layouts and messages. You can use partials for a variety of content across your emails (for example: headers, footers, and custom components) to improve efficiency of your setup as any changes only need to made in once place to update all messages containing the partial.
We’re still busy fine-tuning our powerful self-service Email Editor with some great new features and will communicate further when it is available to access.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Engage
Messages
Attachments configured for a message can now be viewed from the message settings.
Order Status Page
Trending Late status display can now be activated and deactivated via the Order Status page plugin configuration or URL parameters.
Retain
Returns Portal Configuration
Improved error messaging: Users logging in to the wrong country’s Returns Portal are now prompted to check they are accessing the correct Returns Portal locale if their login credentials are correct.
Carrier selection page always displays if the only carrier option is a pickup, so users can smoothly proceed to schedule their pickup time with the available return carrier.
Configured carrier options now use the carrier code in the Return Carrier API configuration to enable easy control of all translations for each carrier in the Returns Portal.
Retain
Return Registrations
Fixed an issue where items that were already registered for return were not correctly deducted from the total quantity of returnable items in an order.
Fixed an issue where return records created from requesting additional return labels were displaying the same return label from the original request.
Returns Portal Configuration
Fixed a bug where the pre-selected earliest pickup time was not available to select after a different time was selected in the Returns Portal.
Version history timeline in the Email Editor and Returns Portal improvements
We’ve made further changes to our upcoming Email Editor with a new version history timeline to view and compare previous message versions and included five additional languages in the Returns Portal.
New Features
Take a tour of the updates in our interactive demo!
View Message History
We’ve added a new History feature in the Email Editor, showing a timeline of all published versions and changes made to an email message. From here it is possible to select and compare previous versions of the message, with an option available to revert to a past version as well.
We’re still busy fine-tuning our powerful self-service Email Editor with some great new features and will communicate further when it is available to access.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Retain
Returns Portal Configuration
"Send to" email address placeholder can now be added to the confirmation page.
Confirmation pickup number and pickup window now shown for FedEx pickups.
Same address component now used for pickup address change as edit address.
The Returns Portal is now available in the following languages: Slovakian, Romanian, Latvian, Bulgarian, and Turkish.
Engage
Trackings
Fixed a bug where the trending late status was not displaying in the tracking details.
Order Status Page
Fixed an issue where checkpoints were duplicated for multiparcel orders on the Order Status page.
New AI-powered Returns Forecast analytics and last mile carrier improvements
In this release, we've introduced a new Returns Forecast AI analytics tool to give returns insights, improved support for last mile carriers, and released a new version of the Salesforce Service Cloud app integration.
New Features
Take a tour of the updates in our interactive demo!
Returns Forecast AI
We’ve added a new Returns Forecast dashboard in the Analytics module in the parcelLab Portal, leveraging on AI to provide estimates on return volume and trend anomalies. The insights from Returns Forecast help you to estimate return volumes to your warehouses and improve resource planning and operational efficiency.
Last Mile Carrier Status in the Portal and on the Order Status Page
Get full coverage of multi-leg deliveries with our comprehensive last mile carrier status updates. The status of parcels with the last mile carrier can be viewed via tracking records in the parcelLab Portal and on the Order Status page, which can display the handover event between the original carrier and last mile carrier if this information is available.
This allows your customers to seamlessly track the delivery status of their package for cross-border orders and empower customer service teams with complete visibility of tracking information to manage customer inquiries.
parcelLab Customer Service Integration for Salesforce Service Cloud (SFSC)
We have released a new version of the parcelLab Customer Service Integration for SFSC. The latest version includes a new alternative search field that replaces the previous email search field, enabling the use of alternative search queries to automatically locate orders in the app.
The order ID field is now an optional configuration for using the app. Additionally, the app features improved error management, providing more descriptive errors to enable better troubleshooting when using or configuring the app.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
Accounts
Fixed an issue with the account switcher displaying for non-admin users rather than the account name in app.parcellab.com.
Introducing our Trending Late status and campaign analytics improvements
We’re excited to announce our AI solution Trending Late, which is designed to estimate the probability of a delivery delay and have made improvements to our campaign analytics.
New Features
Take a tour of the updates in our interactive demo!
Trending Late Status in the Portal and on the Order Status Page
Trending Late is the newest AI addition to our product offering, granting visibility on the estimated likelihood of delivery delay for parcels. The trending late status can be viewed in tracking records in the parcelLab Portal and on the Order Status page. This alleviates burden on customer service teams from WISMO inquiries and improves the post-purchase experience through clear communication.
Campaign Analytics for Order Status Page
You can now view engagement rates for campaigns on your Order Status page in the Analytics report in Campaign Manager. Simply toggle between the analytics for your campaigns in emails and Order Status page by clicking on the Emails and Web tabs respectively.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
App
Improved navigation menu for responsiveness and removed dashboard pages in Campaigns and Promise.
Accounts
Account switcher is now located at the top of the secondary navigation pane in app.parcellab.com.
Profile
User settings are now accessible from the global navigation pane (that is: language settings and logout functionality) in app.parcellab.com.
Integrations
Magento 2 webhook integration is now compatible with the latest Magento version 2.4.6.
Engage
Campaigns
Content block list is no longer minimized after adding a new content block to improve visibility on remaining content blocks that can be used.
SMS opt-in on the Order Status page and campaigns for the Returns Portal
This release includes the ability to collect SMS opt-in details on the Order Status page, additional email campaign banner slots, and campaign banners for the Returns Portal.
New Features
Take a tour of the updates in our interactive demo!
SMS Opt-In
You can now add a SMS opt-in field on your Order Status page to allow your customers to opt in to receive SMS order status updates by entering their phone number. This enables you to easily collect the SMS opt-in details of your customers if this information has not already been provided.
You need to use the parcelLab SMS feature in order to use this capability.
Marketplace Support
You can now proactively keep customers updated on the latest progress of orders received from a marketplace vendor or dropshipment on the Order Status page. This improves the customer experience by providing the name of the marketplace store handling the tracking and displaying the tracking number and carrier information (including a link to the carrier tracking page) as well if this data is available.
If the tracking number and carrier information are not available, a standard message will display in the checkpoint details instead confirming status updates can be received from the carrier if available.
New Banner Slots for Emails
Increase further engagement and target specific audiences with your email campaigns by using the new standard email banner slots. There are now two additional standard email banner slots available, meaning you can display up to four campaign banners in an email if you use the HTML email banner in conjunction with them.
Campaign Banners in Return Portals
Boost campaign engagement throughout the post-purchase journey by adding campaigns in your Returns Portal! You can now display up to four campaign banners throughout the return registration process, increasing the density of touchpoints for your campaign audiences.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
New Benchmarking analytics and extended status model
This release introduces our new proprietary Benchmarking to assess your carriers and communications, displays article brand details on the Order Status page, and extends our status model.
New Features
Benchmarking Dashboard (Coming Soon)
We’ve added a new Benchmarking dashboard in the Analytics module, providing proprietary benchmarking underpinned by AI and machine learning. The insights help you to identify opportunities to improve your logistics and email communications based on performance against the industry.
See the new Benchmarking dashboard in action below with our interactive demo and request access to use Benchmarking via our signup form.
Display Article Brand
You can now display the brand of items purchased in the article list on the Order Status page using the articleBrand field, if you provide this data. This allows you improved configuration of your Order Status page and to show all relevant information regarding an item to your customers for orders consisting of products from multiple brands.
Force Majeure Status Model Update
A ForceMajeure exception event is now available in our status model to provide a specific exception for these types of delay (for example: extreme weather). This is part of an ongoing process to expand our status model to offer more granularity, allowing you to communicate clear updates to your customers on the latest status of an order.
Force majeure status updates will be visible on the Order Status page and in communications. These events will also display in the Portal for checkpoint updates in tracking details and in the Delivery Exceptions report of the Analytics module.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
APIs
A new
marketplacefield has been added to allow you to confirm whether a tracking is from a marketplace vendor or dropshipment via the/trackAPI endpoint.The same tracking number can now be stored for multiple
user_idsto support marketplace and dropshipment setups, allowing all retailers to store the data in their system and track and communicate the journey of a shipment.
Engage
Campaigns
Campaign banner clicks can now be tracked for HTML email campaigns when the
{{generated/campaign/html_banner/html_with_analytics}}placeholder is included in email templates. This placeholder is also added by default when the campaign banner placeholders are added to emails.Additional configuration is no longer needed to show campaign banners in emails (that is: the placeholders for standard banners and HTML banners are added to the top of the email content by default), meaning you can create, preview, and launch campaigns directly from Campaigns. Note: If you want to change the position of a campaign banner in emails from the default, please contact your parcelLab representative. Important: For campaigns recently set up that are live or scheduled to be live before this change (25 March 2024), please contact your parcelLab representative to insert the campaigns into any emails going forward that fit your audience or you can choose to add it to each email individually.
Campaigns usability improvements and Klaviyo integration
We’ve improved usability for Campaigns to enable quicker campaign creation, added a new Returns Portal feature to manage returns with more data, and integrated with Klaviyo to send your communications.
New Features
Campaigns Usability Improvements
Campaigns users can now take advantage of several changes that improve the user experience, allowing you to:
Easily rename existing campaigns.
Duplicate audiences and campaigns if you need to reuse existing configurations (for example: running the same campaign in different languages) and use the settings already in place in the duplicated version to save time and improve efficiency.
Edit the font size and instantly preview changes from the HTML UI editor as well as the code editor, when configuring HTML email campaigns.
Product Condition Option for Items to Be Returned
You can now include a dropdown menu requesting for the condition of the item to be returned (for example: Packed – Never used). This enables the optimization of warehouse processes for returned products (for example: assessing resale or refund value). You can request for this data to be included in your RMA export.
To activate this feature for your Returns Portal, please contact your parcelLab representative.
Klaviyo Integration
Connect Klaviyo with parcelLab through our seamless integration to send your proactive delivery notifications via the Klaviyo platform that use trigger events and order data from the parcelLab system.
This allows you to streamline your communication channels for efficiency as well as leverage Klaviyo’s segmentation capabilities to deliver targeted and personzalized email campaigns.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Engage
Campaigns
Additional configuration is no longer needed to show campaign banners on your Order Status page (that is: banners are active by default via the
use_campaign_bannersoption), meaning you can create, preview, and launch campaigns directly from Campaign Manager. Note: You can deactivate campaign banners on the Order Status page if you want by adding&use_campaign_banners=falsein the URL query parameters oruse_campaign_banners: falseto the JavaScript object.
More campaign banner slots on the Order Status page and new Returns Portal features
In this release, we've increased the number of banner slots for campaigns on the Order Status page and added new Returns Portal features to support greater flexibility throughout the returns process.
New Features
New Banner Slots for Order Status Page
Increase further engagement with your campaigns by adding up to five banners on your Order Status page using the new campaign banner slots positioned at the top or bottom of the page as well as the standard banner in the third column of the Order Status page.
If you select to insert only one banner at the top or bottom of the page, the banner image will be centered rather than positioned on the left or right.
Gift Returns Portal
Digital gift returns are now available for gifts purchased from Shopify stores!
Gift receivers can login with the order number and the zip code of the delivery address and select between receiving a gift card for your store or exchanging the item for a different color or size. They can also update their contact information in the Gift Returns Portal to ensure they receive all communication about their gift return.
To activate this feature for your Shopify store, please contact your parcelLab representative.
Additional Customs Invoice for Returns
An additional invoice can be generated for cross-border return shipments. This additional invoice facilitates a smooth customs clearance by providing essential information required for processing (for example: VAT number, EORI number) that may not be present in your default invoices to customers.
SSO for Customer Service Returns Portals
Customer Service Returns Portals are now secured using Single Sign-On (SSO). This ensures that users accessing the Customer Service Returns Portal have been authorized through your SSO configuration for the parcelLab Portal.
Latest Product & Carrier Updates
Platform
System
We've made some changes to ensure we are compliant with new spam protection rules that will be introduced by email providers Google and Yahoo from February 2024. parcelLab were already compliant with email sender requirements and have made the following small adjustments to support the upcoming changes to the guidelines:
Users will now be able to easily unsubscribe from emails in one click.
We have improved our proactive monitoring of spam rates to ensure there is no disruption of delivered messages. The spam rate at parcelLab is historically well below the recommended threshold of 0.3% set by Google and Yahoo.
Engage
Campaigns
The shop ID can now be used with the message type to preview email campaigns allowing you to see how your banners will look in the actual messages and shop (for example: a shop in a specific country) you are targeting.
Retain
Returns Portal Configuration
You can now use an additional URL query parameter to pre-select items for return in the Returns Portal (for example: to use in a 'My Account' section so customers can directly return a single item). To create a direct link with pre-selected items to return, use the
_aoption and separate article numbers with a comma (for example: http://yourwebsitehere.com/returns/#/?ref=YourOrderNumber&email=YourEmailAddress&_a=articleNumberA,articleNumberB).Staging environments for Returns Portals are now password-protected to ensure that end-users do not attempt to register returns in the test environment by accident.
Improved user process for registering split returns.
Explore More
View more features added to the parcelLab platform here.
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