Combine orders automatically

[support317]

Auto combine feature for multi orders when they have the same shipping address.

[feedback]

Hi @Michael H - You will see an order alert when orders import with the same username (which is typically an email address) and same zip code. The process to run alerts are not constantly running and may take a couple of minutes to appear after orders import. If you aren't receiving alerts, please submit a ticket with us and we'll see what's going on.

[jchristensen1]

Waste of time and money, need auto combine on this program yesterday.

[feedback]

Hey @GG852, in our last status update (right under the original user's post), we asked a few questions, can you help us out? Is this something you're doing daily for a majority of your orders? Are there times when you do not want to combine orders even though they go to the same location?

[thetraveler333]

I think the best way to go is to make it into an option. So it can be changed. Or maybe have it under the automated rules so it can be set to do it to either all orders or to just ones specified. It shouldn't be hard at all to add it as another rule. It should be a 15 minute job for a web designer I would think. This has been discussed at length by people on here, but it's a quiet simple solution actually. Just add it as an optional rule.

[fka200]

I can still barely believe this hasn't been implemented. It's driving me absolutely crazy.

[jarron]

This is a very complex feature to add, so I understand why it hasn't been done. Let me try to help by answering your questions from your 9/22/15 post. 1) We combine orders daily. We have about 7 combined orders on average, but anywhere from 1 or 2 to 12 and more. We don't combine orders on Monday, but that's because it's almost double the volume of any other day, and the process is currently time consuming. (It can take thirty minutes or more to work through a list of 10+ combined orders, because we have to locate and match pick slips.) 2) There are a few cases where we don't combine orders that we normally wouldn't. The most common case is a difference in shipping speeds. For example, if Bob ordered a large speaker that is going FedEx, but also ordered a small pedal that has free USPS Priority shipping, we would not combine that order because the cost would be prohibitive. To make it even more complex, we probably would combine Bob's orders if he ordered a small pedal and a pack of guitar strings, because they'd both fit in the same small Priority package. The shipping is the most common reason not to combine orders, but there are others: international shipping (cheaper to sent 2x First Class than 1x Priority), customer requests, and stock issues (we have Item A but not Item B). TL;DR version: a way to automate the process would be welcome, but we would need there to be control over what gets automated. As a middle ground, perhaps a one-click combine option? Clicking yes on a screen for 10 orders is better than going through the manual process each time. Thanks for reading.

[nuagebeauty]

This feature would be extremely helpful for us also! We mainly sell on eBay and have an about 4-7 orders that need to be manually combined every day. We currently sort all the orders by Username and then combine them manually, a feature that will automatically combine orders by email / marketplace-username (while checking that the shipping address on those orders match) would be extremely helpful and will allow us to streamline our operation even more. Thank you!

[hardshiphelper]

It seems many users don't know there is already an alert for combining orders. The alert should be in a pop up or additional window type form not hidden in the corner. When you click on the Alerts that tell you that have open orders for the same customer you should be able to choose to combine them right then and there. It gives you the option to dismiss alerts so maybe you can have a "confirm" or "take action" button. I'd say the majority of the time it is less money for shipping to combine both orders, maybe only 1-2% of orders does it make sense to ship separate because of a flat rate option or some reason like that. Then if you get to the order and in that rare case you see they are better split, than split them as you would normally.

[ryan21]

It's critical to provide a means to automatically combine orders with the same name and shipping address. Our business sells using eBay, and many buyers do not use the cart feature, and instead place many, consecutive orders for multiple items, meaning each item purchased comes in as a separate order in ShipStation. This happens on literally a daily basis, and each day we spend anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes manually combining all the orders that can be shipped together, since the same person purchased them. We have to manually combine these orders so we aren't losing money on shipping charges. There are literally no times when we do NOT want to combine these orders. ShipStation already has the "order alert" feature, which tells you when orders can be combined. If ShipStation already has the means to detect WHEN orders can be combined, why don't we have the option to simply have them combined automatically? I don't think we're asking for something that needs to apply to everyone. We're just asking for a feature that we can turn on it we want it. Again, ShipStation already detects when orders can be combined; why can't we have the option to tell ShipStation to just combine them automatically?

[thetraveler333]

Yeah, no joke. This is a feature that I am getting VERY TIRED of waiting on. I can't think of more of a no brainer than this feature. One person on here made it sound like rocket science that would be incredibly hard to implement. All that is needed to start with is a VERY simple added rule to the automation area to "combine orders". After that, perhaps more in depth automations can be added, like exactly what type of orders to combine, etc. But a simple "combine all orders from the same buyer" would suffice for many sellers, such as myself. The same buyer could be matched simply by having the same name and address. A web designer should be able to have this feature added before their first coffee break in the morning. It's not that difficult. So I don't see why this even needs to be "under review" for so long! Add this feature and let's move on! I'm quiet sure the VAST majority of sellers would implement it into their workflow. It's not like we all sell refrigerators, that require separate shipments.