OMS Royal Mail API Integration
OMS is now able to integrate directly with Royal Mail’s shipping API so that when an item is dispatched using a scan point, a shipment is created in Royal Mail’s system and an official Royal Mail shipping label returned to the user.
OMS will only invoke the Royal Mail API when an order has Royal Mail set as the shipping carrier.
Client Steps
Getting an Account
The client must sign up for an account on the Royal Mail developer portal.
Creating an Application
Once the account has been created, the client will need to create a new application.
The application needs to be assigned to the V2 Shipping Plan.
The application will then be approved by the client’s Royal Mail account manager.
Note At this stage, the application will be in “On-boarding” mode, which is a sandboxed envrionment.
Credentials
Once the application has been approved, the client should receive an email from Royal Mail entitled “Royal Mail Shipping API - On-boarding Credentials”.
The details on the email need to passed to a Custom Gateway Implementer for use in setting up the RM integration.
Service Mapping (optional)
As standard, OMS will map certain shipping methods to different flags that are supported by Royal Mail.
| Carrier | Method | Type | Offering | Format | Enhancement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Mail | Standard | 1 | CRL | F | |
| Royal Mail | Standard Tracked | T | TRS | N | |
| Royal Mail | Next Day | D | SD1 | N |
If the client requires different rules, they need to be added into the system by an Architect as bespoke development.
The full range of Royal Mail options can be found here.
Implementer Steps
Setup
Once the client has provided their API credentials, the Royal Mail Shipping API V2 integration needs to be enabled against the relevant companies.
| Field | Source |
|---|---|
| Username | On-boarding email |
| Password | On-boarding email |
| Application ID | On-boarding email |
| Client ID | Developer portal |
| Client Secret | Developer portal |
On-boarding and Production
Once the client is happy with the workflow and that everything is working using the on-boarding details, they should be advised to contact their Royal Mail account manager to make their account live.
Royal Mail will provide the client with a checklist before they can go live. Every item on the checklist can be ticked off and sent back.
Once the account is made live, the client will receive another email from Royal Mail with new credentials that should be set against the Royal Mail integration.
Workflow
When the last item in an order is dispatched via the scanpoint, OMS will create a shipment via the Royal Mail API for the entire order (only if the order’s shipping carrier is set to Royal Mail). A Royal Mail shipping label will then be generated and displayed to the user.
The client will need to regularly generate a shipping manifest (usually on a daily basis). This will create a PDF which can be printed and will be scanned by the Royal Mail collection driver.
The manifest can be generated from OMS and will include all Royal Mail shipments that haven’t been previously manifested.