> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.florists.digital/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Courier Orders

> Send orders by courier — labels, tracking numbers, and Saturday handling.

When a delivery is too far for your own driver, send it by **courier** instead. Connect a courier integration and Digital Florists generates the shipping label, saves the tracking number on the order, and includes it in customer notifications.

## How courier orders work

A courier order behaves like any other order until fulfilment:

1. **Create the order** with **Courier** as the fulfilment method, or change an existing order to Courier.
2. **Pick an integration** in the order's Courier Options — Shiptheory, ShipStation, or a Manual record for one you'll book outside Digital Florists.
3. **Send to Courier** — Digital Florists calls the integration, generates the label, and saves it to the order along with the tracking number.
4. **Print the label** and attach it to the parcel. The label stays on the order's Shipment section so you can reprint any time.
5. **Mark the order as With Courier** when you hand the parcel over.
6. **Mark the order as Fulfilled** when the courier confirms delivery.

<Info>
  Status changes for courier orders are **manual** — Digital Florists doesn't pull tracking events back from the carrier. The tracking number goes out with the customer's delivery notification so they can follow the parcel on the carrier's own tracking page.
</Info>

## Couriers you can connect

Digital Florists supports two courier integrations:

| Integration     | What it is                                                                                                                                                                              |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Shiptheory**  | UK/EU multi-carrier aggregator. Once connected, every carrier in your Shiptheory account (Royal Mail, DPD, ParcelForce, Evri, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.) is selectable as a service option. |
| **ShipStation** | Global multi-carrier aggregator. Surfaces every carrier you have linked in ShipStation as a `carrier · service` pair.                                                                   |

You can also pick **Manual** on any courier order. That records a courier name and tracking reference without contacting an external service — useful when you've booked the courier yourself outside Digital Florists.

## Setting it up

<Info>
  **This page covers features gated by Admin-tier permissions** — typically Settings access. Admins have these by default; your administrator can adjust who has them in [Settings > Team](/settings/team).
</Info>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Connect the courier">
    Go to [**Settings** > **Integrations**](/settings/integrations) and connect Shiptheory or ShipStation. Each has its own required fields, typically an API key plus a default service code. ShipStation also stores a default ship-from address used on every label.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Allow Courier on your location">
    In **Settings** > **Locations**, open the location and make sure **Courier** is one of the allowed fulfilment methods. Without this, Courier won't appear in the order form's fulfilment dropdown for that location.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Info>
  **Saturday delivery override** — only available on the Shiptheory integration. When enabled, Shiptheory swaps your default service code for a Saturday-capable one on any order dated for a Saturday (defaults to DPD.ie's `3300` → `3301`). Configure it on the Shiptheory integration's settings — there's no per-shipment toggle.
</Info>

## Sending an order by courier

From the order screen, click **Send to Courier**. Pick the integration, service, and package, confirm the delivery date, and submit. Digital Florists posts to the integration, generates the label, and saves it to the order's Shipment section along with the tracking number.

From the dashboard you can do the same for several orders at once with **Confirm & Send to Courier** — orders are booked one at a time and, when each succeeds, moved to **Confirmed**.

Orders are eligible while they're **Unconfirmed**, **Confirmed**, or **Ready** — as long as they have a recipient address, the fulfilment method is **Courier**, and they don't already have an active shipment.

### Re-printing, refreshing, and voiding

The order's Shipment section shows the saved label and tracking number:

* **Download Label** opens the PDF in a new tab for printing. The link stays available indefinitely — re-print as many times as you need.
* **Refresh** asks the carrier for the latest shipment record. Useful if you need to confirm the booking landed cleanly.
* **Void** cancels the shipment with the carrier. After voiding, you can book a new shipment on the same order — for example, switching to a different service.

If a booking fails, the carrier's error is shown back to you (e.g. "ShipStation needs a recipient postal or ZIP code before booking") and the order is left as-is so you can fix the issue and try again.

## Marking the order through delivery

When you hand the parcel over, open the order and click **With Courier**. When the courier confirms delivery, mark it as **Fulfilled**. Both transitions are manual — there's no automatic progression based on carrier tracking events.

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Which couriers can I use?">
    Digital Florists connects to **Shiptheory** and **ShipStation**. Both are aggregators — through them you can reach Royal Mail, DPD, ParcelForce, Evri, UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS and others, depending on the carriers linked in your account.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does Digital Florists track the parcel after it's booked?">
    No. Once the label is generated, the tracking number is saved on the order and included in customer notifications. In-transit updates aren't pulled back into Digital Florists — you and the customer check the carrier's own tracking page. You can press **Refresh** on the Shipment section to re-pull the carrier's record at any point.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if a booking fails?">
    The error from the carrier is shown back to you and the order is left as-is. Fix the underlying issue (most commonly a missing address field), pick a different integration, or try again. If you've already booked and need to start over, **Void** the shipment first.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I book the courier myself instead?">
    Yes. Pick **Manual** as the integration. Digital Florists records the courier name and tracking reference but doesn't call any external service.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I mix in-house delivery and courier on the same dashboard?">
    Yes. Courier orders appear alongside delivery orders and flow through the same lifecycle.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## What's next?

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Creating an order" icon="plus" href="/daily-operations/creating-an-order">
    Set Courier as the fulfilment method on a new order.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Integrations" icon="plug" href="/settings/integrations">
    Connect Shiptheory or ShipStation.
  </Card>
</Columns>