Your 2025 shipping success checklist: 5 steps to save big and ship smarter

January is all about fresh starts and setting the tone for the year ahead. For small business owners, shipping is a crucial piece of the puzzle that directly impacts your bottom line. That’s why we’ve created this 2025 Shipping Success Checklist—to help you save time, cut costs, and make your operations as efficient as possible.

Follow these five steps to get your Shippo account up and running like a pro. Each step includes links to helpful resources so you can dive in and set yourself up for success.

1. Connect your store

Selling on multiple platforms? Managing orders across different systems can quickly get overwhelming. With Shippo, you can connect all your stores—including Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Wix, Square, Walmart, Etsy, BigCommerce, Magento 2, Squarespace, and WooCommerce—to centralize and streamline your operations.

By connecting your stores with Shippo:

• Orders are automatically imported into one dashboard, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks and allowing you to easily manage all your orders in one place.
• Orders are imported at regular intervals, so you always have the latest information at your fingertips.
• Tracking information is automatically synced back to your store, eliminating manual work.
• You’ll reduce manual tasks, save time, and get orders out the door faster.

💡 Learn how to connect your stores in Shippo: Watch the video.

2. Set up your account

Your Shippo account is your command center for efficient shipping. Take a few minutes to customize your settings to speed up your workflow.

• Print preferences: Choose default formats for labels and packing slips in Settings > Label & Packing Slips. This ensures that every label and packing slip you print is formatted according to your ideal choice (e.g., an 8.5x11 PDF, which is a half-page label for regular printers, or a 4x6 PDF for thermal label printers). See how to do it here.
• Sender and return address: Save your most-used sender and return addresses in Settings > Sender & Return, and ensure the defaults are checked to make purchasing labels faster.
• Company info: Enter your business name, website, and email under Settings > Company Info. These details personalize your packing slips and tracking notifications. Watch how to do it here.

3. Configure automations

Repetitive tasks can eat up valuable time, especially when you’re processing high volumes of orders. Shippo’s automations take the busywork out of your day, so you can focus on growing your business.

With automation rules, you can:

• Configure shipping rules (e.g., automatically assign a package template, carrier service level, sender address, or tag to an order) based on shipping conditions like item name, order quantity, order weight, etc. For instance, you can save time by automatically assigning a particular service level to an order based on its weight and destination.
• Automatically add insurance to all your orders, or those above a specified value in Settings > Insurance. This way, you don’t have to worry about manually adding insurance to each order—allowing you to save time and ensure all your orders are protected against loss, damage, or theft.

💡 Set up automation rules in Shippo: Watch this clip.

4. Set up branded tracking notifications

Your customers don’t stop thinking about their order once it ships, and neither should you! Keep them informed and engaged with branded tracking notifications.

With Shippo’s Pro Plan, you can:

• Customize tracking emails and pages with your logo, colors, and even product recommendations.
• Reduce “Where is my order?” inquiries with automated updates.
• Reinforce your brand with every post-purchase touchpoint.

💡 Get started with branded tracking notifications: See the guide.

5. Purchase your labels

Now that everything is set up, it’s time to ship! With Shippo’s bulk editing and purchasing features, you can apply shipping actions to multiple orders in one click (such as applying the same shipping service, package template, etc.), purchase labels in bulk, and download them all at once.

💡 Learn how to purchase and manage labels:

• Create your first label
• Bulk purchase labels

Get ready to ship smarter in 2025

By following this checklist, you’ll kick off the new year with a streamlined shipping process, giving you more time to focus on growing your business. Start the year strong and make 2025 your best year yet.

For more tips and resources, visit the Shippo Help Center. Ready to get started? Create your free Shippo account today.

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