Connect your Royal Mail account

In short

Paste your Royal Mail API key in API key under Dispatch › Carrier Accounts › Connect account. Labels then print at the bench for every order Packed.

Before you start

You need to be an Admin. Warehouse Managers can see the list of accounts but can't connect or change one.

Stockist books every label on a Carrier Account, one of your team's own Royal Mail accounts. The page says:

Each Click & Drop account Stockist books labels on. A booking uses the client's account if it has one, else the warehouse's, else the general one.

With no account to use, orders are held as Missing details. You need permission in your Royal Mail account to see its API settings.

The public demo is never connected to Royal Mail. Its page says:

Connections can't be changed in the demo. Labels here come from a demo Royal Mail.

Decide first

• One general account, or one per client. For a first set-up, connect one account for General use. Connect one for One client only when that client must post on an account of its own.
• An account per warehouse. Use One warehouse when a warehouse posts on an account of its own.

Each client's parcels show its own Sender Name, whichever account books them.

Steps

Copy the API key

1. Sign in to your Royal Mail account. Find the API key where Stockist's API key field says:

   From Click & Drop: Settings › Integrations › Click & Drop API. Stockist keeps it encrypted and never shows it again.

2. Copy the key. Keep it to hand: you paste it once.

Connect the account

1. Go to Dispatch › Carrier Accounts and select Connect account.

2. Choose Royal Mail as the Carrier.

3. Enter a Name your team knows it by, such as Trentside main.

4. Choose what it is Used for: General, One client or One warehouse. For a client or warehouse, choose which.

5. Paste the key in API key and select Create:

   Trentside main connected

The list shows the account as Connected, with only the key's last four characters. A team has one general account per carrier, and one for each client or warehouse.

Change the key

1. In the account's row, select Change.
2. Paste the new key in New API key. Leave it blank to keep the old key.
3. Select Save changes.

If Royal Mail refuses a key, labels stop printing and orders wait for their labels. Connect a new key here.

Disconnect an account

1. In the account's row, select Disconnect, then Confirm.

Its key is deleted and no labels are booked on it again. Labels it already booked stay booked, but Stockist can no longer cancel or close them out through it.

What happens next

Labels print at the bench when an order is Packed: see Print labels, use Held Parcels and make a Manual Label. Each order goes by the Carrier Service its Service Level maps to: see Set up Carrier Services, Service Levels and rates.

If Royal Mail can't be reached, orders wait for their labels on Held Parcels. A Floor Supervisor can then record a Manual Label.