In ChannelShipper, orders are grouped into batches to make them easier to process and manage. Batches can contain between 1 and 500 orders, and allow you to save time by performing actions such as manifesting, paying for labels, generating labels, or generating picking/packing lists for more than one order at once.
Batches can be created in two different ways:
- One or more orders can be manually placed into a new batch
- When you apply postage or generate labels for one or more orders, those orders will be automatically placed into a new batch. This includes orders that have had postage applied by your shipping rules.
- For Online Business Account customers only, when you manifest one or more orders, those orders will automatically be placed into a new batch.
How to create a new batch manually
To manually create a new batch for your orders, you will first need to go to your 'Orders' page. Click the 'Orders' link from any page within ChannelShipper
From your orders page, select one or more of your orders in 'New' status by checking the buttons at the left hand side of each order line, as shown:
Please note that the 'Manifested orders' tab is only visible for Royal Mail Online Business Accounts.
Click the drop down box, and from the list of actions, select 'Create batch', and then click the 'Go' button.
ChannelShipper will assign a batch number to your orders. If you click the batch number, you will be taken to the batches page where you can continue to perform actions on the orders in the batch if you wish.
How to move orders into an existing batch
ChannelShipper allows you to move order4s between batches. This can be useful if you wish for all of a certain type of order to be processed simultaneously, or by a single individual, for example.
from the Orders page, select all of the orders you want to move, and from the Actions dropdown menu in the lower right hand corner of the page, select 'Assign orders to batch'.
From here, a popup will ask you to enter the batch number or batch tag of the batch you would like to move the chosen orders into. If you are entering a batch number, please prefix it with the letter 'B' as shown in the image below.
When we have found the batch, check the box and click the 'Assign orders to selected batch' button.
How to view your batches
To view your batches, Hover your mouse pointer over the 'Orders' link from any page in ChannelShipper, and a drop down menu will appear. Click 'Batches'.
You will be taken to your 'Batch history' page, where all of your past and present batches will be visible.
The Batch history grid consists of several columns that provide information about each batch:
Batch Number: This is the unique number for each batch.
Status: The status of all the orders in the batch. The statuses can be 'new', 'Postage applied', 'Label generated', 'Despatched', Manifested, or Mixed (where orders in the batch are not all of the same status).
Manifest Number: The manifest number the batches were assigned to upon manifesting.
Generation date: The date and time when the batch was created.
# Orders: The number of orders the batch contains. We recommend you process as many orders together as possible. This makes performing actions on your orders quicker, and helps you keep track of your orders.
For Online Business Account customers, you may be eligible for bulk discounts if you manifest multiple orders at once.
Generated by: This is the name of the user that processed the orders in the batch.
Labels and documents: Once you have generated labels or customers documents for your batches, a 'Print' option will appear here (as shown on batch B1001 in our example). This menu will allow you to reprint any labels, despatch notes, or customs declaration forms.
Available actions: This column displays the next available action to perform on your orders.
Additionally, you can select the grey buttons at the left hand side of each batch line in order to see the 'Other actions' drop down box, which will display multiple additional actions you can perform on the orders in your batch.