Document Owner

INTERSOFT Systems and Programming Limited

Version

1.7.17

Date

15/09/2023

Description

Describes how to integrate with the Intelligent Shipper Shipment Booking API

Author

Laura Price

Service Name

Description

Mandatory / Optional

Allowed Methods

URL

createShipment

Creates a new shipment and generates the shipping label. 

Mandatory

Post

/api/v1.7/shipments/createShipmentRequest

cancelShipment

Cancels a current shipping label for shipments that have not been confirmed. 

Optional

Post

/api/v1.7/shipments/cancelShipmentRequest

confirmShipment

Locks down the shipment so that it can no longer be edited and generates the required collection paperwork (e.g. Manifest).

Mandatory

Post

/api/v1.7/shipments/confirmShipmentRequest

printDocument

Returns customs documentation for a shipment in the requested format – CN23, Proforma Invoice or Commercial Invoice.

Optional

Post

/api/v1.7/documents/printDocumentRequest

generateQRCode

Generates a QR code for returns shipments using Royal Mail Tracked Returns services. The QR code can then be scanned at the Post Office to generate the returns label

Optional

Post

/api/v1.7/shipments/generateQRCodeRequest

manifestHistory

Returns details of the manifests created on a specified date. The manifest details returned in the response can then be used with the printManifestRequest to return a PDF manifest image.

Optional

Post

/api/v1.7/shipments/manifestHistoryRequest

printManifest

Returns a manifest image in Base64 encoded PDF format.

Optional

Post

/api/v1.7/shipments/printManifestRequest

PreallocatedRMTrackingNumber

Pre-allocates a Royal Mail tracking number without creating a shipment and returns the tracking number in the response, so that it can  later be used in the createShipment request when generating a Royal Mail Shipping label.

Optional

Get

/api/v1.7/shipments/getPreallocatedRMTrackingNumberRequest

Element Name

Data Type

Mandatory /Conditional / Optional

Notes

serviceNameRequest/integrationHeader

<dateTimeStamp>

D–19

O

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

Date/Time Stamp of the request.

<transactionId>

C–32

M

Unique identifier of the request, preserved throughout the lifespan of the transaction. This must be generated by the customer. If the API requests for a customer account are being sent one at a time, so that one transaction has been completed before the next transaction is started, then the same transactionId can be used for all requests. However if a customer account is sending multiple API requests at a time (e.g. on multiple workstations) then each request will need to have a unique transactionId – there cannot be multiple transactions with the same transactionId occurring at one time.

<applicationId>

C–10

M

The ID of the Service Requester calling the service. This will be provided by Intersoft.

<userId>

C–10

M

User ID for system access.  This will be provided by Intersoft.

<password>

C–10

M

Password for system access.  This will be provided by Intersoft.

Element Name

Data Type

Mandatory /Conditional / Optional

Notes

serviceNameResponse/integrationHeader

<dateTimeStamp>

D–16

O

YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM

Date/Time Stamp of the response.

<transactionId>

C–32

M

ID preserved throughout the lifespan of the transaction, unique when combined with the applicationId.

<applicationId>

C–10

M

The ID of the Service Provider, unique when combined with the TransactionId.

Element Name

Data Type

Mandatory /Conditional / Optional

Notes

serviceNameResponse/errors/errorDetail

<errorCode>

C–5

C

Error Code. Code associated with the error condition

<errorDescription>

C–32

C

Description of the error condition

<errorCause>

C–4

C

Cause of the business error (if known)

<errorResolution>

C–50

C

Description of the resolution and action required to correct the error

<errorContext>

C–50

C

Context of the business error, e.g. client or server

Element Name

Data Type

Mandatory / Conditional / Optional

Notes

createShipmentRequest/shipment/shipper

<shipperCompanyName>

C–35

M

Shipper Company Name.

<shipperAddressLine1>

C–35

M

First line of shipper address.

<shipperAddressLine2>

C–35

O

Second line of shipper address, if applicable.

<shipperAddressLine3>

C–35

O

Third line of shipper address, if applicable.

<shipperCity>

C–30

M

Shipper Town.

<shipperCounty>

C–35

O

Shipper County.

<shipperCountryCode>

C–2

M

2 Digit ISO Country Code, per ISO 3166 Standard.

<shipperPostCode>

C–10

M

Shipper’s Postcode.

<shipperContactName>

C–40

O

Shipper’s Contact Name.

<shipperPhoneNumber>

C–20

M

Shipper’s Contact Phone.

Accepts numeric characters and the following special characters only:

+.()-

No other special characters are accepted.

<shipperVatNumber>

C–15

C

Shipper’s VAT Number.

Mandatory for some carriers. See the document “Intelligent Shipper Carrier Integrations and Features” for more information.

<shipperEoriNumber>

C-18

C

Shipper’s EORI Number.

Mandatory for some carriers. See the document “Intelligent Shipper Carrier Integrations and Features” for more information.

<shipperEmailAddress>

C–254

O

Shipper’s Email Address.

<shipperReference>

C–20

M

This is used for Returns processing and is usually the shipper’s order number provided to the consumer.

<shipperReference2>

C-20

C

Mandatory for some carriers. See the document “Intelligent Shipper Carrier Integrations and Features” for more information.

For Royal Mail shipments this must only be used to provide the eBay Virtual Tracking Number (VTN) – no other reference should be provided in this field.

For all other carriers this can be used to provide any further identifiers in addition to shipper reference. See the document “Intelligent Shipper Carrier Integrations and Features” for a list of which integrations use Shipper Reference 2.

<shipperDeptCode>

C–17

O

Shipper’s Department Code.

createShipmentRequest/shipment/destination

<destinationCompanyName>

C–35

O

Company name of the destination address, if applicable

<destinationAddressLine1>

C–35

M

Please ensure the address data is presented in line with the destination country formats.

<destinationAddressLine2>

C–35

O

Please ensure the address data is presented in line with the destination country formats.

<destinationAddressLine3>

C–35

O

Please ensure the address data is presented in line with the destination country formats.

<destinationCity>

C–30

M

Destination Town Name.

<destinationCounty>

C–35

C

Required for Australia, USA and Canada.

<destinationCountryCode>

C–2

M

2 Digit ISO Country Code, per ISO 3166 Standard.

<destinationPostCode>

C–10

C

Mandatory for countries where post code is required for delivery.

<destinationContactName>

C–40

M

Delivery Contact Name.

<destinationPhoneNumber>

C–20

M

Delivery Contact phone number. If an SMS notification enhancement is used, this must contain a valid mobile phone number for the destination country.

Accepts numeric characters and the following special characters only:

+.()-

No other special characters are accepted.

For Royal Mail shipments where an SMS notification enhancement is used, the following rules apply:

• Phone number must start with "0" or "44"

• Must then be followed by "7" and then any other number

• If starting with 0, maximum length is 11. If starting with 44, maximum length is 12 e.g. 07123456789 or 447123456789

• Any premium numbers, like the ones starting 070 are not allowed.

<destinationVatNumber>

C–15

O

Delivery VAT number.

<destinationEmailAddress>

C–254

C

Delivery Email Address. Required when an email notification service enhancement is used. 

<deliveryInstructions>

C-50

O

Additional information relating to the delivery address, e.g. instructions on how to find or access the address. If the carrier supports additional delivery instructions this will be printed on the label.

NOTE: To specify a safe place for delivery when using Royal Mail and Parcelforce services, use the <safePlace> element instead.

<destinationPudoId>

C–20

O

PUDO Store ID or Postcode.

createShipmentRequest/shipment/shipmentInformation

<shipmentDate>

D–10

M

Date of despatch – YYYY-MM-DD.

<serviceCode>

C–4

M

Service Code.

<preAllocatedTrackingNumber>

C-70

O

Royal Mail tracking number returned in the PreallocatedRMTrackingNumberResponse. If populated, the shipment service code, destination postcode and destination country code must match that sent in the PreallocatedRMTrackingNumber request, else an error will be returned.

If the Royal Mail Recorded Signed For service enhancement was used in the PreallocatedRMTrackingNumber request, the same service enhancement must also be used in the createShipment request, else an error will be returned.

createShipmentRequest/shipment/shipmentInformation/offLineShipment

<trackingNumber>

C-30

C

NOTE: The offLineShipment section is optional. This should only be included in the createShipmentRequest when you want to create an offline shipment (i.e. create a shipment record in Intelligent Shipper for a shipment that had a tracking number allocated outside of the system). For online/standard shipments do not include this section in the request.

When creating an offline shipment, this element is mandatory. Provide the tracking number allocated to the shipment.

<itemId>

C-8

C

Unique sequence number used in the 2D barcode.

Mandatory for Royal Mail offline shipments only; this does not need to be provided for any other carriers.

<carrierCode>

C-4

C

When creating an offline shipment, this element is mandatory. Provide the carrier code of the shipment carrier. 

NOTE: The carrier code provided must be valid for the shipment service code, else an error will be returned.

<status>

C-30

O

Defaulted to printedOffline.

createShipmentRequest/shipment/shipmentInformation/serviceOptions

<postingLocation>

C-10

C

RMG Posting location.

Mandatory if using a Royal Mail service and your customer account has more than one posting location. Not required if your Royal Mail account only has one posting location. 

Not required for non-Royal Mail shipments. 

<serviceLevel>

C-2

O

Service level code. Valid values are 01-99.

Only used for Royal Mail services. If service level is not provided then the lowest available service level will be used.

Not required for non-Royal Mail shipments. 

<serviceFormat>

C-1

O

Service format code. Valid values are L, F, P, G, E, N, H.

Only used for Royal Mail services. If service format is not provided, the default service format set in the system will be used.

Not required for non-Royal Mail shipments. 

<safePlace>

C-30

O

Free text to describe a safe place to leave the parcel, if the service allows it.

If safe place is being used with Parcelforce service enhancements then a valid Parcelforce safe place must be used, else the safe place will be defaulted to “Driver Choice”. See the Appendices document for a list of valid Parcelforce safe places.

createShipmentRequest/shipment/shipmentInformation/serviceOptions/serviceEnhancements

<serviceEnhancementCode>

C-10

O

May contain either a service enhancement code setup by the System Administrator or a Royal Mail service enhancement code. The System Administrator can provide a list of the service enhancement codes available in the system. 

A list of valid Royal Mail service enhancement codes is provided in the Appendices document.

Multiple service enhancements can be used for a shipment; repeat the element for each service enhancement code required. For Royal Mail service enhancements, a maximum of four enhancement codes can be supplied per shipment.

If the requested enhancement(s) are not available for the service or if more than one enhancement is requested from a single enhancement group then an error will be returned in the response. See the Appendices document for a list of all potential errors that may be returned. 

createShipmentRequest/shipment/shipmentInformation

<totalPackages>

N–2

M

Total number of packages.

Min=1 max=99.

For a list of the carriers that support multipackage shipments, see the document “Intelligent Shipper Carrier Integrations and Features”.

<totalWeight>

N–7,3

M

Total weight of the parcel including packaging.

<weightId>

C–1

O

Weight unit of measurement.

K = Kgs / L = Lbs.

Defaults to K if blank.

<unitOfMeasurement>

C–1

O

Dimensions unit of measurement.

Always “C” for Centimetres.

<product>

C–3

M

Product type.

DOX for Document Shipments or NDX for any other content type.

<descriptionOfGoods>

C–70

M

General description of the goods being sent.

<reasonForExport>

C-50

O

Used to provide the reason an international shipment is being sent e.g. Sale, Gift, Return etc.

Currently only used with Royal Mail shipments. For Royal Mail shipments, only the following values should be provided: 

• Gift

• Commercial Sample

• Documents

• Returned Goods

• Other

• Sale of goods

• Mixed Content

If Reason for Export is provided for a Royal Mail shipment, this will override the Default Reason for Export set on the customer’s Royal Mail account record.

<declaredValue>

N–10,2

M

Total Shipment Value.

<declaredCurrencyCode>

C–3

M

3-digit ISO Currency code for shipment value.

<terms>

C–3

O

Incoterms / terms of trade for international NDX shipments.

Valid values are DDU, DDP, DAP and DAT.

If DDP is requested for a carrier that does not support it an error will be returned in the createShipmentResponse. See the Appendices document for details of the error.

If this field is not populated for International NDX shipments then DDU will be used by default.

Terms does not need to be provided for International DOX shipments.

<labelImageFormat>

C-10

O