Small business owners will find it easier to send orders to overseas customers in 220 countries within 2-5 business days through a new integration partnership between SMB ecommerce platform company Shopify and global carrier DHL.
DHL’s Express service has been added as an international carrier option for thousands of Shopify customers, giving them access to lower shipping rates previously only available to enterprise accounts. The company added the U.S. Postal Service and Canada Post as shipping options through previous agreements.
Shopify’s service does not require minimum shipping volumes or subscriptions, and offers free DHL Express pickups. According to Shopify, its customers ship millions of packages a month, more than 10% of which are sent internationally.
Asked if Shopify planned to add other carrier options for cross-border commerce, such as UPS or FedEx, Maia Benson, Global Head of Shipping and Fulfillment, “We’re always looking to add more value for our merchants in the shipping space.”
Shopify Shipping launched with the USPS in September 2015, adding Canada Post in September 2016. Businesses can manage their shipping and fulfillment within the platform, including order fulfillment, selecting carrier rates, packaging and purchasing labels for no additional fee.
Competitors Magento introduced its own shipping offering earlier this year by integrating with shipping software provider Temando. Bigcommerce, another competitor, also provides integrations with shipping software firms and third-party logistics (3PL) providers.