We're excited to announce that Real ID now integrates with ShipStation to provide automated order fulfillment management based on ID verification status. This integration helps WooCommerce merchants streamline their fulfillment workflow while ensuring they never ship to unverified customers.

What is ShipStation?

ShipStation is one of the most popular multi-carrier shipping software platforms, used by over 130,000+ ecommerce retailers worldwide. It consolidates orders from multiple sales channels and automates shipping processes with features like:

• Multi-carrier shipping with discounted rates
• Batch processing and automation rules
• Branded tracking pages and notifications
• Inventory management across channels
• Advanced reporting and analytics

Why Integrate with ShipStation?

Many Real ID merchants use ShipStation to manage their order fulfillment, especially those selling age-restricted products, high-value items, or operating in regulated industries. Before this integration, merchants had to manually coordinate between their ID verification results and their ShipStation fulfillment workflow.

Now, Real ID automatically communicates with ShipStation to:

• Hold orders that require ID verification
• Release orders once verification passes
• Cancel orders when verification fails (configurable)
• Prevent shipping to unverified customers

How It Works

The integration follows a simple, automated workflow:

1. Customer Places Order

When a customer places an order that triggers ID verification requirements, Real ID automatically searches for the corresponding order in ShipStation.

2. Order Automatically Held

If found, the order is placed on hold in ShipStation with a note indicating "ID verification required." This prevents the order from being processed or shipped while verification is pending.

3. Verification Processing

The customer completes their ID verification through Real ID's secure flow. Our AI-powered verification system processes their documents and determines pass/fail status.

4. Automatic Order Release

Once verification passes, Real ID automatically releases the hold in ShipStation, allowing the order to proceed to fulfillment. Orders that fail verification can be automatically cancelled or left for manual merchant review.

Key Features

Smart Order Status Management

The integration includes intelligent safeguards to prevent disrupting orders that are already in progress:

• Final State Protection: Orders that are already shipped or cancelled won't be modified
• In-Progress Protection: Orders being prepared for shipment won't be reverted to hold status
• Manual Override: Merchants can force status updates when needed for exceptions

Configurable Status Mapping

Merchants can customize which ShipStation statuses to use for different verification states:

• Verification Required: Default "On Hold" or custom status
• Verification Passed: Default "Awaiting Shipment" or custom status
• Verification Failed: Default "Cancelled" or custom status

Comprehensive Event Logging

All ShipStation operations are logged in the Real ID dashboard for complete audit trails:

• Status updates with timestamps
• Order hold and release events
• Error messages and troubleshooting information
• Manual override notifications

Order Prefix Support

For merchants using order number prefixes in ShipStation, the integration supports configurable prefixes to ensure proper order matching between WooCommerce and ShipStation.

Setup Process

Getting started with the ShipStation integration is straightforward:

1. Generate API Credentials

In your ShipStation account, generate an API Key and API Secret from the Settings > API Settings page.

2. Configure in WooCommerce

In your WooCommerce Real ID plugin settings:

• Enable the ShipStation integration
• Enter your API credentials
• Configure status mappings for your workflow
• Set up order prefix if needed

3. Test Connection

Use the built-in connection test to verify your credentials and API connectivity before going live.

4. Monitor Results

Watch the Real ID event timeline to see ShipStation operations in action and ensure everything works as expected.

Use Cases

Age-Restricted Products

Merchants selling tobacco, alcohol, vaping products, or other age-restricted items can ensure orders are held until age verification passes, preventing underage sales and regulatory violations.

High-Value Items

Retailers selling luxury goods, electronics, jewelry, or other high-value products can verify customer identity before shipping to reduce fraud and chargebacks.

Regulated Industries

Businesses in regulated industries like cannabis, pharmaceuticals, or health products can maintain compliance by ensuring all orders are identity-verified before fulfillment.

International Shipping

Merchants shipping internationally can verify customer addresses and identities before expensive international shipments, reducing fraud and shipping costs.

Benefits for Merchants

Automated Compliance

• Eliminate manual coordination between verification and fulfillment
• Ensure no unverified orders slip through to shipping
• Maintain complete audit trails for compliance reporting

Improved Efficiency

• Reduce manual order management workload
• Streamline fulfillment workflow with automatic holds and releases
• Focus staff time on exceptions rather than routine processing

Risk Reduction

• Prevent shipping to unverified or fraudulent customers
• Reduce chargebacks and refund requests
• Minimize regulatory compliance risks

Better Customer Experience

• Faster order processing once verification completes
• Clear communication about verification requirements
• Professional fulfillment process that builds trust

Technical Details

The ShipStation integration is built using:

• ShipStation REST API with basic HTTP authentication
• 40 requests/minute rate limiting with built-in retry logic
• Background job processing via QStash for reliability
• Event-driven architecture that responds to verification state changes
• WordPress API proxy that keeps credentials secure in WooCommerce

The integration follows the same proven architecture as our existing fulfillment integrations, ensuring reliable operation and familiar troubleshooting procedures.

Getting Started

The ShipStation integration is available now for all Real ID WooCommerce merchants at no additional cost. To get started:

1. Install Real ID for WooCommerce if you haven't already
2. Update to the latest version to ensure you have the ShipStation integration
3. Follow our setup guide in the help documentation
4. Contact support if you need assistance with configuration

Visit our help documentation for detailed setup instructions and troubleshooting guides.

Looking Ahead

This ShipStation integration represents our continued commitment to providing seamless ID verification solutions that work with the tools merchants already use. We're constantly working to add new integrations and features that make ID verification as frictionless as possible for both merchants and customers.

Have suggestions for other fulfillment platforms you'd like to see integrated with Real ID? Let us know – we're always listening to merchant feedback to guide our development roadmap.

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Ready to streamline your fulfillment workflow with automated ID verification? Get started with Real ID for WooCommerce today.