It's definitely a valuable API, but I'd be more likely to take advantage of it if I were a new SaaS company building logistics software -- Shippo would be a great shortcut to get to market with the aforementioned features. At that point I'd be capturing more value in the form of my LoB software than Shippo could ever capture in their (essentially) cost+ pricing model.
I don't get it -- but I feel like that's my fault and I'm missing the market, so maybe someone can enlighten me.
Edit: Also this was an interesting read and clever solution to a tricky migration problem!
Shippo customers vary pretty widely. Many inventory and warehouse management systems actually use our API to get the address validation, shipping integration, label creation functionalities you mentioned [0]. We're just white-labeled. These customers want to focus on what they're good at instead of having to maintain the shipping side of things.
Our other sweet spot are marketplaces [1] who'll never need an OMS or WMS because products never go through their hands. They want to also tap into multi-carrier capabilities because of better pricing and convenience for their end-customers. Again, they use our API as an easy way to plug into the shipping world without having to deal with all the things.
[0]: https://goshippo.com/blog/sellbrite-partners-shippo/ [1]: https://goshippo.com/case-studies/mercari/
Note: I work at Shippo
I'm still longing for the day that Shippo is fully fleshed out so I can offload that massive infrastructure headache off to someone else.
The developer documentation for UPS is thousands of pages long. The document explaining how to quote a domestic shipment is over 600. I don't have them in front of me right now, but FedEx is the same. You can't even integrate directly with USPS anymore. You have to go through someone like Stamps.com, Endicia (which are now one and the same), etc.
We only ship 200-300 packages daily, but there are benefits in using multiple carriers. For one, small lightweight and low-value packages always go USPS. Flat rate boxes are free and easy to use. Between the two big private guys, using multiple carriers gives you a negotiating advantage. Our reps probably visit us twice a month to try and keep on our good side.
Our ERP can calculate the best value and delivery time for a given order. For example, taking advantage of the FedEx Express OneRate program for a given package might a) reduce our net cost because the boxes are provided to us for free and b) get there 2-3 days faster for a buck more versus UPS Ground. And we can pack 50 pounds into that Express box under the OneRate program.
Stocking supplies isn't too terribly hard. We probably have 20 box sizes we use, plus FedEx and UPS small/medium/large vendor-supplied boxes and a few USPS sizes. Takes up a surprisingly small amount of space.
