ShipStation, North America’s largest provider of multi-carrier parcel shipping software for online merchants, is preparing for a major international expansion, with acquisitions and partnerships among the options being considered, while the company also plans to widen the range of freight transportation modes available through its platform.
CEO Tom Madine outlined the strategy during a live interview on the FreightWaves Today show, saying the company wants to strengthen its presence in international markets while continuing to expand the logistics services integrated into its technology.
The company this week began facilitating less-than-truckload (LTL) freight shipments through the same workflow already used by customers for parcel shipping and other logistics operations. The new capability follows private equity owner Thoma Bravo’s acquisition during the summer of Worldwide Express Group and its portfolio of freight brokerage companies.
For ShipStation, however, LTL is only part of a broader expansion plan.
Madine said on Sept. 1, during the interview at ShipStation’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, that the company is looking to expand its logistics management technology offering across Europe and other key international markets.
ShipStation currently operates in Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Australia. In Europe, its customer base includes large enterprises using its technology as well as micro-businesses that rely on the platform to compare and select parcel carriers.
Its London-based subsidiary, Metapack, provides delivery management technology to e-commerce retailers and other companies.
“Our grand plan is to build out those geographies,” Madine told FreightWaves Today, highlighting what he sees as a significant opportunity among small and medium-sized businesses and the middle market.
“That’s sort of our next growth lever,” he added, arguing that ShipStation has an opportunity to become a global leader because there is currently no truly global player in shipping software.
The international push could involve acquisitions as well as partnerships. ShipStation already works with carriers through agreements that allow it to pre-negotiate rates and connect directly with their booking websites.
Madine said the company’s extensive network of carrier integrations is one of the reasons major brands have adopted ShipStation in Europe. The platform manages more than 400 software connections to parcel carriers worldwide.
While supply chains differ from one country to another, ShipStation believes the largest 15 to 20 e-commerce markets offer a significant opportunity to establish a global leader in shipping technology, according to its CEO.
The company’s current structure dates back to early June, when Thoma Bravo merged ShipStation and sister companies Stamps.com, Metapack and Packlink with WWEX Group. The resulting holding company was renamed ShipStation Global.
At the core of ShipStation’s business is a digital workflow platform that allows retailers to import orders from multiple e-commerce stores into a single virtual inventory management system. The technology can then automatically determine how orders should be organized, processed, fulfilled and shipped.
The platform can also automatically identify carriers that meet predefined requirements, including price and delivery time.
That proposition is particularly attractive to businesses that lack the resources, scale or expertise needed to negotiate discounted carrier rates effectively.
Another key advantage is consolidation. Businesses can handle carrier selection, scheduling, tracking and label generation from a single platform rather than manually connecting to and querying multiple carrier websites. The approach simplifies parcel delivery operations while giving customers access to capacity that can save both time and money.
Ned Woodward, director of logistics and fulfillment at Spiceology, described the benefit from an operator’s perspective, saying ShipStation provides the company with a single platform rather than requiring employees to spend hours each day managing parcel shipments.
With the company’s ERP integrated into ShipStation, he said, shipping labels are readily available within the same workflow.
Following the introduction of LTL shipping, Madine also outlined the next stages of ShipStation’s freight strategy. The company plans to add truckload freight and final-mile delivery to its parcel platform.
The broader offering could also extend beyond traditional e-commerce customers. Madine said industrial and medical manufacturers, among other businesses outside the e-commerce sector, could use ShipStation’s tools and services to improve supply chain management.
The company’s technology is designed to use data and automation to support shipping decisions across both parcels and freight.
“We power the platform with a lot of intelligence to help people make better decisions about how to ship their parcels” and freight, Madine said.
ShipStation is not alone in attempting to bring multiple freight modes into a single shipping marketplace. Few parcel shipping platforms currently offer LTL, although smaller competitor Shipio says its technology coordinates parcel, LTL and truckload transportation across 90 carriers and multiple fulfillment locations.
