Diaspora entrepreneurs and African brands that hold stock in the US often lose margin on shipping: retail counter prices, manual label creation and customers asking for tracking numbers. A shipping platform fixes all three.
Short answer: Shippo is a shipping platform that offers discounted labels from carriers like USPS, UPS and DHL, syncs orders from online stores and automates tracking emails. It suits sellers shipping from the US and certain other supported countries.
What is Shippo?
Shippo connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, Etsy and others, compares carrier rates, prints labels and sends tracking updates. See Shippo.
Problems it solves for African founders
- Retail shipping prices: discounted carrier rates.
- Manual label creation: bulk labels from synced orders.
- Customers asking for tracking: automated updates.
- Comparing carriers: rates side by side.
Pricing and plans
There is a free plan with pay-as-you-go labels at discounted rates, suitable for low-volume sellers. Paid plans start around $10 to $25 a month for more users and features. Check current pricing and supported origin countries.
How to get started
- Check that your shipping origin is supported.
- Connect your store.
- Set default package sizes.
- Compare rates on your next ten orders.
- Turn on automated tracking emails.
Who it is for, and who it is not for
It fits sellers shipping from the US or other supported countries, including diaspora brands. It does not cover shipping from most African countries directly.
FAQ
Can I ship from Africa with Shippo?
Shippo supports a limited set of origin countries. Check if yours is covered.
Is Shippo free?
There is a free plan with pay-as-you-go labels.
Does Shippo work with WooCommerce?
Yes.
Disclosure: Africapreneurs may earn a commission if you sign up or buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It does not affect which tools we cover or what we write about them.
