Royal Mail Barcode on 1st & 2nd class mail (not tracked mail)

I've asked this question before but not getting the answers i'm looking for or any real understanding of the question!


So to break it down - RM added the barcode system months ago (the square squigly code) - it prints out on all our labels no problems there.  Now I know this is not full tracking and is for 'proof of delivery' only on items that are just sent via 24 and 48 letter/large letter/parcel etc.  HOWEVER unless the barcode number is recorded in the tracking box it is still useless as we cannot access the proof of delivery information or provide it to the channel/customer.


So when is it going to become a useable 'tracking' option with the numbers recorded on LW and sent to Ebay/Amazon?  We were told early 2016, then Spring, then Summer......





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Hi Jacqui,


The 2D barcode system is in place for all Royal Mail shipping labels. You can use this as proof of delivery via Royal Mail's DMO/OBA site but you can not currently use this in Linnworks.


There is an option we could put in place, if the service your using is tracked, it will use the normal tracking barcode and if it is not a tracked service then we can send the 2D barcode to the channel.


I am currently trying to confirm with Royal Mail whether you can use the 2D bacode to actually track a fully tracked service or if you can only do this by the original tracking number, before we do this we also need to check if each of the channels will actually accept the new 2D barcode otherwise we wont be able to until they support it.

You say above "you can use this as proof of delivery via Royal Mail's DMO/OBA site" - does this mean we currently can get these numbers are use them? I've just had a check on the OBA website and can't see a way to do this...

Hello Kevin,


In case your labels are printed via linnworks.net integration, you can get 'DataMatrix' code (2d encoded data) from consignment properties, that can be found in manifest (both current and filed).


To find consignment properties go to Shipping > Shipping Manifests/ Filed Manifests > find the needed manifest > click 'View' > click 'View' once again next to the relevant shipping service > 'Properties'


'DataMatrixEyeReadable' would be the value you need (you might need to delete dashes and spaces to use it  on OBA site).


Unfortunately, there's no way you can get 'DataMatrix' if you are still using desktop integration, because the value is not displayed anywhere in the old config.

Do you have any plans to get this from Linnworks desktop or to implement it on Linnworks desktop. Linnworks.net is pretty garbage i am sorry to say. Far too slow if you are doing hundreds of orders at a time. Also the open order screen under items doesnt even tell you whats ordered, just gives you the SKU which is useless, should at least have the product name, i could go on.

Thanks for the reply Olga. Is that saying that the data is nowhere in the database at all, or there's no way to access it?


I agree with Imran - this has to be added in urgently. I'm getting "item not received" and knowing that I could confirm this or otherwise if only I could access this data is quite annoying...


I'm not ready to move to .net yet... can we get an ETA on including this into the desktop version, or else a query to extract the data from the database?

As for now, we do not have any plans to add DataMatrix field into desktop integration, it will most likely stay as is.


Linnworks.net integration can be used both in .net and desktop apps (it will appear in desktop as soon as you've mapped at least one service to it). You will still have to file manifests through linnworks.net though.


Speaking of Open Orders screen, you can set the view up to display the data you need, please refer to this article:

https://www.linnworks.com/support/order-book/open-order/using-the-open-order-screen/open-order-working-with-views/working-with-views-modifying#columnData

I agree, this NEEDS to be implemented into the desktop URGENTLY, your loyal customers who have been using this since the start are not going to move to .net as it is nowhere near as good (far too slow and doesn't even have listing or manual syncing capability).  I can see that new users that have nothing to compare to will learn the new system and be fine with it but those of us who have learned desktop inside and out for 8 years do not want an inferior system, its not what we signed up for.


We need to be treated as equals, its as if we have all been written off.


The point of the 2D barcode is to avoid the non delivery claims from customers.  We are not able to fight these unless we have the tools to do so. It is an important development from Royal Mail and it is the future of UK mail but it is useless to us and we are being kept in the dark ages.


 

this does rather mean abandoning the desktop version doesn't it? This is a pretty significant feature!


I'm still not fully understanding: is the required field nowhere in the database if you use the Desktop Royal Mail manifest?


That is, the thousands of orders we've sent using these new barcodes are forever lost to us?


If the answer to the above is "yes", then you can probably guess the next comment...


Why the hell did no-one think to mention this??! Something like "If you want to make use of the new 2d Royal Mail barcoding (and who wouldn't) you're going to need to move over to .net"


I've been thinking this whole Royal Mail thing isn't working and we've been waiting for them. From what you are saying it seems like Linnworks is the problem.


Elsewhere I saw that LW needed to check what they have to submit to the various channels. Frankly, that's a secondary consideration - the actual data *must* be available first for us and we can manually deal with the minority of issues. 



The problem with the .net Royal Mail integration is that every product now needs to have a product weight.


This is very annoying for customers like ourselves who have just used a flat weight for all packages (for example 950g).

If we put the same weight for all PRODUCTS then if someone orders 3 things the system will think this is not almost 3kg when in fact it may only be 1.5kg.  By setting a flat weight for all packages, as long as your average weight is beloe this level then Royal Mail never say anything and you are billed at the <1kg price for all packages.  


I will now need to download a product list, over 1000 products and manually enter the weight for every product, annoying to say the least.

But if it is the only way to get the 2D barcode registered then it will have to be done

Imran we have 13,500 products, and 33k ebay listings, not to mention all the Amazon channels....


.net is not an option for us, we list and edit items every day, we have to have the product listing available without a web browser opened (the lure of facebook is too much, we have laptops dedicated to LW and nothing else).  The speed of .net is painfully slow, every page opens at a snails pace, we need to see the channels, folders, stock status etc listed on the left hand side which has gone.  The 'views' feature is laborious and the search bar is not half as effective.  For every pick list, invoice or label sent to print it slowly opens a 'print preview' in a browser - slowing down the system even more.  When we have our busy time we can get through thousands of orders a week and we have to work at double quick time, .net isn't up to the job, we really did try to make it work but the frustration was too much.   It just doesn't flow and would mean retraining staff - there is no time for that.  If the time comes and desktop is not available we are more likely to shop around for a totally new system than go to .net (maybe that's what they want?)


Anyhow, back to the subject in hand, we too feel duped that we have been waiting over a year for something that we now find out LW are holding back from us.  Come on guys, play fair







Jacqui Connor - do you have individual weights for every product?


When you go to Linnworks desktop in Royal Mail Shipping Management - if you integrate Royal Mail from Linnworks then you can still use Linnworks desktop to process orders but you will print the manifest from Linnworks.net (the same as Royal Mail tracked if you use it).


The 2D Barcode will then feed into linnworks.net from linnworks desktop so it will be exactly as if you are using linnworks.net to process the orders.


The seems to be the only happy medium at the moment.  I dont envy you if you dont have individual product weights and you need to enter the manually, but it may be a case of biting the bullet and spending a few days on it.  Once done, you can use Linnworks desktop as you are just now, but keep record of the 2D barcodes.  This is what we are going to do.

Just want to add, actually .net does have listing capabilities, but again way slower and way less user friendly than Linnlive, more like pulling teeth.  Just un-useable.  It doesn't tell you what is listed/not listed on ebay.ca, ebay.us ebay.de etc like linnlive does and doesn't have the same flexibility in picking categories etc.  I feel really sorry for those that have .net they don't know what they are missing!!


We have weights Imran, but don't see why we should use desktop all day then have to sign out and sign in to .net to do a manifest or to look up details of a previous order.  Time is precious and that is not adding to productivity.


The LW team are very clever programmers, they are intelligent.  They have the capability of adding this to desktop if they tried.  We are not asking for something crazy, it's an essential detail.  And if they really wanted to make us happy they would send the details to the channels too so the customers can do their own 'tracking' and we would win more cases on eBay and Amazon.  Amazon have said that they would accept this as proof, and as Amazon US want a number for each and every order then that would solve that problem too.  

Oh and i've just checked and it looks as if you have to print the label from .net for it to be on a manifest - none of the labels we have printed today are showing.  


So thats really not gonna work.


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