Shipping Custom WooCommerce Plugin for DHL Global Growth

This post was contributed by Shadi Manna, founder of Progressus, a member of the Automattic Partner Program. Progressus is a digital agency focused on WooCommerce development and custom WooCommerce integration.

In the dynamic world of logistics, DHL is renowned for its efficient global delivery and transportation services.

However, even the industry giants face complex challenges. DHL encountered significant obstacles: It was losing significant parcel sales from merchants in certain locations because the label service was not integrated into their fulfillment process; DHL merchants lacked the ability to automatically generate package labels for Europe and Asia, a critical feature for their large customer base.

Recognizing the urgency of this issue and the huge potential of the WooCommerce business base, DHL has partnered with Progressus, a team of seasoned WooCommerce backend experts with a passionate focus on API integration and extensive plugin development experience. Progressus coded WordPress development standards and emphasized testing to ensure that a high-quality, custom solution was created that not only addressed these shortcomings but also increased their operational efficiency.

Industry: Logistics

Use Case: The primary function of this integration was to enable merchants to create DHL shipping labels directly from their WooCommerce order manager, meeting the needs of businesses of various sizes and processing millions of orders.

Used products: Custom WordPress plugin, WooCommerce

Key results:

• Expanding service availability in Germany, meeting critical market demand.
• The custom plugin was quickly adopted by more than 6,000 businesses.
• Facilitated the creation of more than 2.4 million labels per year.
• Client feedback highlighted the plugin’s impact, noting its robust functionality and contribution to more efficient operations.

DHL operates in a highly competitive and fast-paced industry where efficient management of supply chains and delivery services is paramount. With more than 380,000 employees and a presence in more than 220 countries, DHL manages the Herculean task of delivering more than 1.5 billion packages a year.

The ability to seamlessly integrate package labeling features into their e-commerce services was not just a convenience, but a necessity to maintain their market leadership and ensure customer satisfaction.

DHL’s predicament was unique. Their extensive network of medium to large enterprise customers had specific expectations from DHL: seamless integration of package labeling within their WooCommerce-enabled e-commerce platforms, particularly for the European and Asian markets.

These merchants often specifically choose WooCommerce as their eCommerce solution precisely because of its incredible flexibility and customizability. They also consider a built-in seamless label printing solution a must. As a result, traders saw it as a missing part of DHL’s service offering, which they had not yet provided.

This functional gap represented a significant obstacle to the otherwise smooth operation of DHL. As Shadi Manna, founder of Progressus, stated, “The absence of a comprehensive DHL package labeling solution in key markets presented a unique challenge that required a robust, tailored solution.”

Creating a custom plugin for a DHL client was a seamless experience, thanks in large part to the extensibility and high customizability of WooCommerce. Built on a foundation of fully flexible features like hooks and filters, the WooCommerce architecture enables deep customization at every level. This flexibility was essential for customizing the plugin to meet the specific needs of DHL operations.

Manna continued, “For example, this feature has allowed us to fine-tune and extend core functionality. Whether it was integrating DHL’s international services to streamline the label creation process, or improving order management to accommodate DHL’s vast logistics network, the adaptable WooCommerce framework made it possible.”

Every aspect of the WooCommerce store, from the user interface to the order processing backend, has been carefully customized to meet DHL’s requirements. This level of customization ensured that the bespoke plugin not only seamlessly integrated with DHL’s existing systems, but also increased their overall operational efficiency.

Creating a custom plugin for a DHL client was a seamless experience, thanks in large part to the extensibility and high customizability of WooCommerce.

Progressus’ response to this challenge was comprehensive and thorough. The team set about developing a custom WordPress plugin that was customized to seamlessly integrate with WooCommerce and meet the specific needs of DHL.

This plugin was not just a stopgap, but a full-fledged enhancement that enabled features such as insurance options, handling duties for international packaging, automatic issuance of tracking numbers, and much more.

Based on WooCommerce best practices, the plugin was built using an object-oriented data structure. This approach ensured scalability and flexibility for each of the country integrations involved, significantly optimizing DHL’s workflow efficiency.

The modular nature of WooCommerce allowed Progressus to develop a solution that could easily adapt to the changing requirements of different regions and ensured that the plugin could grow and evolve alongside DHL’s expanding global operations.

This level of customization and adaptability is a testament to the power of the extensible WooCommerce framework, which enables developers to create highly customized solutions that meet the specific needs of global leaders such as DHL.

Since partnering with Progressus in 2017, the success of working with DHL is illustrated by impressive statistics and customer feedback. The cornerstone of this success is the rapid adoption of the custom plugin, which has been integrated into the operations of more than 6,000 businesses in Germany. This widespread adoption is a testament to the plugin’s effectiveness and the acute need it addresses in the market.

DHL managed to penetrate the vast WooCommerce network to expand its customer base and increase parcel sales. Having a seamless label solution allowed them to offer a service that competing carriers could not – giving them the perfect sales tool to get WooCommerce merchants to switch carriers.

The plugin has facilitated the creation of more than 2.4 million labels per year, from scratch, since its release. This notable figure not only demonstrates the functionality and reliability of WooCommerce and the plugin, but also highlights its role in streamlining the operational processes of many businesses.

As Shadi Manna explained: “The impact of this development is particularly evident in Germany, where DHL’s service capabilities have been substantially expanded and effectively met the critical demand in this key market.”

Client feedback further highlights the success of the project: “The releases were always on time, quick response to needs, quick problem solving, very good exchange of ideas, optimization of features, etc. They are very focused, proactive and smart.”

Businesses have appreciated the plugin for its robust functionality built with WooCommerce, which has contributed to more efficient operations and increased efficiency. This positive reception is a clear indicator of WooCommerce’s durability and stability, as well as the plugin’s alignment with users’ needs and its role in improving their overall DHL experience.

The partnership between DHL and Progressus is characterized by a commitment to continuous innovation. The teams are actively working to incorporate new features like GoGreen Plus and have moved from SOAP API to REST API for modernized and improved performance.

The custom plugin also originally contained several global regions, but separate plugins were created to accommodate these regions for increased efficiency and performance.

Regular strategy meetings ensure a constant focus on development, prioritizing features that add substantial value to marketers, and testing them rigorously before deployment.

This case study exemplifies more than just trying to solve problems; emphasizes a synergistic partnership driven by innovation and a deep understanding of the requirements of the logistics industry. The collaboration between DHL and Progressus is a testament to the strength of the strategic partnership in overcoming technological barriers and developing operational capabilities with WooCommerce.

As DHL continues to navigate the complexities of global logistics, their alliance with Progressus is a beacon of continuous improvement and commitment to excellence in WooCommerce solutions.