Channel
A channel is a specific installation of an application built by a vendor on top of our API – e.g. “Kevin’s Shopify Store #133432” would be 1 channel.Multi-channel
A multi-channel application can read data from all channels that belong to the merchant but can only write data on behalf of its own channel - e.g. multi-channel “app #555” can read data from “Kevin’s Shopify Store #133432” but can only write data on behalf of “app #555”.Reference ID
A reference id is a required field when creating a record using one of Shipbobs Post endpoints - e.g. when creating a product via the Post products endpoint, a product reference id is required. The reference id was created to allow developers to tie records in ShipBob to their own upstream systems. Reference IDs must be unique by channel.Order
An order is an object that comes from an external source and is intended for ShipBob to fulfill.Shipment
A shipment is an object that is the result of fulfillment of an order. An order can contain one or more shipments.Product
A product is a virtual record created in ShipBob’s system via a channel. In order to fulfill orders, product records MUST be created in ShipBob’s system. Upon creating a product, ShipBob will automatically create 1 matching inventory item for that product.Inventory
An inventory item is a representation of a physical good, that may or may not have physical stock in ShipBob’s fulfillment center. An inventory item can be related to multiple products (e.g. a merge, where multiple product records come from various channel sources but are actually the same physical good).Bundle
A bundle is a product that resolves to multiple inventory items. This is most commonly used for gift or multi packs. When an order is received for this product, the shipment will contain all the inventory items associated with the bundle.Bundle products can be created using our API on the 2.0 and 2025-07 versions.
Merge
A merge is a situation where multiple products (that may be from different channels) resolve to one inventory item. This is most common when merchants use ShipBob to fulfill orders from multiple platforms (e.g. Shopify and Amazon). When an order containing any of these products is sent to ShipBob, a shipment containing that inventory item will be sent out.Warehouse receiving order
A warehouse receiving order (WRO) is an order to receive inventory into ShipBob’s fulfillment center. Some other solutions call this an “ASN” or Advanced Ship Notice. Warehouse Receiving Orders may contain one or multiple inventory items with specific quantities.Return
A return is an order to unpack returned inventory and restock, dispose, or quarantine it in ShipBob’s fulfillment center. This is the same thing as an “RMA”. Returns can be optionally related to the original outbound shipment.Fulfillment Center / Location
A fulfillment center (also called a location) is a physical ShipBob warehouse where inventory is stored and orders are fulfilled. Products can be stocked across multiple fulfillment centers in ShipBob’s network, allowing for distributed inventory and faster delivery times.Inventory Quantities
ShipBob tracks inventory using several key quantity calculations:- On Hand: Total quantity currently stocked at the warehouse
- Fulfillable: On hand quantity minus quantities committed to pending orders
- Sellable: Fulfillable quantity minus any exception orders (available at network-wide level only)
- Committed: Quantity allocated to orders that are pending fulfillment
Lot Item
A lot item is a physical item tracked by expiration dates or batch numbers that should be fulfilled in FIFO (First In, First Out) order. Lot items are common for food products and items with expiration dates. When creating returns or managing lot items, bothlot_number and lot_date must be provided for proper tracking.
SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)
A SKU is a unique identifier assigned to a product for inventory tracking purposes. In ShipBob, this is typically stored as the product’sreference_id field and is used to identify products across systems.
Order Types
ShipBob supports different order types with specific fulfillment requirements:- DTC (Direct-to-Consumer): Orders shipped directly to individual customers using standard packaging and packing slips
- B2B (Business-to-Business): Orders shipped to businesses or retailers, which may use different packing standards, compliance requirements, and GS1 labels
Scopes
Scopes are permission levels granted to an API token or OAuth application that control which resources can be read or written. Examples includeorders_read, products_write, inventory_read, webhooks_write, etc. All API requests require appropriate scopes to access specific resources.
Webhook
A webhook is an automated notification sent by ShipBob when specific events occur (e.g., order shipped, shipment delivered, return completed). Webhooks enable real-time data synchronization without the need for constant polling of the API.Shipment Status
The current state of a shipment in the fulfillment process:- On Hold: Missing information that prevents fulfillment (e.g., address issues)
- Exception: Issues preventing fulfillment (e.g., out-of-stock items)
- Shipped: Shipping label purchased, printed, and scanned
- Delivered: Successfully delivered to the customer
- Cancelled: Shipment has been cancelled