The order status integration allows you to automatically update the status of orders by sending an XML-formatted email to Yahoo!. If your company uses software which can generate an email when a package is shipped, you can automatically update your customer's tracking status. Doing so can reduce costs associated with answering customer queries about order shipping status. Once received, the email is parsed and the status for the order is updated, which in turn updates the status for buyers returning to the Order Status page, and also sends an order status email to the buyer (if enabled).

In order to use this feature, you must enable the feature on the Shipment Status page, get a tracking update password, and then format whichever application you will use to send the automated status to use the correct XML formatting for the emails.

Enabling the Shipment Tracking Feature

To enable the Shipment Tracking feature:

1. From the Store Manager, click the "Shipment & Order Status" link in the Order Settings column.
2. Select the "Use Shipment Tracking features" check box.
3. Enter an email address for the Order Confirmation Email and Bounced Message Email fields.
4. Click "Email Tracking Password". This will assign you a unique password (different from the one you use to manage your site) to use for email tracking updates.
5. Make a note of the tracking update password assigned to your store and click "Continue".
6. Click "Update".
7. Publish your order settings when ready.

Formatting the XML and Sending Email

Now that you have enabled the feature, your next step is to format the XML output of whichever software you may be using to process and ship orders. The XML output then is sent by email to Yahoo! where it is read and parsed.

The DTD file associated with the XML for this feature is defined at TrackingUpdate.dtd and sample XML files are available for single and split shipments. Put the appropriate XML into your email body, and send to: tracking-update@store.yahoo.com.

XML Parameters

• TrackingUpdate password: include your email tracking update password collected in step 5 of the above instructions.
• id: Set to your order id.
• shipped: Set to "YES" or "NO".
• trackingNumber: Set to the tracking number as supplied by the shipping carrier.
• shipper: Set to one of "UPS", "FedEx", "DHL", or "USPS".

Errors

XML errors will be sent to the email address sending the order status email. Ensure that the email address used to send the order status emails is monitored so that errors in the XML formatting can be addressed.