- Create electronic shipping labels and automatically notify buyers of the status of their order
- Sell across multiple Shopify stores and online marketplaces in multiple currencies or prices
- More granular control over the shipping rates you charge your buyers
Smart Shipping with integrated product management
Orders are automatically synchronised from your Shopify store making it easy to generate your electronic shipping labels / waybills with one click. Receive quotes from multiple couriers (no courier account needed), select the courier you wish to use, print the shipping label and request collection from the courier all from one easy to use interface. Your buyers will then receive automatic updates by email on the status of their orders with online tracking within your own store.
Easily connect your main Shopify store with other Shopify stores and online marketplaces
uAfrica.com’s Multichannel keeps your products and orders in sync using real-time monitoring, making sure you never have to manually update inventory levels in multiple places again.
More granular control over the shipping rates you charge your buyers (shipping zones)
uAfrica Multichannel now also supports custom shipping zones. Custom Shipping Zones makes use of Shopify's real time carrier api allowing for shipping rates to be set at the time the buyer checks out based on the postal / zip code of the order's shipping address. Rates for different postal / zip codes can be set up based on the order weight and/or price.
Standard Shopify shipping functionality generally allows shipping rates to be set down to a province or state level however, depending on the carrier being used, shipping rates can vary significantly within the same province / state. With Custom Shipping Zones, shipping rates can be set at a postal / zip code level thereby providing a more granular level of control on what shipping rates are charged to your buyers.
The app has preconfigured custom zones set up for specific countries based on how common carriers / couriers charge for shipments. If definitions for your country do not exist, contact us and we will gladly set them up for you (or you can create your own custom zone definitions by uploading a spreadsheet).
Shopify's real time carrier rates functionality is required for shipping zones to work (all other app functionality will work on any Shopify plan).
How does it help me?
Can I exclude certain product variants?
Yes. If you are using other 3rd party apps that create "hidden" variants that you do not want on a particular sales channel, you can create a rule to exclude these (or any other variants you would like to include or exclude for whatever reason).
What about channels in other currencies?
You can create a rule to transform the currency and price of products using basic mathematical formulae. For example, if you have a USD store and a EUR store, you can apply a formula to convert all your pricing from your source store to the appropriate values for your channel store and set the correct channel currency.
Can collections be synced?
Yes. When installing your source store you are given the option to sync collections (only to other Shopify channel stores). It is not required but where possible we encourage the use of smart collections on your source store (smart collections are where you set conditions within Shopify to automatically assign products to those collections). Any collections created on your source store will be automatically synced to your channel Shopify store(s). It is recommended that all products / collections on the channel store be deleted before importing your products / collections from your source store to your channel store.
For online marketplaces such as bidorbuy, you can set up rules to map products from your source Shopify store to bidorbuy categories.
How is stock kept up to date?
Our app never directly adjusts the stock on your source store. Our app will however create orders from your channels on your source store and if your Shopify source store is so configured, your underlying stock will be updated as a result of the order that was created (with the new stock levels being synced to all other channels).
Can this app be used to create a wholesale store?
Yes. Multichannel can be used to create a wholesale store (requires an additional Shopify store subscription). Many existing Shopify apps that provide wholesale functionality create multiple hidden variants, which can have undesirable consequences. With uAfrica Multichannel, your products and collections get automatically synced from your retail store to your wholesale store (or your can choose to have it vice versa i.e. have your wholesale store as your source). Multiple rules can be set up to adjust the price on your wholesale store. Standard Shopify functionality can then be used to manage access to your wholesale store e.g. requiring accounts. All your orders from your wholesale store will be synced to your retail store (if set up as your source) automatically keeping all your stock in sync across both wholesale and retail stores.
Can I customise my product descriptions on a per channel basis?
Yes. There is the ability to create custom templates and set a rule to selectively apply templates based on rule conditions that you set.
How are multi currency orders handled on my source Shopify store?
If your source store and all your channels are the same currency then this question is not applicable to you. If your source store and channels have different currencies, orders get created on your source store in the same currency that they were placed. So if your source store is in USD and you have a channel store in EUR, when an order gets placed on your EUR store, that order gets written back to your source USD store in EUR. Note that while these orders are stored in Shopify in their underlying currency (EUR in this case), the front end of the Shopify admin does not currently display the correct currency (we assume this is something that will be improved by Shopify in due course but should not prevent you from using this app). If you export your orders to a csv / Excel file, this export contains the correct currencies.
uAfrica Shipping
uAfrica Shipping enables automated tracking for shipments with over 350 couriers around the world. Simply select the carrier and enter the tracking number and your buyer will receive automatic notifications whenever the shipping status changes (the status of orders on Shopify are also automatically updated).
For South African users, you can also receive quotes from multiple couriers (currently Dawn Wing and Courierit), create waybills, request collections and track shipments while automatically notifying your customers of any shipping status changes by email. Learn more about uAfrica Shipping.
Why do I need this?
Our team has years of experience in eCommerce, and no one knows your pain of having to keep multiple sales channels in sync better that we do. You’re busy, we know. Let us help by saving you time, allowing you to focus on what’s important, more sales!
uAfrica Shipping & Multichannel reviews
Having spent over 20 years in product distribution, uAfrica multi-channel and shipping solution is a refreshing change from the old way of doing things.
Simple to use, efficient and cost effective solution for online or conventional brick & mortar store shipping. Once you've used uAfrica, you'll wonder how you operated without it.
We use uAfrica every day and are extremely pleased - this app makes life easy and saves us time and money.
An essential app for any ecommerce store in South Africa. The support is efficient and very helpful. They continually offer improvements to the platform and are open to feedback. Highly recommended!
I have been using this App for few years and I am extremely happy with their service. My shipping process is a breeze and my customers are very happy with quick delivery and they are affordable. The support staff is always there to help with any challenges you might be facing.
Thank you UAfrica team, you rock and keep up the good work
Idea behind the app and ease of use to intergrate with your shopify store is awesome, but seems that have the only system specific to south african courier market so hold bit of a manopoly on this integration with shopify stores
For the concept I give 5 stars but for service and the rest negative stars, less than 0
Initial intorduction is great, but there are few clever things in way it is structured, as in all prices reflected do not include VAT you have to manually caluculate this on each quote and billed item or you will get big surprize, think this was set out purposefully in this way to make them look cheaper when really they not, deception tactic.Then certain designs are place in hidden or user end place in such a way that you misunderstand them and what you are getting (also seems stretegically placed to mis them so they can not be held liable), so if you take higher plan and pay lot more for your shipping thinking you getting insurance cause you paid more, you are not. even though you pay much higher premium you only get insurance if you tick and add a value hidden right at bottom where you easily miss it and this not explained to you. Further more if you do take insurance each quote/item then the price gets inflated substantially, so the extra you pay to get shipping insurance for the plan is kind of an SCAM as all you paying 3 times the premium for is to be allowed to use insurance not actually getting it, that is like saying if you buy a 340ml coke for R10, you get the 340ml coke, but if you pay us R30 for that same 340ml coke, we still only give you 340ml but we now allow you the option to buy a second coke for R12 instead of R10.... I mean it makes no sense
Then once you are over few months with them, you become the little guy where your business no longer matters and you just become someone they do not care about rectifying problems with, find solution or willingness to help it is easier just to blame you or the carrier
Also warning do not accept DAWN wings as there one of their carriers you will get endless problems and poor customer satisfaction, majorly effecting your business. Uafrica couldnt be bothered to assist you and would rather blame you or the carrier. They are not willing to remove or replace this horrid carrier when they know very well they and yu get bad reputation using them
If you guys find another option besides uafica please use the alternative. As they are the big guys much like vodacom where you do not matter, nor do your clients from service point of view
I have also had my business lines stolen by one of their carriers.... FYI
So far so good! Easy to set up. Good shipping rates. Simple integration. Friendly and very helpful follow-up from knowledgeable uAfrica staff. www.facepaint.co.za
Don't bother. Terrible service. Very 1st customer order not collected as scheduled. They phoned the a few days later, enquiring how the service was and when I mentioned what had happened they blamed the second party courier, but we had checked with them and they did not have a ticket on their system. They promised to resolve the issue. Yet still no call 6 days later. Unreliable.
Fantastic app,visit my store www.wishwatch.co.za
Best App ever made! Whoever gives this less than 5 stars is a clown
I like it a lot,
with this app you can fulfill your customer's order by only 3 to 4 clicks.
Been using this app for a while now and it is reliable and extremely useful, simple and does what it says. Working with the team at uAfrica is actually the hidden gem in this deal. They are always responsive and consider your business' needs. As a South African Shopify store owner you should seriously consider doing yourself and your store a big favour and get connected to uAfrica. It's a no-brainer. Thank you guys for this app and your continued support and enthusiasm towards our business.
