Sendcloud: Shipping Software for Webshops Explained

Sendcloud is a Dutch shipping platform from Eindhoven that lets you handle all your shipping labels, tracking emails and returns from one place, connected to dozens of carriers at once. Instead of separate accounts with PostNL, DHL, DPD or UPS, you manage everything from a single dashboard: you pick the best carrier per order (or let the system choose automatically), print the label, and the customer gets a tracking email in your own branding. For a growing webshop that saves a huge amount of manual work, and it prevents the typical chaos of separate spreadsheets and ten browser tabs for different carrier websites.

This article covers what Sendcloud actually does, how to set it up, which features you use at which stage, and where it's strong versus where it falls short. Shipping software sounds boring, but a slow or unclear delivery experience is one of the biggest reasons customers don't come back — so this directly affects your revenue.

What Sendcloud actually is

Sendcloud isn't a carrier itself; it's a layer of software on top of the carriers you already know. You don't sign a new contract with PostNL or DHL to use Sendcloud — you connect your existing (or new, arranged through Sendcloud) carrier contracts to the platform, and Sendcloud handles the technology around it: generating labels, tracking, customer communication, returns, and insight into shipping costs.

The platform consists of a few core parts:

Shipping: creating labels, in bulk or per order, automatically selecting the right carrier and shipping method based on rules you set.
Tracking: a tracking page and emails in your own branding, so the customer lands on something that feels like your webshop instead of a bare carrier logo.
Returns: a returns portal where customers request a return label themselves, without you sending emails back and forth.
Shipping rules: automation that determines which carrier, package and service (for example with signature or to a pickup point) belongs to which order.
Checkout widget: a pickup point map you show in your checkout, so customers choose a parcel point while ordering instead of afterwards.
Analytics: reports on shipping costs, delivery times and carrier performance, useful for seeing which carrier costs the most or is late most often.

Sendcloud is aimed mainly at webshops: from small one-person businesses to larger e-commerce companies with thousands of shipments a month. For a B2B service provider that doesn't ship physical products, the platform adds little value; it's purely relevant once you're sending out packages.

Who Sendcloud works for, and who it doesn't

Sendcloud becomes interesting once you're doing more than a handful of shipments a week, or once you want to work with multiple carriers. A few practical situations:

A growing webshop that has handled everything manually via the PostNL website so far, and is hitting limits: too much time spent printing labels, no overview of returns, customers complaining they hear nothing about their package.
A webshop selling internationally that wants to pick the cheapest or fastest carrier per country, without managing a separate carrier account for each one.
A brand that values the delivery experience as much as the website, and therefore wants tracking emails and a returns page in its own branding instead of plain carrier emails.
A business that wants to work with multiple carriers at once to spread risk (not depending on one carrier) or to get the best price-to-service ratio per order.

It works less well for:

Very small shops with a few shipments a month. The time saved doesn't yet outweigh setting up and maintaining connections and rules. Handling things manually through one carrier works fine at that scale.
Businesses without physical shipping, such as service providers or SaaS companies.
Shops with very specific logistics needs (for example heavy pallets, hazardous materials or specialised cold-chain transport) that fall outside regular parcel delivery; for those you typically deal directly with a specialised logistics partner.

How you set up Sendcloud

The basic setup follows roughly these steps:

Create an account and connect your webshop platform. Sendcloud has ready-made integrations for, among others, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and Lightspeed, plus an API for custom connections.
Connect carriers. You can connect your own existing contracts (for example a business PostNL or DHL contract) or use the carrier contracts Sendcloud offers itself, often handy if you don't yet have your own contract or want to try a new carrier without signing a separate agreement.
Set up shipping methods per country, weight and product type: which carrier and service belongs to a 2kg package going to Germany, which to an envelope within the Netherlands.
Build shipping rules. This is where the automation lives: "if order weighs over 20kg, choose carrier X" or "if country = Belgium, choose carrier Y". The more specific your rules, the less manual correcting you'll need to do.
Set up tracking emails and the returns portal in your own branding: logo, colours, and optionally a link back to your webshop or social media in the tracking email.
Add the checkout widget to your webshop if you want to show pickup points, so customers already choose a parcel point during checkout.
Test with a few real orders before switching over fully: print labels, check tracking, run through a test return.

Expect a setup time of a few days to a few weeks, depending on how many carriers and countries you connect and how complex your shipping rules become. Connecting the webshop platform itself is usually quick; fine-tuning rules and exceptions takes more time.

Carriers and coverage

Sendcloud works with a large number of carriers, including well-known Dutch and European names such as PostNL, DHL, DPD, GLS and UPS, plus various international and regional carriers. Exactly which carriers are available and under what terms (own contract or through Sendcloud) changes regularly, so check the current carrier overview on sendcloud.com before choosing.

A few things to pay attention to when choosing carriers:

Coverage area. Not every carrier is equally strong in every country; for Germany a different carrier may sometimes make more sense than for France or Scandinavia.
Pickup points versus home delivery. Some carriers have a denser network of pickup points, which matters if you deliver a lot in urban areas.
Price versus speed. The cheapest option isn't always the fastest, and vice versa. Shipping rules help you automatically switch between these based on what matters to you in a given situation.
Heavy and bulky shipments. For furniture or large packages you often work with a different carrier than for small parcels; Sendcloud also supports this category through part of its connected carriers.

Returns: often underestimated, but crucial

A good returns process is one of the things customers appreciate most, and one of the most overlooked parts of setting up a webshop. Sendcloud offers a returns portal where the customer can:

Specify the reason for the return (useful for your own insight into product quality or expectations).
Request and print a return label, or get a QR code to return without a printer at a parcel point.
See the status of the return, without you having to send an email about it.

You can set whether returns are free or at the customer's expense, and within what timeframe. A smooth returns process looks like it costs you money at first glance (shipping costs, processing), but a customer who knows returning is easy orders more often and hesitates less at checkout. That's a well-known effect in e-commerce: unclear return conditions are a common reason for abandoning an order in the first place.

Integrations with webshop platforms and other tools

Sendcloud's value comes largely from its integrations with the platforms you're already using:

Shopify and WooCommerce: ready-made apps/plugins that automatically push orders through to Sendcloud as soon as they come in. Read more about Shopify or WooCommerce if you still need to choose a platform.
Magento and Lightspeed: integrations also exist for these, relevant if you already run your store on these platforms.
Multichannel tools like Channable and ChannelEngine: if you sell across multiple marketplaces (bol.com, Amazon, your own webshop), orders often flow through such a multichannel tool first and then to Sendcloud, keeping shipping centralised across all channels.
Accounting and inventory systems: via the API or existing integrations, shipping information also flows into administration and inventory management, so you're not keeping track of the same thing twice.

The more sales channels you have, the bigger the benefit of one central shipping layer: you avoid printing labels and sending tracking emails separately for each channel.

Costs and plans

Sendcloud offers various plans, from a free or entry-level tier with limited features to more extensive plans with more automation, multiple users and more advanced returns functionality. The shipping costs themselves (what you pay per label to the carrier) are separate from the Sendcloud subscription, and depend on the carrier contract you choose. Plans and prices change regularly, so check the current rates on sendcloud.com before choosing a plan.

Rule of thumb: start with the lowest plan that fits your volume and number of carriers, and move to a more extensive plan once you hit limits in automation, users or return volume.

Common mistakes

Not setting up shipping rules and choosing everything manually. That's exactly the work Sendcloud is supposed to take off your hands; without rules you lose the time savings you got the platform for in the first place.
Not customising the tracking email. A bare, impersonal tracking email is a missed opportunity to remind the customer which webshop they ordered from, and potentially point them to social media or a next purchase.
Not communicating the returns policy clearly before checkout. Customers often check return conditions before ordering, not after. Make sure your returns policy is clearly stated on the website, separate from the portal itself.
Not testing enough carriers. Choosing only the cheapest carrier without looking at delivery reliability leads to complaints if that carrier is consistently slow or unreliable in a particular region.
Not using the checkout widget while offering pickup points. Customers then only choose a parcel point after ordering, which leads to confusion and extra customer service work.
Not connecting sales channels. If you sell across multiple marketplaces without a central shipping layer, you lose overview and duplicate manual work.

Checklist for your Sendcloud setup

Webshop platform connected, with orders coming in automatically.
At least one carrier connected, with the right contract form (own contract or through Sendcloud).
Shipping rules set up for the main scenarios (weight, country, service type).
Tracking emails and page customised to your own branding.
Returns portal set up, with a clear returns policy also stated on your website.
Checkout widget added if you offer pickup points.
Test order completed, including label, tracking and a test return.
Reports checked to see which carrier performs best on price and speed.

Sendcloud and your broader e-commerce strategy

Shipping is part of the customer experience, not just an operational detail. A slow or unclear delivery undermines even the best social media marketing or Meta advertising: you draw people to your webshop, but if the post-purchase experience falls short, they won't return. The same applies to channel choice and positioning: if you differentiate on speed or convenience, your shipping process needs to deliver on that promise.

For webshops just starting to sell online, it's smart to take shipping seriously early on, rather than treating it as an afterthought until the first complaints come in. Also read Shopify and Shopify migration if platform choice and shipping setup are on the agenda at the same time, or TikTok Shop in the Netherlands if you also sell through social commerce and your shipping process needs to support that.

Frequently asked questions about Sendcloud

What does Sendcloud cost?

Sendcloud offers various subscription plans, from an entry-level tier to more extensive plans with more automation and users. Shipping costs per label are separate and depend on your carrier contract. Check the current rates on sendcloud.com, as plans and prices change regularly.

Do I need my own carrier contract to use Sendcloud?

Not necessarily. You can connect your own contracts, but also use carrier contracts Sendcloud offers itself, handy if you don't yet have a contract or want to try a new carrier.

Does Sendcloud work with Shopify and WooCommerce?

Yes, ready-made integrations are available for both platforms that automatically push orders through to Sendcloud as soon as they come in.

Is Sendcloud also suitable for small webshops?

For shops with just a few shipments a month, the setup often doesn't yet outweigh the time saved. Once your volume grows or you want to work with multiple carriers, Sendcloud becomes more interesting.

Can I ship internationally with Sendcloud?

Yes, that's one of its strong points: you connect multiple carriers and set the best option per country or region, without managing a separate carrier account for each country.

How do returns work with Sendcloud?

Through a returns portal, the customer requests a return label themselves, with or without a printer (via QR code), and provides a return reason. You decide whether returns are free and within what timeframe.

Can Sendcloud automatically choose the best carrier?

Yes, with shipping rules you determine which carrier and service is automatically selected per order based on weight, destination or other criteria.

Does Sendcloud replace my carrier contract?

No, Sendcloud is software on top of your carriers, not a carrier itself. You still sign a contract (yourself or through Sendcloud) with the carriers you use.

Sendcloud: everything about shipping software for your webshop