ApproveThis manages your Shippo Integration approvals.

When Shipping Meets Sign-Offs

Let’s get real: shipping approvals suck. Finance wants to vet every international shipment. Operations needs to confirm carrier selections. Someone’s always OOO when you need a signature. Meanwhile, your team’s stuck chasing emails while orders pile up.

ApproveThis and Shippo fix this by turning shipping approvals from a bottleneck into an automated process that actually works. Connect them through Zapier, and you’ve got a system where:

• High-cost shipments auto-route to finance for review
• Customs docs get legal sign-off before label creation
• Approval status directly triggers (or blocks) label printing

We’re talking about eliminating 3-5 business days of “Hey, did you see my email?” across teams. For companies shipping 500+ orders/month, that’s 60+ hours saved monthly. But let’s break down exactly how this works.

Why This Combo Works (Especially for 50-5,000 Employee Companies)

Shippo handles the logistics. ApproveThis handles the politics. Together, they enforce compliance without micromanagement.

For Logistics Teams

No more “Why was this shipped via Express?” debates. Set approval thresholds in ApproveThis so only shipments over $500 require manager review. If a label request meets criteria, it auto-approves. If not, it routes to the right person with all context included – order value, destination, carrier costs.

For Finance

Ever been surprised by a $2,000 DHL invoice? With calculated fields, ApproveThis can display real-time shipping costs pulled from Shippo during approval. Finance sees the actual price tag before approving, not after.

For External Partners

Client needs to approve sample shipments? Vendors requiring PO numbers? Approvers get everything they need via email – no Shippo login required. They click approve, you get the green light in Shippo. No accounts to manage, no portals to explain.

3 Real Workflows (That Don’t Require a Ph.D. in Zapier)

These aren’t theoretical. We’re seeing companies run these today:

1. “Block Unapproved High-Cost Shipments”

Who uses this: Mid-market cosmetics brands shipping premium samples to retailers.

The problem: Sales reps expedite $500 shipments without checking, blowing logistics budgets.

The fix:

1. New Shippo label created → Zapier triggers ApproveThis
2. ApproveThis checks if cost > $400 using calculated fields
3. If yes, route to Logistics Manager + CFO via approval groups
4. Only if both approve does Shippo get the “proceed” signal

Outcome: 27% reduction in expedited shipping costs for a 200-employee beauty company.

2. “Pre-Shipment Legal Review for International”

Who uses this: Electronics manufacturers shipping to EU/Asia.

The problem: Customs docs get filed incorrectly, causing delays and fines.

The fix:

1. Shippo detects international shipment → Triggers ApproveThis
2. ApproveThis auto-attaches commercial invoice + certs using Zapier file passthrough
3. Legal team gets email with “Approve/Deny” + deadline
4. Only after approval does Shippo generate the label

Outcome: One client cleared customs 2.1 days faster on average.

3. “Client-Approved Sample Shipments”

Who uses this: B2B wholesalers sending product samples.

The problem: Clients claim they never approved sample costs, refuse to pay invoices.

The fix:

1. Sales rep creates Shippo label → Triggers ApproveThis request
2. Client gets email with shipping cost + “Approve” button
3. On approval, label is auto-generated and tracking sent to both
4. If denied, sales gets alerted to discuss alternatives

Outcome: 100% of sample costs approved upfront, ending invoice disputes.

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

If you’ve used Zapier before, this is a 23-minute setup. If not, maybe an hour.

Basic steps:

1. Connect Shippo + ApproveThis to Zapier
2. Pick a trigger (New Label, New Order, etc.)
3. Map key Shippo data to ApproveThis fields (cost, destination, etc.)
4. Set approval rules (who approves what, thresholds, deadlines)
5. Test with a $5 domestic label

Pro tip: Use ApproveThis’ conditional logic to auto-approve repeat clients or low-risk shipments. Save manual reviews for high-cost/high-risk scenarios.

Why This Beats “Just Using Shippo’s Approvals”

Shippo’s great at shipping. Approvals? Not their focus. With ApproveThis, you get:

• Multi-step approvals: Legal → Finance → Logistics, in order
• Email-based decisions: Approvers don’t need another login
• Audit trails: Who approved what, when, and why
• Escalations: Auto-reassign approvals if someone’s OOO

Example: A 1,200-employee apparel company tried using Shippo alone. Approvals got lost in Slack. After switching, 93% of shipments got approved within 4 hours.

“Wait, Can’t We Build This Internally?”

Sure, if you want to:

- Spend 3 months engineering a solution
- Handle endless “Why didn’t I get the approval email?” tickets
- Miss out on Shippo’s API changes breaking your custom setup

ApproveThis handles edge cases you haven’t considered. Like partial approvals (approve the shipment but require a cheaper carrier). Or real-time carrier rate comparisons during approval. Or syncing denials back to your CRM.

Getting Started (Without the BS)

If you’re shipping at scale without approval automation, you’re overpaying in delays and errors. Here’s how to fix it:

1. Start an ApproveThis trial (takes 2 minutes)
2. Connect to Shippo via Zapier
3. Clone one of the templates we covered

Or, if you’d rather see it live first, book a 15-minute demo. We’ll show how a 400-employee industrial supplier cut shipping approval delays by 70%.