GLS Germany offers you reliable and 100% climate-neutral 2B and 2C shipping. Within Germany, GLS regularly achieves delivery times of less than 24 hours as well as 24-96 hours abroad. Europe has been the core market of GLS right from the start. Through targeted geographic expansion into the North American continent, GLS connects the world's most important economic areas.
100% climate-neutral shipping
More than 40,000 customers
Over 6,000 parcel shops
In e-commerce, logistics has become an essential criterion for purchasing decisions. The right shipping partner is therefore of central importance.
With the shipping extension for Magento 2, we as GLS offer B2C senders a modern, direct connection between your online shop and our extensive range of services. Thanks to the partnership with Netresearch, we were able to optimally implement our initial requirements for the extension and are ready for future developments.
Jascha Waffender
Director Marketing & Communications,
Online Channels & ParcelShops
GLS Germany GmbH & Co. OHG
The plan
In 2020, Netresearch received a request from GLS Germany for a long-term partnership and cooperation. The development and maintenance of an extension for Magento 2 was advertised. With the extension, shop operators should be able to offer their customers additional shipping methods conveniently and flexibly in the checkout and be able to efficiently send parcels from Magento.
They were therefore looking for a service provider with experience in the field of logistics in connection with a specialization in Magento.
In addition to a detailed questionnaire on Netresearch as a potential partner, Netresearch received very well structured requirements and a concept with the detailed technical specifications of the relevant GLS interfaces and APIs.
After good and intensive discussions in a professional multi-stage selection process, Netresearch was finally able to prevail against several alternative providers.
Many thanks to GLS Germany and the people involved for the trust they have placed in us.
Implementation
The first operational work on the joint project took place in September 2020.
Together with Netresearch, GLS Germany designed a MVP (Minimum Viable Product) as a goal for an initial publication of an operational module GLS Shipping by the end of the year. The focus was on the core functions of the shop system around for shipping processing, as well as the integration of shipping methods in the checkout process.
Functions that already exist in Magento itself should not be provided by the module. Rather, GLS Shipping should rely on those standard functions.
Important points for the success of such a project were:
- Quality control
- Easy handling of the extension for merchants and their customers
- Flexibility and options for the merchant
- Compatibility with the latest Magento versions
- Maintainability/changeability of the software
- Use of standard technology
- Application of programming standards
- Detailed logging
- Provision of a user manual
The Netresearch Magento Extension Team made progress in agile implementation and has approached the common goal over several small sprints and iteration stages with close involvement of the technical contacts at GLS Germany.
We were able to make rapid progress and continuously develop important interim results. In consultation and open discussion with the customer, the team implemented important changes, necessary additions and details during the course of the project at short notice. Both sides occasionally allowed changes to the originally planned scope, useful additions and corrections, but also a temporary step backwards, as this was and still is the ideal way for the product.
At the beginning of December 2020, all those involved in the project were able to come to the functional acceptance of GLS Shipping as scheduled. As a result, the necessary work for the final creation of the required application documentation and the immediate preparations for the initial release in the Magento Marketplace were still pending.
Impressions
Key features
| High-quality Magento 2 integration | ||
| Shipping methods such as NextDay or e-mail announcements with extra options are ready to use for the checkout | ||
| Efficient parcel shipping from Magento 2 | ||
| Return parcel labels to put in the parcel | ||
| Letter delivery & cash on delivery | ||
| Implementation, future development & support powered by Netresearch |
The result
The official extension GLS Shipping for Magento 2 expands Magento’s shipping methods and thus enables access to the products and services of GLS Germany.
The extension was initially officially published with version number 1.0.0 on the Adobe Magento Marketplace in the first week of January 2021 and is also alternatively available as the gls-shipping-m2 module via Netresearch GitHub.
Possible improvements and relevant further developments as well as the integration of additional services & features have been in constructive discussions with GLS Germany since the beginning of the year.
GLS and Netresearch look forward to any constructive feedback and initial findings from the market. The known channels of direct contact via the responsible GLS business customer support, the technical Netresearch support around the extension, or the review functionality of the Adobe Magento Marketplace can be used for this.
Luca Becker
Your expert for OroCommerce & B2B commerce
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