How do I set up the Post NL integration so that reservations are automatically pre-registered?

To be able to use the Post NL integration, it is necessary to have a package service CAL (Client Access License/license) and to have login credentials known from Post NL. The latter can be requested by contacting PostNL Paketten Dedicated IT, which can be reached at 088-8742050.

Post NL will eventually respond with a customer number, customer code, login code, and password. This information needs to be entered in RetailVista via Administration, Package Services. Now check the Post NL CIF URL in the configuration of RetailVista under the 'Webshop' section.

By default, Post NL will issue a 'sandbox' URL first. The above URL is an example of a sandbox URL and will likely be agreed upon with the sandbox URL indicated by Post NL. Verify if this URL is correct in the settings. The use of a sandbox is a testing environment and will never result in actual order fulfillment.

Now go to Extras, Locations, and select the 'Webshop' tab. Indicate which relationship is the webshop relationship there. The address of that relationship will be used as the sender address on the printed Post NL label. Therefore, the specified relationship must also have an address. The same applies to the contact person's email address, collection address, and return address. The latter two can remain empty if there are no different collection and return addresses.

Finally, specify the LocalService thermal printer on which labels should be printed.

In the above example, a Zebra TLP2844 thermal printer has been added to LocalServices and can therefore be selected as the destination printer for labels.
Correct selection of printer type is very important, Zebra EPS2 and Zebra ZPL II are 2 different things that can result in different print details: for the Zebra GK420d, ZPLII should be chosen and for the TLP2844, EPS2 should be chosen. Further documentation can be found in the binaries.
The label material must also be chosen exactly, for international packages the barcode will not be fully printed if, for example, 100x150 labels from SATO are chosen, for this 102x152 is necessary, the latter is available from PostNL. See also the "ParcelWare Desktop" manual http://www.postnl.nl/Images/Handleiding-Parcelware-Desktop-2-7-PostNL_tcm10-16664.pdf
Now go to Administration, Package Services, under the Relationships section. Create a new package service there as indicated in the screen below. Fill in your own received data such as username, password, etc. The printer type must be a code determined by Post NL. In the binaries attachment, documentation can be found from Post NL with the printers they support.

The delivery article number is provided by Post NL and represents the method of package shipment. Normally, code 3085 is used for standard package shipment, but other codes (for example, registered shipment) are also possible. The allowed product codes depend on the contract with Post NL. If multiple methods of package delivery are required (multiple product codes), create a new package service for each product code.

There is the possibility to automatically send an email from RetailVista as a package announcement. This email contains XML data about the package shipment and must be sent to a social media partner who converts the content of this message into a styled message in line with the corporate identity towards the final customer.Information about the technical structure of this announcement message (ParcelAnnouncement) can be found on the technical documentation website http://help.api.retail3000.net.

Under the Advanced tab, fill in the URL and the API Key.

Click-through URL: https://mijnpakket.postnl.nl/Claim?barcode={1}&postalcode={0}&Foreign=false#

Note that the API Key belongs to the correct URL. This means that if the Sandbox URL is specified in the settings, the corresponding API Key must be entered here, and if the Production environment URL is specified in the settings, the API Key corresponding to the Production environment must be entered here.

Now go to Administration, Transport Types under the Relationships section. Look up the different transport options and specify the parcel service for each transport type if a reservation needs to be delivered via Post NL.

All reservations that are now closed (contact or on account) will be automatically registered with Post NL, provided that a parcel service is specified in the reservation. The report of the registration process can be found in the reservations tab 'Parcel Service', and if LocalServices is set up correctly, an address label will also be automatically printed.

If a reservation consists of multiple packages, this must be indicated in advance in the reservation. To do this, add additional packages under the Parcel Service tab in the reservation. If nothing is entered here, the system assumes that 1 label should be printed during processing. After processing via the cash register, it is no longer possible to print additional labels.

To perform a test for the label printer, go to:

Sales Orders > Reservation Maintenance > find a cash delivered reservation.
Then go to > Send reservations to parcel services > Send > Print parcel service label > print.At the "Package Service" tab, you can then view the package service log.

To test the entire process:

Create a sales order in the back office and choose "Package Post" as the transport type.
Retrieve the reservation in the cash register. Here you will receive a notification that it is a package post and add the number of packages and the weight.
Now the package label will be printed.
Find the reservation in the back office and go to the "Packages" tab. There you will see the barcode of the package and the log.

If the PostNL Sandbox is used, after a testing period, the label must be sent to PostNL for approval. Once approved, an API Key can be requested for the Production environment. The API Key and the URL in the settings must then be changed. If a package goes missing, it cannot be due to the label, as it has been approved by PostNL. 

Troubleshooting

Q: My message is rejected with the notification: [1460104] Receiver HouseNo is required

A: A message must contain a valid address structure, make sure that the setting 'Relations -> Address format' has the value 'Street followed by address'.