ShipOpsNext Step In testing
ShipOps connects to your Next Step account with its API key. It lists your parcels, reads Next Step's status codes into plain words (COURIER_SETTLED is the rider handing in cash, not your payout), files retry or return on the open ticket, and asks Next Step's finance plane per parcel whether its COD has been settled. In testing while real parcels run through it.
Next Step publishes an API document, which is more than several larger couriers do, and ShipOps was built from it in late September 2026 and then checked against a real account: 63 delivered parcels, 4 settlement transactions, every trail stored. It wears the In testing tag because that is one account; the tag comes off once more have run through it.
The status vocabulary is machine codes, ASSIGNED_FOR_DELIVERY, HALT_DELIVERY, RETURN_CONFIRM, which makes it unusually easy to read correctly. One code deserves a warning: COURIER_SETTLED follows DELIVERED on most delivered parcels and means the rider's cash was handed in at the branch. It is not your payout; only 28 of the 51 parcels carrying it were settled to the merchant on the finance plane.
Next Step's finance plane answers per parcel: settled or not, the transaction it was settled on, the date. It gives no amount, so the amounts come from the statement you upload.
What ShipOps does with Next Step
| Live tracking | Yes. ShipOps lists parcels from your Next Step account directly, then follows each one. A parcel you booked outside ShipOps is still found. |
|---|---|
| Retry / return instruction | Next Step opens a ticket on a parcel it could not deliver and only an open ticket takes an instruction. ShipOps reads the open tickets every sync and puts the retry and return buttons on exactly those parcels. |
| Booking and labels | Yes. Book from the order, print the label, cancel a booking. Services: Standard. Label layouts: AWB label. |
| COD payouts | Automatic · statement upload. Next Step answers "was this parcel paid?" per parcel; ShipOps asks for every delivered parcel and marks what the courier attests. Drop in the payout statement Next Step sends you and ShipOps reads it. How Next Step pays COD, in detail → |
| What you type to connect | API key Then pick your pickup location. |
| Recognised as | next step · next step · next step courier · next step couriers · nextstep courier · nextstep courier services Also by tracking link: nextstepcourier.com |
Connecting Next Step
Paste your Next Step API key into ShipOps and pick the pickup location your bookings run under; if the account has none active, ask Next Step to add one and reconnect. The connection is checked against Next Step before it is saved and the key is stored encrypted.
Parcels are listed from your Next Step account. Nothing is written to your store until you switch a write-back on.
Advice is by ticket: ADVICE_REQUESTED opens it, and ShipOps shows retry and return there. A REATTEMPT_REQUEST row afterwards is the echo of your answer, not a new event.
What Next Step's statuses mean
11 phrases, read the way the app reads them| What Next Step prints | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| BOOKED | Booked | Booked, awaiting pickup. |
| PICKED_UP · ARRIVED_AT_ORIGIN · ASSIGNED_FOR_TRANSIT · LEFT_FOR_DESTINATION · ARRIVED_AT_DESTINATION | In transit | Moving inside Next Step's network. |
| ASSIGNED_FOR_DELIVERY · OUT_FOR_DELIVERY | In transit | With a rider; "assigned" means not yet out of the door. |
| HALT_DELIVERY — {reason} | Attempt failed | A failed visit; the reason follows. Reach the customer before the next attempt. |
| ADVICE_REQUESTED | Needs your decision | The ticket is open. Say retry or return from the order in ShipOps. |
| REATTEMPT_REQUEST | In transit | The echo of your retry. Nothing to do. |
| RETURN_CONFIRM · RETURN_TRANSFER · RETURN_ARRIVED_AT_ORIGIN · ASSIGNED_FOR_RETURN · LEFT_FOR_RETURN | Coming back | Coming back. "Arrived at origin" is Next Step's own hub, not your door. |
| PARCEL_RETURNED | Returned to you | Handed back to you. Check it in. A PARCEL_RETURNED followed by a whole new return leg is read as not final until the leg ends. |
| DELIVERED | Delivered | Delivered to the customer. Settlement follows on the finance plane. |
| COURIER_SETTLED | Delivered | The rider's cash was handed in at the branch. Not your payout; shown as "Delivered · cash with Next Step". Your payout is the finance plane's settled flag. |
| CANCELLED | Cancelled | Cancelled before pickup. |
Why a Next Step delivery fails, as ShipOps names it
| Address problem | Non-service area · Address issue |
|---|---|
| Customer refused | Refused to accept |
| Customer not available | Consignee not available · Consignee out of city |
| Other | Order cancelled · Needs review |
| Phone problem | Phone not responding |
These are the reasons Next Step gives on a failed visit, normalised to one label each so your team sees "Customer not available", never the raw string. The family decides what the Action Inbox suggests: an address problem asks the customer for a landmark, a phone problem tries WhatsApp, a refusal asks whether to return.
Questions merchants ask about Next Step
Which Next Step credential does ShipOps need?
Your Next Step API key, stored encrypted, plus the pickup location bookings run under.
Why is Next Step marked In testing?
The integration was built from Next Step's API document and verified on one real account. The tag tells you an error is possible and reportable; it comes off once more accounts have run real parcels through it.
When can I tell Next Step to retry or return?
At ADVICE_REQUESTED, when the ticket is open. ShipOps shows the buttons there; REATTEMPT_REQUEST afterwards is the echo of your answer.
Does COURIER_SETTLED mean I have been paid?
No. It means the rider handed the cash in. Your payout is the finance plane's settled flag, which ShipOps asks for separately.
Can I book Next Step parcels from ShipOps?
Yes, under the pickup location you choose, with labels and cancellation, on your own account.
Connect Next Step in a minute
Install ShipOps, paste the key Next Step already gave you, and your parcels and payouts land in one place. Free to start, no card.