You can integrate the Deutsche Post service Internetmarke in Xentral to generate a digital stamp for your small consignments and letters directly in Xentral. The stamps will be generated for you in PDF format. Afterwards, you can print them in the delivery note or during the shipping process (auto-shipping).
A general overview of the shipping methods and parcel labels available in Xentral can be found here.
The internet stamp contains the following features:
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Selection of the product to be shipped by default
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Individual specification of the format of the Internet stamp
To use the service Internetmarke you need to use the so-called Portokasse operated by Deutsche Post. If you haven't registered your company with Portokasse yet, sign up here: https://portokasse.deutschepost.de/portokasse/.
After registering, you will receive your credentials consisting of a user name and a password. This information needs to be entered in Xentral, see Settings in Xentral.
Important
As a business or private customer with Deutsche Post, you can no longer use the Portokasse via the Deutsche Post online shop. After this date, you can only transfer credit to your Portokasse via portokasse.deutschepost.de using the known payment methods. If you are a private customer and still using the Portokasse via the Deutsche Post online shop, we recommend that you set up a business account as soon as possible so that you are not affected by any changes.
All important information on the Internetmarke service and on all upcoming changes can be found in the official Deutsche Post FAQ.
Set up Internetmarke by creating a new shipping method in the Administration > Settings > Shipping methods > Overview > + New > Internetmarke menu.
The following overview is displayed. Refer to the screenshot below to see the fields filled out with sample data:
Carry out the following settings:
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Label → Choose the label name freely. The name can only be used once across all your shipping methods. Make sure the name clearly identifies the shipping methods
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Type → Select a type. The type may only be used once across all your shipping types. Also, make it clear which service it is. Note the use in the shipping type mapping in the online stores. The type designation must be unique and identical here so that the correct service can be used. You can find more information about the mapping under Online shop settings.
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Modul → Select the option Internetmarke from the drop-down menu
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Project → Optional: Select a project
Note: This shipping method will only be seen by users who have been given the required project permissions. You can see these users under Linked Address → Roles view
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Active → Set the checkmark so that these shipping types are displayed in the receipt. You can deactivate shipping types that are no longer used
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No postage check → Optional: Activate this option to disable the postage check for orders that have this shipping method
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Parcel stamp printer → Select the printer that is used to print the Internetmarke from the drop-down menu.
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Printer Export → Optional: Select the printer that is used to print the export documents from the drop-down menu. In case of Internetmarke, this setting is currently not required
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Shipping mail to buyer → Select the behaviour of the shipping email from the drop-down menu. The option Default behaviour means that a standard tracking email will be send to your customers. Select the option bedeutet, dass eine Standard-Trackingmail versendet wird. Wähle die Option no dispatch mail if no tracking email should me sent. Use the option Custom text template to use your own template for the shipping confirmation in case this shipping method is used (independent of the selected project and shipping process)
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Portokasse → Enter the email address with which you registered at https://portokasse.deutschepost.de/portokasse/#!/
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Password → Enter the corresponding password from your Portokasse credentials
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Shipping company → Enter the name of the shipper company
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Shipper street → Enter the street of the shipper company
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Shipper house number → Enter the house number associated with the street of the shipper company
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Shipper location → Enter the location of the shipper company
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Shipper ZIP Code→ Enter the company data of the shipper company. These are to be entered matching the information saved for Portokasse
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Shipper Country → Enter the 2-digit ISO country code of the shipper company, for example "DE" for Germany or "AT" for Austria
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Produkt → Select the service that the shipping method is limited to from the drop-down menu. If you only wish to select Internetmarke when entering the parcel label dialogue, select the option Alle zur Auswahl in Paketmarkendialog aus. The products are updated by the process named Internetmarke Produktliste aktualisieren . This process has to be activated in advance to display the corresponding drop-down menu
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Format → Select the label for printing the Internetmarke from the drop-down menu. The formats are imported by the API
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Apply tracking → Optional: By ticking this box, the tracking number will be displayed in the subsequent screen of the shipping dialogue. The tracking number is automatically applied when creating the parcel label in Xentral so it does not have to be scanned from the package label.
Note
In case you have not connected a printer, select the PDF printer for downloading the Internetmarke. Then, you can manually print the PDF label. However, Xentral only recommends this methods if you are dealing with a small number of shipments. Should you wish to ship high quantities, we recommend connecting a printer using the Xentral Spooler or by contacting your IT administrator to minimize the time spent preparing the shipments. If you are using particular printers for Internetmarke, you can also use one of the following methods to integrate these printers in Xentral: Setting up printers in Xentral
Both the Internetmarke and all parcel labels can be printed in the delivery note (Stock > Delivery notes > Edit delivery note > Tab: Parcel label) or during a shipping process (Stock > Dispatch Center). To do so, the shipping method Internetmarke or the name you assigned to this shipping method has to be selected in the delivery note beforehand.
As soon as you have carried out all the settings described above, you can test the label printing in the dispatch center or in an individual delivery note. To do so, select the shipping method Internetmarke from the drop-down menu in the Delivery note tab of a delivery note:
Click on Save before continuing to the package label dialogue.
Then, click on the tab Parcel label for the delivery note. The label is printed as soon as you click on Print parcel label:
After finishing your test print, you can cancel the parcel label in the Deutsche Post business customer portal.
If you have previously selected the product t Alle Produkte zur Auswahl in Paketmarkendialog in the settings of the shipping method, you can now select the product in the drop-down menu Delivery note > Parcel label.
Example of the printed version of the Internetmarke
This is what a sample printed version of Internetmarke looks like:
The following error messages might appear when using the shipping method:
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Problems creating SAAJ object model - This error occurs when special characters like & or * are used for the sender address, receiver address, item name, user name, or password for the Portokasse account. Please check if special characters are used and remove them if necessary.