Skip to content

DHL Express API

Globe Pickup Points integrates with DHL Express over the MyDHL API, enabling worldwide express shipping directly from Shopify. With this integration, you can:

  • Export orders to DHL Express and receive a tracking number immediately
  • Print shipping labels within Shopify
  • Deliver to the customer’s address or to a DHL Express Service Point
  • Send full customs data (HS codes, DDP or DAP terms) on international shipments

DHL Express is enabled per store on request. If you do not see it when adding a new carrier, contact support and we will enable it for your store.


  1. In your Shopify admin, open Globe Pickup Points and navigate to Shipping labels. Add a new carrier and select DHL Express.
  2. Select the EnvironmentProduction for live shipments, or Development (Test) for the MyDHL test environment. Test and production credentials are different.
  3. Enter your Username and Password — your DHL Express API credentials from the DHL Developer Portal or your DHL account manager.
  4. Enter your Account number — the DHL Express account the shipments are billed to.
  5. Fill in the sender details used as the shipper on every label: Sender name, Sender address (street and number), Sender city, Sender postal code, Sender country, Sender phone and Sender email. Only countries supported by this integration are offered in the country list.
  6. Enter a Default content description — a short description of the shipment contents for customs (for example Goods or Clothing). This is mandatory: an order with no description, either default or per order, is not exported.
  7. Optionally, under advanced settings, set a Default HS code and a Default weight (kg) used when the products have none.
  8. Configure Automatically fulfill orders, Automatically tag orders with tracking number and Custom tag after export as needed.
  9. Map your Shopify shipping methods to the DHL Express services enabled on your account.

You can export orders to DHL Express and print shipping labels directly from Shopify, either in bulk or individually. See Creating shipping labels for the general workflow.

Each order is sent as a single package. DHL returns the tracking number and the label PDF in the same response, so labels are ready to print immediately after export. If Automatically fulfill orders is enabled, the fulfillment is created with the tracking number and a link to DHL tracking.

One thing this integration does not do: no courier pickup is booked. Shipments are created without a pickup request — arrange collection with DHL as you normally do.


ServiceDescription
DHL Express WorldwideStandard door-to-door express delivery
DHL Express Worldwide – Service Point (D2SVP)Delivery to a DHL Express Service Point
DHL Express 12:00Time-definite delivery by 12:00
DHL Express 10:30Time-definite delivery by 10:30
DHL Express 9:00Time-definite delivery by 09:00
DHL Economy SelectEconomy service

Globe picks the DHL product code that matches the lane — domestic, intra-EU or worldwide — from the service you selected. The service still has to be active on your DHL account; DHL rejects shipments for products you are not contracted for.


  • Service Point (D2SVP) — the parcel is delivered to the DHL Express Service Point the customer selected at checkout. Globe sends the point’s 6-character MyDHL facility ID together with DHL’s Service Point value-added service, so the label carries the SPD marking. The Service Point is set as the receiver and the customer’s own address is sent as the buyer, which DHL requires for this service.
  • Home delivery — every other service delivers to the customer’s shipping address.

A Service Point export needs a genuine DHL Express point, taken from the DHL Express pickup point map (configured with the same MyDHL credentials — see Adding pickup point carriers). Orders with no pickup point, or with a point from a different carrier’s network, are rejected during export.


Shipments that cross a customs border — anything other than domestic or EU to EU — are exported with a full electronic declaration built from the order’s line items: description, quantity, unit price, weight, HS code and country of manufacture. HS codes come from the product’s harmonized system code in Shopify and fall back to your Default HS code; the country of manufacture comes from the product’s country of origin and falls back to your sender country.

In the Customs & duties section of the carrier settings:

SettingEffect
DDP countriesDestinations shipped on DDP terms (duties and taxes billed to you). Everything else uses DAP.
Send values ex-VAT for countriesFor the selected destinations, the declared value is sent without VAT.

Per order, you can override HS code and Content description in the label dialog before exporting.


COD is sent to DHL as the cash collection value-added service. The amount is the outstanding amount on the order, in the order’s currency, collected in cash. COD must be enabled on your DHL Express account and available on the destination lane — DHL Express offers it in a limited number of countries only, so confirm with DHL before you offer it in your checkout. If the service is not available, DHL rejects the whole shipment.


Delivery-status sync is not available for DHL Express — statuses are not written back into Shopify. The tracking number and tracking link are still attached to the fulfillment, so the parcel can be followed on dhl.com. Return labels are not supported either.


Labels are generated as PDF at 300 DPI in the following formats:

FormatPositions per sheet
A61
A6 on A44

When printing A6 on A4, you can select a starting position on the sheet (positions 1–4) to reuse partially used sheets. Labels are stored at export time, so reprinting does not call DHL again.


IssueResolution
Authentication errorCheck that Username, Password and Account number match the selected Environment — test credentials do not work against production.
Content description is requiredSet a Default content description in the carrier settings, or fill Content description on the order.
Service Point: no pickup point selectedThe order uses the Service Point service but has no pickup point. The customer did not select one at checkout.
Service Point: pickup point must be a 6-character facility IDThe selected point does not come from the DHL Express network. The customer must select a DHL Express Service Point.
Unknown product typeThe shipping method is mapped to a service that no longer exists. Re-map the shipping method in the carrier settings.
Shipment rejected by DHLThe full DHL error message is shown in the export result — usually a product not enabled on your account, an invalid postal code or a missing phone number.
No label data found when printingThe stored label is missing for those orders. Re-export the orders to generate new labels.