Royal Mail Click and Drop is commonly used by WooCommerce stores that ship physical products in the UK. It is especially popular with businesses running WordPress subscriptions where orders are created automatically on a recurring basis.
While the integration looks simple, it often causes problems in real world use. Many store owners assume orders will sync automatically and reliably, but that is not always the case. When subscription orders fail to appear in Royal Mail, it can lead to missed shipments and customer complaints.
How Royal Mail Works with WooCommerce
Royal Mail integrates with WooCommerce through the Click and Drop dashboard rather than a typical WordPress plugin workflow. The setup involves Royal Mail requesting access to the WooCommerce store and creating an API connection.
The process works as follows:
- An integration is created inside the Royal Mail Click and Drop dashboard.
- Royal Mail redirects to the WordPress site to request WooCommerce permissions.
- An API key is created in WooCommerce under Settings, Advanced, API Keys.
- Royal Mail uses this key to read orders marked as Processing.
Once orders are imported into Click and Drop, labels can be generated and shipments processed directly through Royal Mail.
Real World Problems with Royal Mail Order Imports
We have implemented Royal Mail integrations on multiple WooCommerce sites, including stores running subscription based products.
On two separate websites, the same issue appeared. Orders were placed successfully in WooCommerce and moved into Processing status, but they did not appear in the Royal Mail dashboard.
There were no visible errors. The integration still showed as connected. From a store owner’s point of view, everything looked correct.
What Happens Behind the Scenes
By inspecting the Royal Mail API key inside WooCommerce, we were able to see when Royal Mail last accessed the store. This revealed that order imports do not happen in real time.
Royal Mail runs a background import process that connects to WooCommerce at inconsistent intervals. Based on what we observed:
- Imports sometimes ran after around twenty minutes.
- Other times they ran after forty minutes or more.
- There was no predictable or fixed schedule.
Because of this, orders could sit in WooCommerce without appearing in Click and Drop for long periods, or in some cases not import at all.
Why These Issues Are Hard to Fix
The biggest challenge with the Royal Mail WooCommerce integration is the lack of useful logging. The Click and Drop dashboard does not show detailed import logs or explain why an order was skipped.
WooCommerce also provides no error information, as Royal Mail initiates the import from its own system. This means there is no clear way to trace failures or confirm whether an import attempt even happened.
Contacting Royal Mail support offered limited help, as there is no visibility into their background import process.
What Businesses Should Do
The Royal Mail WooCommerce integration can work, but it should not be relied on without checks, especially for subscription based stores.
Best practice includes:
- Regularly comparing WooCommerce Processing orders with Click and Drop.
- Not assuming subscription orders have synced automatically.
- Keeping manual fulfilment checks in place.
- Being prepared to create shipments manually when needed.
These steps help reduce the risk of missed orders and delayed deliveries.
FAQs
- Does Click and Drop work properly with WordPress subscriptions?
Not reliably. Subscription orders rely entirely on Royal Mail’s automated import process, which can miss or delay them.
2. Why are Royal Mail WooCommerce issues hard to troubleshoot?
Royal Mail provides no import logs, and WooCommerce cannot log failed imports.
3. Are WooCommerce or WordPress causing these issues?
No. The issue is Royal Mail’s import process, not WooCommerce or WordPress.
4. How can I avoid missing subscription orders?
Manually check WooCommerce orders against Click and Drop, especially renewals.
Need Help with Royal Mail or WooCommerce Subscriptions?
If your business relies on WordPress subscriptions and Royal Mail for fulfilment, unreliable syncing is a serious risk.
We help WooCommerce stores review and improve their shipping integrations so that order handling is clear and dependable. If you are experiencing these issues or want a more robust setup, get in touch and we can review your current configuration properly.
