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If you’ve ever crossed your fingers that your fulfillment can handle a Black Friday spike, ShipBob’s Fall ’26 Release is for you.
This release is built for peak. From robots on the warehouse floor to AI that takes action on your behalf, these updates only happen because ShipBob owns every layer of its technology. Here’s what’s new and what to do before the November 4 forecast lock.
Peak is a range of mountains
Peak isn’t one day anymore, and one missed window now costs more than one missed day. ShipBob surveyed more than 100 mid-market brands to see how they’re preparing.
- The stakes are high: 62% say peak drives a quarter or more of annual revenue, and 62% expect order volume to grow 10% or more.
- Brands plan for demand, not disruption: 38% keep all inventory in one location, and only 12% have stress-tested capacity with their fulfillment provider.
- Early planners win: Brands that start six months out are three times as likely to beat their goals by 20% or more. Only one in five do.
(Source: ShipBob Peak Survey, 2026)
Forecasting: Your plan powers ours
ShipBob’s machine learning models forecast daily demand for every building in our network, but no model can predict a promotion it doesn’t know about.
“Our biggest accuracy gains this year came directly from our merchants providing this level of detail to us.”
Melissa Nick, Chief Supply Chain Officer
Q3 was our most accurate quarter on record, with 90% accuracy on daily outbound forecasting, up 28% year over year. Inbound hub forecasting is up 40% since the start of the year.
November 4 is the final lock.
After that, we lock labor, overtime schedules, and carrier pickup schedules, and no changes are made. Send promotions, launches, and expected volume swings to [email protected] in any format. Late is better than never.
Operational upgrades that get orders out faster
Melissa Nick’s team focused on what you’ll feel in your operation this peak:
A new dashboard shows every site which carrier pickups are next and how much volume is waiting. Live dwell tracking flags any bin that sits too long at any step. More orders leave the day they’re packed, and your checkout delivery promise holds.
Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs)
Robots now guide associates through picks in our Aurora, Illinois, fulfillment center. Expect two to three times faster throughput and better accuracy, with capacity that scales with demand spikes. Network-wide expansion is planned for 2027.
Four hubs moved into larger spaces and will run 24/7 through peak. Every warehouse receiving order (WRO) now requires an appointment, which frees up capacity for everyone.
A new inbound questionnaire for food and beverage and beauty brands checks best before dates, product registration, and ingredients at receiving, so nothing stalls later.
Tracking: Put your brand on every package
More customers check tracking at peak. Make sure they see your brand, not a carrier’s.
Standard branded tracking is live and free. Add your logo, brand name, and store URL, with one continuous timeline from our building to the doorstep. Turn it on before peak.
Premium branded tracking enters beta in early November. It adds custom colors and fonts, shipment counts per order, product recommendations, brand ads, and social links. It’s free during the beta and priced per shipment later. The beta is open to Shopify and ShipStation brands headquartered in the US, UK, EU, or Australia. Join the beta.
Returns: Get inventory back on the shelf faster
Returns peak hits in January. Fall ’26 shortens the path from return to resellable.
- New returns solution: One in-app experience built around your rules for grading, inspecting, repackaging, and donating or disposing. It’s live with several merchants, with more coming in the new year.
- Returns report: Available now in your ShipBob dashboard, with 13 months of history, filtering by SKU, and export.
- Six new return webhooks: Track returns as they’re processed, arrive at a restock site, and go back on the shelf.
- Coming in the new year: AI vision grading cameras to verify items and recommend dispositions, plus QR code return labels so customers don’t need a printer.
AI: Bobby and ShipBob MCP do the work
ShipBob’s stack is built in-house by more than 300 engineers, so AI can act, not just report. SafeStyle connected Claude to NetSuite and ShipBob using ShipBob MCP and saves about 15 hours a week on creating WROs, fixing invalid addresses, and building live logistics dashboards.
ShipBob MCP connects ShipBob to Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI tools. In Claude, find ShipBob under connectors and connect with one click. It’s already seeing 2,200+ active users.
Bobby is now generally available to every merchant, right in your ShipBob dashboard. Ask about inventory, then have Bobby create the WRO in the same chat.
“Bobby actually confirms with you before it makes any change, and every action performed through Bobby is logged as yours.”
Dhruv Saxena, Co-Founder and CEO
Put Bobby to work this peak by asking which SKUs will run out in the next 30 days, pulling on-time ship and delivery rates, or clearing orders stuck in exception.
Explore ShipBob’s Fall ’26 Releases
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Connect with our team to learn how ShipBob can help your brand scale faster and smarter.
Fall ’26 Release FAQs
What is the deadline to send ShipBob my peak forecast?
November 4 is the final lock. Send promotions, launches, and expected volume swings to [email protected] in any format.
What is ShipBob MCP?
ShipBob MCP (Model Context Protocol) connects ShipBob to AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT. You can read data on orders, inventory, and shipments, and take actions like creating WROs and updating product details.
Is Bobby available now?
Yes. Bobby is generally available to every ShipBob merchant in the ShipBob dashboard.
What’s the difference between Bobby and ShipBob MCP?
Both use the same APIs and handle most use cases the same way. Bobby also has your full account context and can connect you to live support.
Who can join the premium branded tracking beta?
Brands on Shopify or ShipStation headquartered in the US, UK, EU, or Australia.
