Agentic Onboarding

Agentic onboarding is the AI setup conversation that runs the first time you open Pack to the Future. Instead of a 12-step settings form, you tell the agent what you care about — cheaper rates, faster fulfilment, fewer delivery issues, less manual work, or more sustainable options — and it configures carriers, packaging, checkout rates, and a product catalogue scan from that.

Overview

What it is: A chat-style setup agent that asks plain-language questions and applies the matching shipping configuration.

How to access: Install the app. The onboarding conversation opens automatically for new merchants. If you skipped it, you can still finish setup from the dashboard and from Settings.

Why it matters: Most shipping settings are hard to get right on day one (which carriers to enable, whether you ship freight, what box sizes you use). The agent collects outcomes, then maps them to settings you can change later.

What the agent asks

The conversation is grouped into five short phases:

Welcome — Start setup, or skip to the dashboard if you already know what you are doing.
Priorities and current setup — What you care about most, and how you ship today (manually, another app, Shopify rates, or just getting started).
Carriers — Pack Network, MyPost, bring-your-own accounts, or let AI pick. Connecting MyPost may send you to Australia Post to log in, then return you here.
Checkout and packaging — How you show rates at checkout, and whether you use satchels, boxes, padded mailers, or a mix.
Product scan and payment — The agent starts a background catalogue crawl, then you add shipping credit so you can print a live label.

You can tap suggested replies or type in your own words. If you mention pallets, bulky cartons, TNT-style freight, or oversized items, the agent notes bulky freight and does not funnel you into a parcel-only setup.

Suggested replies you will see

Priorities:

Cheaper rates
Faster fulfilment
Fewer delivery issues
Less manual work
More sustainable options
Something else (free text)

Carrier recommendation:

Use AI to pick — Pack Network books the cheapest eligible managed carrier for each order. The tooltip reflects the priorities you just chose.
MyPost only — Use your Australia Post business account.
Both — Customers see Pack Network and Australia Post as two options at checkout. You can still override per order when you book.
I'll bring my own — Connect existing contracts (eParcel, StarTrack, and others available on your plan).

Background product scan

What it does: While you finish the conversation, Pack to the Future pulls product titles, descriptions, categories, variants, and weights from Shopify and runs them through Product AI.

What you get: Packed dimension estimates on a meaningful share of the catalogue before you book the first order, instead of empty dimension fields.

See also: Product AI guide.

Skipping and going back

Skip to the dashboard: Choose I know what I'm doing on the welcome step. Pack Network stays available. You can connect carriers and billing later in Settings.

Go back: Type “go back” or similar. The agent returns to the previous question.

Skip a carrier connect: Choose Skip for now on MyPost or BYO connect. You can finish it in Settings → Carriers.

Change anything later: All onboarding choices can be edited in Settings. The conversation is a faster first pass, not a lock-in.

After onboarding

When the conversation completes:

You land on the AI shipping overview dashboard (agentic dashboard).
Pack Network is on and ready for parcel bookings.
Product AI estimates continue in the background until the crawl finishes.
You still need shipping credit (or an approved on-demand payment method) before the first live label.

See also: Agentic Dashboard, Pack Network & Pack Freight, Billing & Payments, Getting Started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I have to finish onboarding before I can ship? A: No. Pack Network is available out of the box. Completing onboarding gets you better carrier mix, packaging defaults, and Product AI estimates sooner.

Q: What does “Use AI to pick” actually do? A: It enables Pack Network so each order is booked on the cheapest eligible managed carrier. You are not asked to choose Aramex vs Couriers Please yourself. The carrier shows on the label after booking.

Q: I ship pallets / bulky freight. Will the agent miss that? A: Tell it in the priorities step (or type it). The agent flags bulky freight so freight-eligible orders can quote on Pack Freight instead of only parcel networks.

Q: Can I re-run onboarding? A: You cannot restart the full chat from scratch in the app today. Change carriers, packaging, and checkout behaviour in Settings. Ask the dashboard agent if you are unsure which setting to open.

Q: The Australia Post login sent me out of Shopify. A: That is expected for MyPost OAuth. After you approve access you are returned to the onboarding conversation automatically.

Q: The product scan is taking a while. A: Large catalogues are processed in the background. You can book with estimates that are already ready, and confirm the rest later on the Product AI page.