Scale Book Fulfilment With the 3PL Network, Technology, and Expertise Your Publisher Needs
Cut shipping costs and centralise every SKU so you can delight readers faster.
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What book publishers and brands need from a fulfilment partner
Managing book logistics at scale requires more than just storage space; it demands precision, visibility, and cost control. Whether you’re shipping single titles, pre-orders, or multi-volume box sets, here’s what to look for in a fulfilment partner built for modern book brands.
Shipping costs that protect margins
Dense books drive up shipping costs as zones increase. Look for a fulfilment partner that can distribute inventory across multiple U.S. facilities and leverage book-friendly services to keep each order profitable.
Centralised inventory visibility across channels
Managing hundreds of ISBNs across ecommerce sites, marketplaces, and retail partners can quickly become chaotic. Choose a fulfilment platform that centralises orders and syncs real-time stock counts across ecommerce, marketplaces, and retail channels to provide a single source of truth.
Unified fulfilment for DTC and wholesale orders
Using one vendor for DTC orders and another for wholesale or EDI shipments adds complexity and cost. Partner with a fulfilment provider that supports both DTC and B2B shipping from a shared pool of inventory to help prevent overstocking and stockouts.
Pre-order surge management
Waves of advance purchases can bottleneck your warehouse. Look for a fulfilment partner who can work with your team on timing to ensure orders are delivered when they are ready and your customers need them.
Clear visibility for bundles and box sets
Selling multi-volume sets alongside individual titles can create inventory challenges. Find a 3PL with technology that automatically deducts each component SKU in real time when a bundle or a single title sells.
Optimising backlist availability and storage spend
Keeping slow-moving titles on hand ties up capital in inventory that won’t sell and racks up fees. Work with a provider that offers inventory analytics within their dashboard to identify slow-moving inventory with high storage costs and track demand shifts.
ShipBob’s fulfilment solutions that book brands care about
ShipBob helps publishers, authors, and book retailers simplify logistics from print run to delivery. With distributed inventory, shipping savings, and unified omnichannel fulfilment, you can scale distribution efficiently – whether you sell direct-to-consumer, through Amazon, or to major retail partners.
Lower shipping costs
ShipBob’s Inventory Placement Program makes it easy to distribute inventory across our dozens of fulfilment centres in the U.S., placing products closer to your customers. By reducing the average shipping zone for each order, you can cut down on shipping costs (especially for heavier items like books).
For eligible U.S. shipments, ShipBob supports USPS Media Mail: a cost-effective service for books and other media to help protect margin on every order.
Centralised inventory management
ShipBob’s platform seamlessly connects all your sales channels, giving you a single source of truth for inventory across all your channels. Real-time stock updates ensure you always know what’s available, preventing overselling and stockouts. Effortlessly manage your SKUs with automated syncing and unified reporting, so you can focus on growth instead of manual reconciliation.
Unified omnichannel fulfilment
ShipBob empowers brands to manage both direct-to-consumer and wholesale (B2B) fulfilment from a single, integrated platform. With robust workflows for single-pick DTC and B2B, you can fulfil orders from every channel using a shared pool of inventory, which removes the need to juggle multiple providers or split stock.
Our technology and network streamline everything from EDI retail distribution (for major retailers like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart) to bulk wholesale shipments, so you can scale across channels with less complexity, lower costs, and full visibility. Experience seamless order management, real-time inventory tracking, and dedicated support for all your sales channels under one trusted partner.
Scalable peak fulfilment
ShipBob’s fulfilment network and proprietary technology are built to handle dramatic order spikes, from major title launches to seasonal peaks. With real-time insights and automated inventory allocation (via the Inventory Placement Program), our system ensures high-volume orders are processed efficiently across dozens of fulfilment centres.
This lets you confidently run pre-orders or major campaigns. ShipBob can also work with your team on the timing to ensure orders are delivered when they are ready and your customers need them.
Automated bundle management
ShipBob’s platform simplifies bundles and box sets by automating inventory level adjustments during fulfilment. When a customer orders a bundle, each component SKU is picked, and inventory is automatically updated to ensure that you always have an accurate view of stock levels.
This seamless process eliminates manual inventory reconciliation and helps you avoid overselling or phantom inventory, so you can confidently offer both bundles and single items.
Transparent storage analytics
Gain full visibility into storage costs with detailed storage-fee reporting that’s broken down by product, storage type (bin, shelf, or pallet), and fulfilment centre location. This granular reporting helps you to analyse and optimise your inventory mix and identify both best-sellers and slow-moving inventory. With filtering and exportable data, you can keep inventory lean and storage spend efficient as demand shifts.
Types of books that companies fulfil with ShipBob
- Fiction
- Science fiction and fantasy novels
- Young adult novels
- Graphic novels
- Comic books
- Children’s books
- Non-fiction
- Memoirs and biographies
- Self-help books
- Business and finance books
- Health and wellness books
- Educational and reference
- Educational textbooks
- Workbooks
- Language learning books
- Flashcards and study aids
- Journals, planners, and notebooks
- Journals and diaries
- Planners and organizers
- Notebooks
- Coloring books
- Other book products
- Religious and inspirational books
- Poetry books
- Literary magazines
- Zines
Success story: The Adventure Challenge scales to $80M and expands omnichannel with ShipBob
The Adventure Challenge, a scratch-off experience book brand, moved from self-fulfilment to ShipBob to handle hypergrowth with a flexible partner that could problem-solve in real time. Using ShipBob’s network and capabilities, they offer fast delivery for DTC while fulfilling B2B orders via EDI-compliant workflows for retailers (including Kohl’s and Francesca’s).
They placed inventory in ShipBob facilities across the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and EU to reach customers cost-effectively, with 25% of orders being shipped from outside the U.S. Even amid volatility surrounding COVID, ShipBob’s transparency and integrated tech stack kept operations predictable and enabled continued expansion into new retail partnerships and international markets.
ShipBob services all customers benefit from
- Connectivity & integrations: ShipBob’s 50+ turnkey integrations with all major ecommerce channels and tools – including Shopify, Gorgias, Klaviyo, NetSuite, Loop, AfterShip, and more – enable you to grow your business smarter, faster, and stronger than ever before. In addition to the ShipBob App Store that lets you instantly connect your tech stack, you can also leverage ShipBob’s Develop API for custom builds.
- Transparent, cost-effective pricing: Unlike many 3PLs, ShipBob has easy-to-predict billing that makes it easy to plan for spend, without too many line items. ShipBob also negotiates rates with couriers and passes those savings on to you.
- Real-time visibility: Track shipments, orders, and inventory across locations from one dashboard. Manage one pool of inventory across sales channels and push stock levels back to your store so you don’t oversell.
- Full-stack fulfilment platform: With ShipBob, you get an all-in-one OMS, IMS, WMS, RMS, TMS, and analytics for a consolidated tech stack. ShipBob’s platform acts as a mini-ERP, being a single source of truth for your orders and inventory.
- Easy, comprehensive onboarding: We’ve onboarded thousands of ecommerce merchants and helped some of the fastest-growing brands scale effortlessly. Our implementation team sets you up for success with everything from configuring your ship options, to syncing your online store.
- Support for growth: ShipBob aims to be the last fulfilment partner you’ll need. Whether you’re shipping 1,000 orders per month or 200,000, we have you covered. With a large fulfilment network to scale into, new channels to expand into, and additional capabilities to tap into, you won’t outgrow ShipBob.
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How it works
How ShipBob goes from your online store to your customer’s door
1. Connect
Connect your store, import your products, then send us your inventory.
2. Store
We store your inventory in any combination of our fulfilment centers.
3. Ship
As soon as a customer places an order, we ship it from the nearest fulfilment centre.
FAQs about fulfilling books
How does ShipBob help ensure books are shipped securely?
ShipBob uses a box selection algorithm to choose the optimal packaging size for each unique combination of SKUs, and utilises dunnage (such as kraft paper or Geami paper) to protect items. Products classified as books are also packaged using a book fold preset for consistency.
Can ShipBob help reduce shipping costs for heavy or bulk book orders?
Yes, ShipBob offers inventory distribution across multiple fulfilment centres in the U.S. to help reduce your average shipping zone and costs. We also support USPS Media Mail for eligible book shipments, providing a cost-effective option for sending books.
How does ShipBob manage inventory for publishers or retailers with hundreds of ISBNs?
ShipBob’s platform centralises inventory management, syncing real-time stock levels across all your sales channels. The Product Catalogue feature also makes managing numerous SKUs easy, as ShipBob tracks each individual title, bundle, and variant as its own unique SKU.
Can ShipBob handle both direct-to-consumer and wholesale book orders?
Absolutely. ShipBob’s omnichannel fulfilment solution supports both DTC and B2B fulfilment from a shared pool of inventory, allowing shipments of single orders to readers and bulk shipments to retailers seamlessly.
What technology integrations does ShipBob offer for book ecommerce brands?
ShipBob offers turnkey integrations with dozens of major ecommerce platforms and marketplaces to provide real-time order tracking, inventory updates, and analytics. This ensures you have full visibility and control over your operations.
How does ShipBob handle pre-order surges or high-volume book launches?
ShipBob’s scalable fulfilment network and proprietary technology are built to handle dramatic order spikes and efficiently process large volumes of pre-orders or launch-day sales. ShipBob can work with your team on demand forecasting and timing to ensure orders are delivered on time, every time.
Can ShipBob help with custom packaging, inserts, or branded unboxing experiences for books?
Yes, ShipBob offers a Customisation Suite with options such as custom branded packaging (boxes and mailers) and marketing inserts (which are supplied by your brand and stored as separate SKUs), along with personalised gift notes to enhance the unboxing experience for your readers.
How does ShipBob manage bundles, box sets, or multi-volume book orders?
ShipBob’s platform simplifies product bundling by automatically tracking and deducting inventory for every component SKU when the bundle is sold, ensuring accurate stock levels and preventing overselling.
What solutions does ShipBob offer for international book shipping?
ShipBob’s global fulfilment network enables reliable international shipping to 250 global destinations, with DDP shipping options available for select lanes. Note: ShipBob is not a licensed customs broker and does not manage import restrictions or clearance; your brand is responsible for product compliance and clearance in destination countries.
Shipping costs are variable in nature, based on weight, dimensions, destination, service, and more. Request your custom quote here.
INTEGRATE ALL OF YOUR TOOLS
Connect to 50+ few-click integrations from our App Store, or build directly with our developer-friendly API
Ship from 60+ global locations
We use our network of fulfilment centres to help you strategically split and manage your inventory to reduce shipping costs and transit times.
FEATURED REPORT
What are book authors’ and publishers’ top priorities for shipping and fulfilment this year? Find out
There’s no question that the last several years have thrown a multitude of challenges at ecommerce brands. Despite this, brands are navigating the ever-changing landscape with plans to expand this year.
