Contour: 60 booksellers got one webshop with click and collect
This is how approximately 60 independent bookstores were tied together in one online storefront, without losing the local store, inventory or checkout.
We are particularly pleased to work with Shoporama because they combine a high level of professionalism with a sincere understanding of our business and needs. They are responsive, solution-oriented and able to translate complex wishes into concrete functions that work in practice.
In addition, they have been quick to react when adjustments have been needed - even under pressure - and they meet challenges with commitment rather than limitations. The collaboration is characterized by flexibility, good dialogue and a shared ambition to create the best possible solution.
The challenge: 60 independent bookstores, one common webshop
Kontur is a bookstore chain with approximately 60 independent stores across Denmark. Each store has its own daily routine, its own warehouse and its own checkout solution, and they want to keep it that way. The question was how the chain could be unified online without taking away local freedom.
This required a webshop that is not just a store, but a common storefront for the entire chain, where customers can see what's in stock in the nearest bookstore, choose click and collect, and experience a close link between online and physical shopping.
60 warehouses, 60 cities, on the same product page
Kontur uses Shoporama's warehouse locations in the broadest sense: Each physical bookstore is an independent location with its own warehouse. When customers look at the Mercedes cut, for example, they can immediately see which stores have the book in stock and choose to pick it up in their local bookstore.
That's exactly what Amazon can't match: the book over the counter in your own city tomorrow.
- ✓ Stock per store, visible to customers in real-time
- ✓ Click and pick up for free at your chosen bookstore
- ✓ Each store retains its local character, checkout system and inventory
- ✓ Orders are automatically routed to the right store or distributor
Customers choose bookstore with live stock status.
How Shoporama ties online and physical store together
Kontur's webshop is built in close collaboration with Gelinde, which has been responsible for the customized theme and the integration that connects the webshop with Kontur's own systems. The result is a single webshop that serves as a unified showcase for the chain's approximately 60 bookstores, without losing their local stock, checkout solution or independence. When customers place an order, Shoporama sends it in real time to the Kontur platform via our standard REST APIand Kontur immediately decides who will pack and ship.
The decision is made automatically in a fixed order of priority: If customers have selected click-and-collect in a specific store, the order goes directly there. If a location tag is attached to the order, it is respected. Otherwise, the system checks if the entire order can be shipped from the distributor's central warehouse (DBK), which is the fastest route for a regular parcel. Only if neither the click-and-collect nor the central warehouse match, the system will find a local Kontur store that has the goods in stock and let it ship.
If customers order books from both DBK and publishing distributor Dafolo in the same order, the flow is automatically split: the Dafolo part is routed via a separate XML flow, while the rest is handled by DBK or a local store. Cancellations follow the same logic backwards, so they always end up in the right place: at the store, at the distributor or both.
The result is a coherent purchase flow towards customers and a piece of hidden automation that saves the chain from manual sorting, misallocations and duplication of daily work.
What the integration delivers
- ✓ Click-and-collect across approximately 60 local bookstores
- ✓ Automatic selection between central warehouse, local store and specialist distributor
- ✓ Mixed orders are split and routed separately so customers don't notice
- ✓ Local stock status per store directly on the product page
- ✓ Cancellations are routed correctly depending on who has the order
Kontur webshop in practice: campaigns and categories
What's in it for the chain
The physical store becomes a competitive advantage
With click-and-collect, the many stores become pick-up points across the country. Customers get the book in their local bookstore, often faster than a package can arrive.
One platform, full autonomy
Each store retains its ownership, customer contact and local character, but no longer has to run its own webshop stack. The chain gets scale, the store gets freedom.
Distributors are built in, not bolted on
DBK and Dafolo talk directly to Shoporama. Stock status, orders and shipments run automatically, so the chain does not have to manually enter orders between systems.
Online and in-store are the same business
Inventory, customers and orders live in one place. No more standing with a customer in the store while the webshop sells the last item behind the employee's back.
Trine from Kontur tells us
As a bookstore chain with around 60 independent stores, we had a clear need for a webshop solution that not only works technically, but also reflects the way our business is built. Each store has its own everyday life, its own systems and its own inventory management, so it was crucial for us to find a solution that could bring it all together digitally - without compromising the flexibility of the individual store.
The ambition has been to create a webshop where customers get a real insight into the local store: they can see what is in stock in each store, choose click and collect and experience a close link between online and physical shopping. At the same time, it has been important that the stores themselves can actively work with their online sales - handling orders, preparing pick-ups and dispatching goods when necessary. This places great demands on both user-friendliness and integrations, as the solution must work across different POS solutions and workflows.
It has therefore not been a standard setup, but a solution that has been highly developed and adapted to our needs. Along the way, we have focused on building something that makes sense in practice - not just on paper. This means that many functions have been shaped in close dialog with the stores so that the system supports the reality they face every day.
The process has been lengthy and has required patience from all parties. We have worked in smaller stages, where we have continuously developed, tested and adjusted functions, so that the solution has gradually become stronger and more elaborate. Shoporama has been a very important partner in this process. They have been accommodating, responsive and very helpful in making the process run as smoothly as possible - even when the complexity has been high.
What has particularly characterized the collaboration is their approach to challenges. Where problems could arise, they have seen opportunities and addressed them with a solution-oriented and committed approach. At the same time, they have been quick to react when adjustments were needed, which has been crucial - especially during periods when it was important to be able to act quickly.
The result today is a webshop solution that is closely integrated with the stores' daily work and creates a natural connection between online and physical commerce. It's a solution that isn't "one size fits all", but is built specifically for our chain and the way we do business. It provides both a better experience for customers and a smoother workflow in the stores.
At the same time, we are still in development. The solution is continuously improved and expanded, and we see great potential in further collaboration. We are pleased with the relationship we have built and look forward to the upcoming projects where, together with Shoporama, we can continue to strengthen the webshop as an important supplement to the stores - and as a strong online store window for the entire chain.
A "middle admin" that connects webshops, stores and distributors
Alongside the webshop itself, we have built a dedicated administration panel for Kontur, a "middle admin" that lives between Shoporama, the distributors and the physical stores.
Status, distributor, store and billing on the same screen.
Login, location tag and shipping methods per bookstore.
Over 170,000 titles are managed directly from here.
The catalog of over 170,000 book titles is maintained automatically via an external feed from the distributors. In the middle admin, Kontur can sift through the catalog, choose which titles to publish in the webshop, adjust discount and price categories and keep an eye on which books are in the distributor's central warehouse versus the individual store warehouse.
Orders from Shoporama land in the same panel: they can be filtered by status, distributor, store, and settlement, downloaded to CSV, or dived into one at a time, with a full overview of where in the flow the order is and what the distribution between bookstore and chain seems to be.
The 60 or so bookstores are managed in one place: each store has its own login, its location tag (which links it to a warehouse in the webshop) and its own shipping methods. In addition, there is logging, transfer rules, distributor management (DBK and Dafolo) and a live flow chart, so Kontur can see what is happening with a specific order at any time.
- ✓Book catalog with 170,000+ titles
- ✓Order overview and settlement
- ✓Store management with login per bookstore
- ✓Warehouse and location management
- ✓DBK and Dafolo flow
- ✓Transfer rules and log
Gelinde
Kontur's webshop is built by Gelinde. Shoporama design and development with transparent pricing, free support and fast responses.
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