Interstate Books 4 Schools

E-Commerce Solution

Peter Greene, IT Director, on his experience with KiBiz Systems: “KiBiz integrated X-Cart (the shopping cart on our website) and made it possible for us to conduct our online business efficiently…. Integration with our website and FedEx is so much better than what we had before. This is another key feature for us… to be able to track shipments, handle customer questions, and automatically email shipping details to customers quickly and efficiently. KiBiz Systems got in the driver’s seat and shifted the gears with us. The system gives us timely access to information, making us much more efficient. The book industry is based on access to correct information. We have that at our fingertips now. Information is power. Customers tell us they love working with us – we make things easy.”

Interstate Books 4 School

Interstate Books4School, has been doing business since 1924 as a book, magazine and newspaper wholesaler. Today, as an educational infant through 12th grade, Tradebook, Valu-Book and ESL supplier, Interstate Books4School is dedicated to budget-stretching prices, prompt service and speedy delivery of all orders.
They have access to over 10,000,000 book titles.

www.books4school.com

E-Commerce and Customization

IT Director, Peter Greene, has been with the company since 2000. When he started Interstate Books4School was for the most part an old-school, brick and mortar business. At that time, according to Peter, “we couldn’t provide buyers with enough information about each book, our system wasn’t integrated with inventory control, it couldn’t handle special orders from customers and the inefficiency of our operation required employees to physically handle books too frequently.”

“We wanted the ability to conduct e-commerce efficiently, and wanted to integrate the website with the rest of our business for real-time inventory control. We couldn’t process large orders of several pages and hundreds of titles, which are not uncommon for us.”

To meet those needs efficiently, Peter says he “started looking for something open, which KiBiz is with FileMaker. We looked at about 5 different systems, some fairly expensive, and KiBiz, with its programming cost was not an inexpensive option, but it has worked out well for us. We are getting everything we want and need from it. And, because it’s open, we have gone in and made some of our own changes, making screens look different and adding some tabs for information and so forth. KiBiz allows us to be in the driver’s seat, rather than being a passenger.”

From his experience as an independent consultant, prior to joining Interstate Books4School, Peter knew that the ability to customize the system, and especially the ability for his people to customize it as needed, was essential. Peter explained, “It’s an investment but it pays off in the long run. The cost vs. benefits relationship is always the issue in business. In KiBiz Systems you definitely find the value is there. I understood the value of this investment from my own, previous experience as a business owner.” Peter added, “There were other FileMaker solutions but KiBiz was the most progressive… it had more options (modules) than the other systems offered.”

Peter reports that, “we’re using KiBiz for inventory control, invoicing, receiving and shipping now and are in the process of adding order placing through KiBiz as well. KiBiz’s integration with our website and FedEx is so much better than what we had before. This is another key feature for us… to be able to track shipments and handle customer questions, email shipping details to customers quickly and efficiently, we couldn’t do it before. That really helps us from a customer service stand point.”

Peter goes on to say, “KiBiz integrated X-Cart (the shopping cart on our website) and makes it possible for us to conduct our online business efficiently. Customers are able to shop, find the books they actually want and order them with ease. Our past systems didn’t allow us to provide the information customers needed to find what they were looking for easily. We weren’t flexible, we couldn’t sell as we needed to, as wholesalers; couldn’t discount the way we do. People went to the website but then had to call us for the information they needed and to place their orders. It was inconvenient for customers and it was inefficient and costly for us.”

When asked just how much of an impact these changes have made on their bottom line Peter said, “I can’t give you the actual amounts but I can tell you that the volume of business we used to do online in a two year period – we now do in one month or less.”

Describing his experience of working with KiBiz Systems, Peter says, “KiBiz has been great at assimilating what we actually do. They came in cold, not understanding the industry. We told them we need to do that, and want to do it this way’ and they understood it all. They got in the driver’s seat and shifted the gears with us. KiBiz gives us timely access to information, making us much more efficient. The book industry is all based on access to correct information. We have that at our fingertips now. Information is power. Customers tell us they love working with us; that we make things easy.”

The ability to customize the system was a key component for Peter. Peter says, “KiBiz has been great at assimilating what we actually do. They came in cold, not understanding the industry. We told them ‘we need to do that, and want to do it this way’ and they understood it all. They got in the driver’s seat and shifted the gears with us. KiBiz gives us timely access to information, making us much more efficient. We are getting everything we want and need from KiBiz and because it’s open, we’ve gone in and made some of our own changes, making screens look different and adding some tabs for
information and so forth.

“We are getting everything we want and need from KiBiz and because it’s open, we’ve gone in and made some of our own changes, making screens look different and adding some tabs for information and so forth. KiBiz allows us to be in the driver’s seat, rather than being a passenger. There were other FileMaker solutions but
KiBiz was the most progressive.”

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