With the warehouse leased and the shelves filling up it was time to turn our attention back to the Book Hero brand.
Book Hero is all about books being a secret super power. We believe that books make you smarter, stronger, more curious, more open-minded, a more engaged and interesting person…all things we could do with more of in 2024.
We knew we wanted an illustrated mascot that represented our brand values. A fearless adventurer that drew their power not from physical strength, but from books and the power of their mind and imagination.
Our hero Page has read every book ever written and can magic up just the right book at just the right time!
We’re really happy with how our Book Hero character came out and how it translated into a cool motif that could form the basis of the Book Hero logo. The day our signage was installed at our warehouse the place really started to feel like home!
When we built Mighty Ape over 15 years ago we built all the software from scratch — the front-end website, the warehouse management system, the CMS to build and send newsletters, the tools to reply to customer emails. Times have certainly changed in 2024 and for Book Hero we’ve entered into the Shopify ecosystem and we use Cin7 to manage our inventory. While I certainly miss the deep level of customisation we achieved with Mighty Ape and it’s super-talented team of developers, it’s amazing just how quickly you can start a business in 2024 with all the SAAS tools available. Tim was a master of integrating the various platforms and before too long we had a website with products, orders were flowing through to Cin7 for picking and packing and we were integrated with NZ Post for label printing and courier collections.
Despite being a humble bookstore there’s a lot of technology behind the scenes to make all the systems talk nicely with each other. There was a small celebration the day we got dispatch working…
We always knew that Book Hero would start life as an online store with a warehouse but we love bookstores and meeting customers — so having a free Pick Ups service for local customers in West Auckland (and beyond…) was essential. It was a challenge creating something warm and welcoming in an industrial warehouse environment, but with a fresh coat of Book-Hero-blue paint, a nice looking rug from Mitre 10, some custom artwork, and our logo attached to our reception counter — we think we’ve created something a little different, a little quirky, and we’re looking forward to welcoming our first customers!
We had a lot of fun creating a welcoming Pick Ups area inside our warehouse for local customers to pick up their order for free. There’s plenty of parking out front!
As I sit down to write this blog post we’re a few hours into our first day of trading after a long night of last-minute testing with trusted friends and family. I’m a weird mix of nervous, anxious but mostly excited for the future. It’s been heartening the number of messages of support from friends and former colleagues that we’ve received — and some early orders too! When I arrived to work this morning there was already a small pile waiting to be collected — which means we’re officially trading and in business…
We’re now officially open for business and look forward to welcoming you as a customer!
With a functioning website, a warehouse that can receive and dispatch books, a cute customer Pick Ups area — it’s time to turn our mind to letting more people know about us and introducing Kiwis to some of the great books that we’ve selected in our opening orders. We’re proud of how far we’ve come in a few short months but we know there is a long way to go — we’re satisfied and dissatisfied all at the same time. Story of my life!
Thank you for coming on the Book Hero journey with us — and if you buy a book from us or help spread the word —please know your support makes a difference and is hugely appreciated. Onwards!
