Booktopia and Zookal team up for education
Staff Writers 2021-04-13
Booktopia, Australia’s largest online book seller, has announced a strategic partnership with Zookal, one of the leading educational technology platforms in the Asia-Pacific region. The deal will see Booktopia become Zookal’s fulfilment partner for physical books, from a catalogue of over 185,000 titles. This will strengthen Booktopia’s already significant reach into the education market, which saw it acquire the assets of the Co-Op Bookshop last year. Already in 2021, Booktopia says education and corporate sales have surged to $53 million — a 40 per cent increase in the disrupted 2020 academic year. Tony Nash, CEO, Booktopia
For its part, Zookal sees the opportunity to grow its core platform and take advantage of the opportunity presented by recent growth demand for education technology. According to Co-CEO Ahmed Haider, “Handing the fulfilment function to Booktopia allows us to focus on the continued growth of our SaaS ed-tech platform, which has surged in recent times due to COVID and leave book delivery to a trusted partner.”
The deal also gives Booktopia access to Zookal’s popular educational resources, such as Zookal Study, Homework Help, Test Prep and Textbook Answers. It provides strategic relationships with suppliers as well as improved asset utilisation and economies of scale at Booktopia’s distribution centre at Lidcombe in Sydney’s west. Zookal’s Alexandria distribution centre will be decommissioned. Booktopia CEO Tony Nash said “Education remains one of our fastest-growing segments and our partnership with Zookal will ensure we are continuing to grow our penetration into this sector.” 
Educational book sales accounted for about 25 per cent of Booktopia’s revenue last financial year, and the company estimates that the sector is worth over $1 billion. Efficiency
At the start of last year Booktopia compiled a war chest $20 million – $8 million in cash and $12million in debt – to further invest in automation and enhance the capacity and efficiency at its Sydney distribution centre. The equity was raised from a consortium of private investors led by Su-Ming Wong, Co-Founder & CEO of Champ Ventures who will join the Board of Booktopia and John Sampson, Founder & CEO of JBS Investments. The founding shareholders retain majority control and Booktopia will continue to be an independent Australian-owned business.

Booktopia and Zookal team up for education

Image source: Getty Images
The Booktopia Group Ltd  (ASX: BKG) share price is climbing this morning after the company unveiled a new strategic partnership at the market open. Why is the Booktopia share price climbing? Online book retailer Booktopia has announced the finalisation of a deal with global online education technology company, Zookal. Booktopia will become the exclusive supplier and fulfilment partner for Zookal as part of the new deal. The online retailer will source, supply and distribute all Zookal’s physical book orders from “a range of approximately 185,000 titles”. Zookal is forecasting annual book sales revenue of approximately $22 million this financial year, with the Booktopia deal set to start on 1 May 2021. According to today’s release, the agreement is revenue and earnings accretive for FY2022. The Booktopia share price has jumped more than 4 per cent higher on the back of the news. Booktopia also reported a new record for academic sales as universities and schools return to the classroom in 2021. The coronavirus pandemic disrupted in-classroom learning in 2020 and challenged earnings. However, Booktopia has achieved total academic and corporate book sales of approximately $53 million in the year to date. That figure represents more than 30 per cent on FY2020 figures of $40 million. Booktopia CEO Tony Nash welcomed the deal, saying:
Our partnership with Zookal will ensure we are continuing to grow our penetration into this sector. Zookal has established a strong reputation for holding an extensive range of titles. Foolish takeaway
The Booktopia share price is climbing higher this morning on the back of the new partnership agreement. Shares in the Aussie online retailer have jumped nearly 5 per cent at the time of writing, with a market capitalisation of $326 million. That’s despite the broader market struggling to maintain last week’s momentum. The S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) has edged 0.2% lower to 6,969 points at the time of writing. Where to invest $1,000 right now
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Why the Booktopia (ASX:BKG) share price is climbing today

Booktopia seals academic book deal with Zookal
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Online book retailer Booktopia has entered into a partnership with the student portal Zookal, extending its exposure to the lucrative and growing educational book market. The deal comes as Booktopia reveals its academic and corporate book sales for the current financial year to date are running at 30 per cent higher than the previous corresponding period, with sales of $53 million to date. CEO Tony Nash said the partnership with Zookal will ensure the company continues to expand in the education sector, one of its fastest-growing categories. “Like Booktopia, Zookal has established a strong reputation for holding an extensive range of titles and delivering to customers in a timely fashion,” Nash said. “As their exclusive supplier and fulfillment partner, we look forward to maintaining these high standards.”
The deal allows Booktopia to source, supply and distribute all of Zookal’s physical book orders from a range of around 185,000 titles. The agreement commences on May 1 with the full financial benefits for Booktopia to be felt next fiscal year. According to the company, the partnership provides greater strategic relationships with suppliers as well as improved asset utilisation and economies of scale at Booktopia’s distribution centre at Lidcombe in Sydney’s west. Zookal’s Alexandria distribution centre will be decommissioned. Zookal Co-CEO Ahmed Haider said handing the fulfilment function to Booktopia will allow it to focus on the continued growth of its SAAS ed-tech platform which has surged in recent times due to the Covid-19 outbreak and leave book delivery with a trusted partner. “The deal also allows Booktopia customers to have exposure to our innovative education tools Zookal Study, Homework Help, Test Prep and Textbook Answers adding significant value to their customer base.”
The educational book sector was estimated to account for $804 million of sales in Australia’s consumer book market last fiscal year. Combined with the books to business and books to government (B2B/B2G) sector, Booktopia estimates the total educational book market exceeded $1 billion during that period.

Booktopia seals academic book deal with Zookal

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One of Asia’s fastest growing Ed Tech Retailers, Zookal, has successfully revamped its entire ecommerce operation in just 50 days, as it gears up for the back to school season. Oz-based Zookal provides textbooks and edutech services to over 1 million customers across Asia Pacific. The firm has opted for the dual power of Brightpearl and Shopify Plus to rocket strap its expansion plans and its mission to empower students by making education more affordable and accessible. With college about to be back in session from July, it was urgent that Zookal had the right technology partner in place to maximize its peak season. The brand had a two-month window before students would be back on campus so it was urgent that their chosen provider could get them online quickly. Zookal considered single solution providers like Cin7, DEAR Systems and TradeGecko, but it was Brightpearl’s all-in-one retail functionality, ability to scale and stellar track record of super-fast implementation that won out. With Brightpearl, the brand was able to get online in just 50 days, which dovetailed perfectly with the launch of its Shopify Plus powered ecommerce store – meaning that Zookal was primed for peak season as students returned seeking new educational materials. Zookal was born in 2011 from the creative minds of a small group of Sydney students. After personally experiencing the stress of buying expensive course textbooks, its founders decided to come up with a better option to make education more affordable and accessible in Australia and Asia. To support its next stage of growth, Zookal now has access to Brightpearl’s large suite of integrations and EDI systems, alongside reliable and centralized data. The brand will also benefit from Brightpearl’s all-in-one digital operations platform that provides total visibility and control over stock levels, order management, fulfilment and financials, alongside streamlined warehouse management. To complete the revamp, the firm’s online store has been built on Shopify Plus’ flexible ecommerce platform, ensuring more customers than ever can reach their full potential. “We are very excited to be working with Brightpearl and Shopify Plus and entrusting them with the future of our company’s growth plans”, says Ahmed Haider, CEO and co-founder of Zookal. “We wanted a partner that was agile and quick to implement but still had the complexity of a growing business of our nature. Brightpearl was the perfect pick, and the staff worked with our team to ensure a seamless transition. Since implementation we have seen a significant rise in sales and hit one of our biggest months of the year all with seamless handling and efficiency on the backend.”
SVP Customer Success at Brightpearl, Justin Press , says: “Attempting to go live with new technology partners one week before your peak season might put off some businesses, but Zookal didn’t break a sweat because they trusted Brightpearl’s record for lightning quick implementation. Our friends at Shopify Plus always say you don’t need a thousand days to install software, and we agree. Brightpearl’s out-of-the-box integrations means that Zookal are ready to plug, play and distribute their product.- and all before the back-to-school season.”
Already one of the fastest growing Ed-Tech startups in Asia Pacific, and now with the one-two punch combination of Brightpearl and Shopify Plus powering its ecommerce operations, Zookal seems set to remain top of the class. Press adds: “Zookal now has a solution that is agile enough to react to unpredictable demand fluctuations in these uncertain times and can scale with the brand as it looks to connect more students to the educational resources they need to succeed. We’re delighted to be powering Zookal during its next stage of its growth.”

Online Ed-Tech Retailer Revamps Its Entire Ecommerce Operation in Just 50 Days With Brightpearl and Shopify Plus

in Just 50 Days With Brightpearl and Shopify Plus
One of Asia’s fastest growing Ed-Tech Retailers , Zookal, has successfully revamped its entire ecommerce operation in just 50 days, as it gears up for the back to school season. Oz-based Zookal provides textbooks and edutech services to over 1 million customers across Asia Pacific. The firm has opted for the dual power of Brightpearl and Shopify Plus to rocket strap its expansion plans and its mission to empower students by making education more affordable and accessible. With college about to be back in session from July, it was urgent that Zookal had the right technology partner in place to maximize its peak season. The brand had a two-month window before students would be back on campus so it was urgent that their chosen provider could get them online quickly. Zookal considered single solution providers like Cin7, DEAR Systems and TradeGecko, but it was Brightpearl’s all-in-one retail functionality, ability to scale and stellar track record of super-fast implementation that won out. With Brightpearl, the brand was able to get online in just 50 days, which dovetailed perfectly with the launch of its Shopify Plus powered ecommerce store – meaning that Zookal was primed for peak season as students returned seeking new educational materials. Zookal was born in 2011 from the creative minds of a small group of Sydney students. After personally experiencing the stress of buying expensive course textbooks, its founders decided to come up with a better option to make education more affordable and accessible in Australia and Asia. To support its next stage of growth, Zookal now has access to Brightpearl’s large suite of integrations and EDI systems, alongside reliable and centralized data. The brand will also benefit from Brightpearl’s all-in-one digital operations platform that provides total visibility and control over stock levels, order management, fulfilment and financials, alongside streamlined warehouse management. To complete the revamp, the firm’s online store has been built on Shopify Plus’ flexible ecommerce platform, ensuring more customers than ever can reach their full potential. “We are very excited to be working with Brightpearl and Shopify Plus and entrusting them with the future of our company’s growth plans”, says Ahmed Haider, CEO and co-founder of Zookal. “We wanted a partner that was agile and quick to implement but still had the complexity of a growing business of our nature. Brightpearl was the perfect pick, and the staff worked with our team to ensure a seamless transition. Since implementation we have seen a significant rise in sales and hit one of our biggest months of the year all with seamless handling and efficiency on the backend.”
SVP Customer Success at Brightpearl,  Justin Press , says: “Attempting to go live with new technology partners one week before your peak season might put off some businesses, but Zookal didn’t break a sweat because they trusted Brightpearl’s record for lightning quick implementation. Our friends at Shopify Plus always say you don’t need a thousand days to install software, and we agree. Brightpearl’s out-of-the-box integrations means that Zookal are ready to plug, play and distribute their product.- and all before the back-to-school season.”
Already one of the fastest growing Ed-Tech startups in Asia Pacific, and now with the one-two punch combination of Brightpearl and Shopify Plus powering its ecommerce operations, Zookal seems set to remain top of the class. Press adds: “Zookal now has a solution that is agile enough to react to unpredictable demand fluctuations in these uncertain times and can scale with the brand as it looks to connect more students to the educational resources they need to succeed. We’re delighted to be powering Zookal during its next stage of its growth.”

Booktopia is an Australian-owned online-only retail store selling books, eBooks and DVDs Australia wide. The company offers over 4 million books from the database which has been categorized into a variety of subjects to make it easier for customers to browse and shop.

Booktopia

CEO Tony Nash said the partnership with Zookal will ensure the company continues to expand in the education sector , one of its fastest-growing categories .

SkyDrop is a last-mile drone delivery business by holding company Flirtey, an aerospace technology company and U.S. drone delivery manufacturer that sells full-stack drone delivery hardware and software systems. SkyDrop was founded in 2013 and is based in Reno, NV.

SkyDrop

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Asurion

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Lyxor Asset Management

Parquest Capital

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Zookal operates an online marketplace for students to buy and rent textbooks. Students can also make money through Zookal by selling their old books. Other services offered include a marketplace for notes, where students from around Australia can come to buy and sell study materials.

Name	Work History	Title	Status
Ahmed H.	SkyDrop	Founder, Chief Executive Officer	Current
Chris Zaharia	Macquarie Bank	Founder, Chief Technology Officer	Current
Mike Rasch	Asurion, and PwC	Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer	Current
Geoffroy Henry	HelloFresh, HSBC, Lyxor Asset Management, and Parquest Capital	Managing Director	Former

Name	Ahmed H.	Chris Zaharia	Mike Rasch	Geoffroy Henry
Work History	SkyDrop	Macquarie Bank	Asurion, and PwC	HelloFresh, HSBC, Lyxor Asset Management, and Parquest Capital
Title	Founder, Chief Executive Officer	Founder, Chief Technology Officer	Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer	Managing Director
Status	Current	Current	Current	Former

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