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- Online book retailer Booktopia (BKG) will become the exclusive supplier and fulfilment partner for Zookal as academic sales hit a new record
- The company will source, supply and distribute all of Zookal’s physical book orders from a range of around 185,000 titles
- This represents roughly $22 million in Zookal’s forecast annual revenue for this financial year
- It comes amid a resurgence in Booktopia’s academic sales following disruptions to schools and universities brought on last year by the COVID-19
- Booktopia is up 2.53 per cent to $2.43 per share
Online book retailer Booktopia (BKG) will become the exclusive supplier and fulfillment partner for Zookal as academic sales hit a new record.
Established in 2011 to provide students with affordable access to educational resources, Zookal is one of the Asian Pacific region’s leading online education platforms with more than one million students and over 200,000 paying customers.
According to the consumer direct fulfillment deal, Booktopia will source, supply and distribute all of Zookal’s physical book orders from a range of around 185,000 titles.
With the current academic book sales season coming to an end, this represents roughly $22 million in Zookal’s forecast annual revenue for this financial year.
“Handing the fulfillment 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,” said Zookal’s Co-CEO Ahmed Haider.
“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.”
But while the agreement will take effect on May 1, 2021, Booktopia said it will not realise the full financial benefits until the 2022 financial year.
The books will be shipped from Booktopia’s distribution centre in Lidcombe in Sydney’s west, which means that Zookal’s distribution centre in Alexandria will be decommissioned.
“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,” said Tony Nash, CEO of Booktopia.
“Like Booktopia, Zookal has established a strong reputation for holding an extensive range of titles and delivering to customers in a timely fashion,” he added.
The deal comes amid a resurgence in Booktopia’s academic sales following disruptions to schools and universities brought on last year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the financial year to date, the company has achieved total academic and corporate book sales of approximately $53 million, an increase of more than 30 per cent from the $40 million generated in the 2020 financial year.
As a result, Booktopia is on track to hit its previously upgraded full-year revenue forecast of $217.6 million for the 12 months ending June 30.
Booktopia is up 2.53 per cent to $2.43 per share at 1:22 pm AEST.
