Post-Christmas Book Hero update
It’s been over four months since my last Book Hero update so I thought it was the right time to celebrate some key milestones and reflect back on the busy Christmas period…
Book Hero went from shipping around 300 orders in October, to 1,700 orders in November, to well over 3,500 orders in December — turns out books do indeed make the perfect Christmas gift! The rapid growth put our systems to the test but I’m super proud that we shipped all our customer orders on-time and received so much wonderful feedback from happy customers who’ve since continued to support Book Hero into the early months of 2025. It was fun to see so many books arriving and leaving the warehouse every day and having generous friends and neighbours lend a hand to pick, pack and gift wrap our orders — there was a wonderful festive vibe with plenty of Christmas carols!
With Christmas behind us it was time for everyone on the team to take a week or so off. We took turns operating the warehouse solo so everyone could enjoy some family time with their feet up and a good book…although the laptops were never far away as we replied to customers, sent newsletters and kept other parts of the business ticking over with such a small team. By mid-January we were all back on deck and making plans for how we were going to set 2025 up for even greater success!
We were unsure how January and February would go in terms of customers and sales — how much of our early growth was exclusively Christmas shopping? How many customers would return in the quieter summer months? While things certainly quietened down a little, I’m relieved to report that business is picking up and we’re seeing a steady stream of new customers discovering Book Hero for the first time as well as a 20% return rate for existing customers who shopped over Christmas. We’ve now shipped over 10,000 customer orders (there was cake!) and have blown past 20,000 books in-stock and ready to ship!
It was with sadness that in early March we bid farewell to our friend Jeremy — our first Warehouse Hero. Jeremy has a background in building, construction and landscape design and it transpired that he never quite felt himself trapped indoors and without a hammer in his hand. We’ll be forever grateful for Jeremy’s role in setting up our first warehouse where he was able to put so many of his amazing skills to great use. We’re happy for Jeremy that he’s returning to something he loves. Thank you Jeremy!
With a growing business also comes a growing list of things to do — and 2025 has seen our long-time friend and colleague Alastair make a more regular appearance at HQ and take on more responsibilities (whilst still somehow completing his medical degree — don’t ask!). Al is a real systems thinker and was responsible for scaling Mighty Ape’s warehouses and logistical operations, and we’re grateful for his commitment to Book Hero and the experience and ambition he brings to the team. Al is incredibly analytical, a supportive friend, and along with Tim, a cool head under pressure — handy to say the least.
We’re also delighted to welcome both Nicola and Jordan to the team! Both have been on-board for less than a month and we already can’t imagine life here without them. Jordan sent Alastair a txt wishing him a happy birthday and next thing we knew he’s at the fulfilling bench smashing previous records and fulfilling over 50 orders an hour — go Jordan! Watching Jordan’s hands at work and moving around the warehouse at speed is mesmerising — his years of warehouse experience at Mighty Ape ensuring he’s off to a flying start at Book Hero — lucky us! With a small team and a neverending list of improvements to make, we look forward to putting Jordan’s experience to great use and watching him continue to grow in his role and make the warehouse his own. His competence and willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done is a real asset to our team. Jordan is also a bit of a history buff and his favourite books are All Quiet on the Western Front, D-day, and Catch-22.
Arriving from the world of Bookstagram, Nicola’s whole world is books and it’s been such a pleasure to watch her single handedly improve our social media and digital marketing. Nicola is highly organised (we promise to start using a Marketing calendar!) and with skills in both design and copywriting, which combined with her encyclopaedic knowledge of books and authors, allows her to really “A to Z” projects and turn creative ideas into reality. I’m getting used to saying “sounds great Nicola!” and just enjoying whatever she’s whipped up — always impressive and beyond expectations. Nicola’s favourite series are Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud, the Mistborn trilogy (or anything really) by Brandon Sanderson, and the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo. One of Nicola’s previous roles was working at a cat cafe, and it wasn’t long before my arm was twisted (not really) and Evie officially joined the team as warehouse supervisor…
I feel truly blessed to be working with such an incredible group of people who give their 100% to Book Hero and our customers. Nothing is too much trouble, always willing to go the extra mile — what an incredible journey we are on together.
Today as I write this we’ve installed a final row of bookshelves in our warehouse, maxing out the available space as we hope to cram another 7,000 books that can be delivered overnight anywhere in New Zealand. Like all businesses we continue to have up days and down days, moments of doubt, but we are more optimistic than ever for the future. Thank you for being a customer! By supporting Book Hero you’re allowing us to do what we love and to continue to grow our range of in-stock books to deliver an even better experience for our customers and New Zealand.
Onwards!