How book buyers behave
A book buyer wants a title and needs to know whether you have it — a question currently answered by phone or by a wasted visit. If you do not have it, a special order is a service most shops provide badly or not at all, so the sale goes to a marketplace. Browsing customers are different: they want recommendations and curation, which is the one thing a marketplace cannot do and a good bookshop can.
What we build for a bookstore
First, catalogue search by title, author and ISBN with stock per branch, which is the question every customer arrives with. Second, special orders with realistic timelines, since capturing the title you do not stock is free revenue. Third, curation and recommendations, the advantage over marketplaces and the reason people return. Fourth, an events calendar with registration, because readings and signings are what make a bookshop a destination rather than a warehouse.