Bookshop.org began in January 2020 with an ambitious goal: win readers away from Amazon while directing profits back to independent bookstores. The company launched into a market where Amazon held a dominant position in books, and many local stores still lacked any real e-commerce setup. Founder and CEO Andy Hunter has described independent bookstores as having an influence far beyond their share of sales, citing their role in communities, schools, and local business networks.
The startup did not begin with abundant resources. At launch, it raised $750,000 of a $1.2 million target, leaving it with only about eight months of runway. But the timing turned out to be crucial. Just two months after Bookshop.org went live, the pandemic shut down many bookstores’ normal operations, creating a sudden opening for the platform. Because Bookshop.org is structured as a B Corp rather than a traditional marketplace, it sells books through distributors and passes profits directly to bookstores. Shoppers can choose a specific store to support or contribute to a shared pool that is distributed among roughly 1,700 U.S. bookstores. Hunter said the company onboarded 1,200 stores in two months and reached $60 million in revenue within its first eight months.
Rebuilding the product to recover lost momentum
That momentum did not last forever. Hunter said that once shoppers returned to physical bookstores in 2022, Bookshop.org’s business fell by about 40%. The company then decided it needed to rethink both the website and the way it operated. According to Hunter, the platform surpassed its pandemic-era revenue in 2024 and 2025, with 2025 sales up about 55% from the prior year and another 25% growth expected this year.
The turnaround came from a broad technical overhaul. The original site, built quickly in 2020 on Solidus, had become strained by the company’s needs. Bookshop.org rebuilt its backend in Go and its frontend in Next.js, improved search with Meilisearch, and introduced a faster one-page checkout. The company also increased A/B testing, improved site speed and responsiveness, and became more systematic about email marketing and audience segmentation. Hunter said the changes made the experience smoother for customers without making the site feel radically different. Bookshop.org also added e-books in 2025, giving readers the option to read in a browser, through the company’s app, or on iPhone and Android devices.
For Hunter, the company’s mission remains tied to competition in a market still heavily shaped by Amazon. He has argued that books matter not only as products, but as part of free expression and the exchange of ideas. Bookshop.org’s recent rebound suggests that a bookstore-focused model can still find room to grow if the product and the timing are right.
Source: modernretail.co
