Booktopia makes headway on customer fulfilment centre

Booktopia is making progress on its $12 million South Strathfield customer fulfilment centre (CFC), which is planned to open this August.

In February, the online bookstore secured the funds to develop its new CFC fitout, which would support distribution, support potential future expansion and reduce labour costs.

In a recent progress video, Booktopia showcased its progress on the CFC, including some of the features expected to sit in the new centre.

A Booktopia spokesperson told iTnews the centre “is progressing in line with expectations and we are on track to be operational at the end of August."

Once complete, the centre will contain two automated packaging systems, by CMC and Ranpak. 

The company is also expecting to procure packaging technology by iPack Solutions as well.

The CFC is also home to robots with facial expressions, as spotted in the update video.

Booktopia's spokesperson confirmed that “robots are on site and in mapping mode with active testing to begin in the coming weeks and expected to be operational in August."

There are six robotic expressions that were “selected by the team at Booktopia” and added “added to reflect some personality into the CFC and make interacting with the robots more personal”, the spokesperson said.

“We are naming each robot in the coming weeks and these names will reflect authors and literary characters.

"These have again been chosen by the Booktopia team.” 

In a recent forecast, the company predicted its FY24 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is expected to reach $13.5 million with the completion of the new CFC.