How Adlibris achieved 11.5% higher checkout conversion with a modern commerce setup

  • 11.5% higher checkout conversion
    From 55.4% to 61.8% in an A/B test against the previous solution
  • Five months to a new ecommerce platform
    A major rebuild of Adlibris’ ecommerce foundation
  • A more connected purchase experience
    Integrating delivery directly into the checkout

"There is nothing more rewarding than when a technical improvement truly makes a difference for customers. The new checkout makes the purchase experience at Adlibris more intuitive and seamless, and the fact that customers appreciate the improvement is clearly reflected in the numbers."

Stina Rafner, Head of Online Sales & Growth at Adlibris

Adlibris has been helping people find their next read since 1997. Today, it is the largest online bookstore in the Nordics, with a catalogue of millions of products and customers across the region.

Nearly three decades of growth also meant nearly three decades of evolving technology. Over time, Adlibris’ e-commerce setup had become increasingly complex to maintain and develop. The company wanted greater flexibility to keep improving how it operates and how customers shop, without locking the business into another rigid setup.

Challenge

Moving beyond a complex legacy setup

For Adlibris, the limitations of the previous platform were increasingly getting in the way of everyday e-commerce. Changes that should have been relatively simple, from launching campaigns to adjusting pricing, could turn into technical projects requiring significant time and operational resources. 

Beyond the technical challenges, Adlibris also saw an opportunity to improve the purchase journey itself. Payment and delivery had previously been handled as separate parts of the checkout. But to a shopper, they are part of the same decision: how do I want to receive my order, how much will it cost and how do I want to pay?

Adlibris decided to rebuild its e-commerce foundation around a modular approach that could bring commerce, checkout and delivery together while giving each part room to evolve. The entire new platform went live in just five months.

Solution

Bringing commerce, checkout and delivery together

Adlibris built its new setup with Brink Commerce as the commerce platform, Kustom powering the checkout and Ingrid providing the delivery intelligence. By integrating Ingrid into Kustom Checkout, delivery became part of the same flow as identification and payment, creating a more connected checkout experience for shoppers.

Behind the scenes, each part of the ecosystem can focus on what it does best while sharing more context across the purchase journey. This creates a common foundation for understanding how customers shop and where the journey can be improved.

For Adlibris, that opens up possibilities beyond today's setup. Shared data can create more opportunities to tailor the journey to different shoppers, optimize how options are presented and test what actually drives better outcomes. And because the architecture is modular, each part can continue to evolve independently.

"Moving to a modular commerce platform enables our teams to work faster and build better experiences. We wanted a solid foundation that enables us to be ready for whatever comes next, and that is exactly what we have now."
Magnus Nyström, CTO at Adlibris

Result

An 11.5% lift in checkout conversion

A new architecture can offer more flexibility behind the scenes. But Adlibris also wanted to know whether customers would actually notice the difference where it matters. So the team put the new experience to the test.

Between June 3 and 9, Adlibris ran a controlled A/B test, splitting traffic between its previous site and the newly launched solution built on Brink Commerce, Kustom and Ingrid. The result was clear: checkout conversion increased from 55.4% to 61.8%, a relative uplift of 11.5%. That means more customers completing their purchases from the same traffic, without the need to increase investment in customer acquisition.

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The takeaway?

For Adlibris, bringing Brink Commerce, Kustom and Ingrid together created a more connected purchase journey for customers and a more flexible setup behind the scenes. The new setup gives Adlibris a stronger foundation for what comes next, with more room to test, adapt and keep improving over time.

For a company that has spent nearly 30 years helping people find their next book, it’s a fitting next chapter.

Friction gone. Conversions on.

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