Gardners strikes deal with ecommerce firm Monwell

Gardners Books has joined forces with ecommerce firm Monwell Ltd in a new partnership that will see the wholesalers take on the Guardian Bookshop account and launch a new online bookshop. 

The deal will see Gardners take over fulfilment for the Guardian online bookshop from Bertrams by the end of September. Monwell, founded by the Guardian store’s former head of books Sara Montgomery and its former ecommerce manager Nick Sidwell, bought the bookshop in 2016.

Monwell, which provides customers with websites for their online stores, stock management and customer data,  will launch a new online media bookshop - its first with Gardners - later this month. Enjoy Books More! will be the online bookshop of Archant Community Media, publishers of over 140 regional newspapers, as well as a wide range of specialist magazines and websites.

Sara Montgomery, co-founder of Monwell, said: “We care passionately about providing our clients with the best possible service and that means giving their customers access to a broad catalogue of books, backed up by slick delivery and great customer service. We believe that the combination of Monwell’s industry-leading technology alongside Gardners’ fulfilment capabilities will allow us to make ecommerce available to a wide range of clients, from independent bookstores to major publishers.”

Announcing the new partnership, Gardners said the strategic aim "is to enable more companies to bring affordable, branded online shops to their audiences" with access to the wholesalers' catalogue and fulfilment services.

Nigel Wyman, head of business development at Gardners, added: “We look forward to working closely with them on new exciting projects to bring affordable branded ecommerce solutions to the bookselling community. Our combined experience should make for a solid partnership offering a first-class service.”