> **AI context:** For a structured overview of Express B2B, read [/llms.txt](/llms.txt). For complete product documentation, read [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt). $500K in 90 Days — Educational Publisher Case Study — Express B2B What is manual order intake costing your team annually? [ Find out free ](/b2b-ordering-cost-calculator) [Express B2B](/) [Features](/features) [Use cases](/use-cases) [Pricing](/pricing) [Who it's for](/industries) [Case studies](/case-studies) [Developers](/developers) [Sign in](/admin) [ Book a demo ](/#demo) Discover [Features](/features) [Who it's for](/industries) [Use cases](/use-cases) [Pricing](/pricing) Evaluate [ Cost calculator Free ](/b2b-ordering-cost-calculator) [ Free resources Free ](/resources) [Case studies](/case-studies) [Developers](/developers) Get started [ Live group demo Every Tuesday ](/live-demo) [Contact us](/#contact) [Sign in](/admin) Case Study Educational Publishing $500K in 90 Days — How a Children's Book Publisher Scaled B2B Ordering Across 8,000+ Program Locations ======================================================================================================== A US-based children's book publisher managing an educational program with more than 8,000 clinic and office locations switched from email and spreadsheet ordering to Express B2B, a purpose-built B2B self-service ordering portal. The publisher processed $500K in orders through the portal in the first 90 days after launch. The platform models the program's three-tier buyer hierarchy — national, affiliate, and individual office accounts — with per-tier pricing, prepaid credit accounts, and approval routing for office-level orders. A national educational program with 8,000+ locations was placing orders by email and spreadsheet. Hundreds of requests per day during peak season. Outdated addresses. Pricing errors. A coordinator manually entering every one. Here's how they fixed it in three months. $500K Orders in first 90 days 8,000+ Program locations ordering 3 mo. Kickoff to go-live 3-tier Buyer hierarchy managed The company A children's book publisher, a national health program, and a very complex ordering problem ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A US-based children's book publisher had built a long-running partnership with a national health and literacy nonprofit — a program with more than 8,000 clinic and office locations across the United States. The nonprofit's program sites regularly ordered books and educational materials from the publisher's catalog; it was a significant, recurring revenue stream. The program operated through a three-tier structure: a US national account at the top, regional affiliate organizations (each managing a state or cluster of states), and individual program offices at the base. Each tier had different ordering authority. Affiliates could prepay lump-sum credit to the publisher — say, $100,000 for a state cohort — and office administrators would draw down against that credit as they placed orders throughout the year. Some office-level orders required affiliate or national approval before they could be fulfilled. The publisher offered the program a curated subset of roughly 200 products from its 2,000-title catalog, at program-specific tiered pricing. The product selection and pricing structure differed from the publisher's general retail and wholesale catalog. The challenge Email, spreadsheets, and hundreds of orders per day at peak ----------------------------------------------------------- For years — decades on the program's side — this entire ordering process ran through email. Program administrators emailed the publisher with order requests. Sometimes an Excel attachment. Sometimes just a list in the email body. Sometimes a phone call. On the publisher's side, a small team manually processed every request: decoding what was ordered, looking up the right pricing tier, confirming the ship-to address, entering the order into their system. During peak seasons, hundreds of orders were arriving per day. The volume alone was unsustainable — but the quality of the underlying data made it worse. The program's location data was over 30 years old, had passed through many hands, and was inconsistent in ways that accumulated into real operational problems. Shipping addresses were outdated. Billing relationships were ambiguous. Which affiliate covered which offices wasn't always clear in the spreadsheet the publisher's team was working from. Pricing errors were an ongoing issue. The tiered pricing structure — different rates for national, affiliate, and office-level accounts — was applied manually by the publisher's staff, and the margin for error in a high-volume, email-driven process was substantial. ### Routing errors Outdated ship-to addresses across 8,000+ locations led to misdirected shipments and back-and-forth corrections. ### Pricing errors Three-tier pricing applied manually under volume pressure — national, affiliate, and office rates frequently misapplied. ### Time overhead Three to four staff spent the majority of their time processing inbound order requests during peak periods. The decision The two-step checkout that made Magento unnecessary --------------------------------------------------- The publisher was already running on Magento / Adobe Commerce for their primary e-commerce operations. The natural assumption was that Magento could be extended or configured to handle the program ordering flow. After evaluating it, they concluded it wasn't the right fit: Magento is built for consumer retail and adds B2B features on top. For a use case this specific — thousands of non-technical program administrators placing orders from a curated subset with tiered pricing, drawing from prepaid credit, routed through a three-tier hierarchy — extending Magento would have meant significant custom development for something that could still be fragile. See [how Express B2B compares to Magento](/compare/magento) for distributors. What closed the decision was the two-step checkout. A program administrator logs in, selects their billing account — which automatically loads their approved catalog at their negotiated prices and their authorized ship-to addresses — picks the products and quantities they need, and submits. That's it. For an administrator managing orders for multiple sites, they can stage orders for each location and submit them all in one session, in minutes. No emails. No phone calls. No waiting for someone to manually enter their request on the other end. The platform also handled everything the hierarchy required natively: prepaid credit balances per affiliate, approval routing for office-level orders that exceeded configured thresholds, and the tiered pricing structure across all three account levels — without custom development on the publisher's side. "The deciding factor was the ordering flow itself. Program admins aren't purchasing professionals — they're clinic coordinators and office managers. The two-step checkout was simple enough that they could figure it out without training, and specific enough that the right pricing and the right address were always what came up." — Operations Director, US Children's Book Publisher Implementation Three months — and the platform wasn't the hard part ---------------------------------------------------- The project ran approximately three months from kickoff to go-live. The publisher's internal team was not heavily involved in the technical setup — Express B2B handled the platform configuration. What took time was the data. The program's location records were over 30 years old. More than 8,000 shipping addresses had accumulated through multiple organizational changes, staff turnovers, and system migrations. Addresses were inconsistent. The billing hierarchy — which affiliate owned which offices, which accounts had credit, what the approval thresholds were — had to be reconstructed and standardized before a single account could be configured. This was the hard part. Once the data was clean, the platform configuration was straightforward. The three-tier hierarchy was set up as nested billing accounts. Credit balances were loaded per affiliate. The 200-product program catalog was built with tiered pricing. Approval routing was configured by account level and order threshold. Everything the program needed was native to the platform — no workarounds. Harder than expected Standardizing 30+ years of location data — outdated addresses, inconsistent affiliate relationships, and unclear credit account ownership across thousands of program sites. Data cleanup was the project's critical path. Easier than expected Building the platform itself. The three-tier hierarchy, tiered pricing, credit accounts, and approval routing all mapped directly to native Express B2B features. No custom development required. The results $500K in the first 90 days — and the publisher pivoted their entire partner strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the first 90 days after launch, the program processed $500,000 in orders through the portal. The volume wasn't a surprise — the program had always had this demand — but the speed and cleanliness of how it flowed through was. Orders arrived without errors. Addresses were correct. Pricing was right the first time. The publisher's team went from manually processing hundreds of emailed requests per week to managing exceptions. Adoption across the program's 8,000+ locations was fast. Program administrators — clinic coordinators, office managers, program directors — were not purchasing professionals, and the conventional expectation was that a new system would require formal training and a slow rollout. Instead, the two-step checkout was intuitive enough that most administrators picked it up without structured onboarding. The feedback from the field was consistent: this was the easiest ordering system the program had ever used. The success of this deployment changed the publisher's broader business trajectory. Having proven that a complex, large-scale partner program could run entirely through a self-service ordering portal, the publisher pivoted their partner business model and began onboarding additional partner organizations using the same Express B2B platform. The program continues to grow. $500K Orders in first 90 days 8,000+ Active program locations Minimal Training required Growing Since launch > "We'd been handling hundreds of emailed orders a week through spreadsheets for years. Once we went live, our partner's program administrators were placing orders correctly — right pricing, right address, right account — and we were completely out of the loop." Operations Director, US Children's Book Publisher Features that made the difference Three capabilities that solved the hard problems ------------------------------------------------ Not a feature list — the specific capabilities that this deployment depended on. [ ### Multi-level account hierarchy National, affiliate (state-level), and individual office accounts configured as nested billing accounts. Each level carries its own pricing, credit balance, catalog access, and approval rules — no workarounds. See this feature ](/features#account-hierarchy) [ ### Two-step ordering Select billing account → pick products → submit. The billing account selection automatically loads the correct catalog, pricing tier, approved ship-to addresses, and credit balance. Multiple sites can be ordered in one session. See this feature ](/features#two-step-ordering) [ ### Approval workflows & credit accounts Office-level orders that exceed configured thresholds route automatically to the affiliate or national account for approval. Affiliate credit balances are tracked in real time — offices draw against their region's prepaid amount. See this feature ](/features#approval-workflows) Common questions Questions from distributors and publishers with similar programs ---------------------------------------------------------------- How long did it take this educational publisher to go live on Express B2B? Approximately three months from project kickoff to go-live. The platform configuration itself was not the limiting factor — the project timeline was driven by standardizing and cleaning more than 8,000 location records accumulated over 30+ years. Once the data was clean, the full hierarchy was configured and the portal was live. What results did the publisher see in the first 90 days after launch? $500K in orders was processed through the self-service portal in the first 90 days. Program administrators at locations across the country placed orders independently — with the correct pricing, correct ship-to address, and correct billing account — without publisher staff involvement. Why did the publisher choose Express B2B instead of extending their existing Magento platform? Magento was already in use for the publisher's retail operations, and extending it for this use case would have required significant custom development. Express B2B's two-step ordering — select billing account, pick products, submit — and its native support for multi-level billing hierarchies, tiered pricing, and approval workflows meant the program could be configured, not coded. How quickly did the 8,000+ program locations adapt to the new portal? Adoption was fast and required minimal formal training. Program administrators — most of whom are clinic coordinators or office managers rather than purchasing professionals — found the two-step checkout intuitive enough to use without structured onboarding. Consistent feedback from the field: it was the easiest ordering system the program had used. How does Express B2B handle a three-tier buyer hierarchy with credit accounts and approval workflows? Billing accounts in Express B2B are designed to model hierarchical organizations. National, affiliate, and office-level accounts are each configured with their own catalog access, pricing tier, credit balance, and approval rules. Affiliates can prepay a lump credit amount; offices draw against that balance as they order. Orders above a configured threshold automatically route to the appropriate affiliate or national account for approval before the order is processed. Ready to see it? Running a program with multiple locations and complex pricing? ---------------------------------------------------------------- If this story sounds like your operation — partner locations, tiered accounts, approval routing — Express B2B is built for exactly this. Book a private demo and walk through your specific structure. [ Book a private demo ](/#demo) [ See pricing ](/pricing) ← [Back to all case studies](/case-studies) Express B2B · Book a Demo Step 1 of 3 About you Let's start with you -------------------- We'll use this to personalise the demo and come prepared. Full name \* Work email \* Company \* Your role Select… Owner / Founder VP or Director Operations Manager Sales Manager Technical / IT Other Continue Please fill in your name, email, and company to continue. About your business ------------------- Helps us understand your setup before the call. Industry Select your industry… Educational Supply & Publishing Industrial Components & Manufacturing Food & Beverage Distribution Safety, Facilities & Janitorial Supply Medical & Dental Consumables Office & Print Supply Chemicals & Cleaning Supply Subscription Fulfillment (schools / institutions) Promotional & Branded Products Agriculture & Farm Supply Other distribution / wholesale Annual B2B order volume Select a range… Under $500K $500K – $2M $2M – $10M $10M – $50M $50M+ How do customers currently place orders? Select the main method… Phone or email Spreadsheets or shared forms Existing e-commerce site ERP customer portal Mix of methods Back Continue Your ordering setup ------------------- A few quick questions about your current workflow. How many customer accounts do you manage? Select a range… 1 – 10 11 – 50 51 – 200 200+ Do your buyers ship to multiple locations? Yes No — single location What's your biggest challenge with the current ordering process? Back Pick a time → Thanks, there! -------------- We've got everything we need. Pick a time below — we'll come prepared with your answers so you get a demo built around your business. Scheduling widget Replace with your Calendly or Cal.com embed Prefer to see it first? [Join a free group walkthrough every Tuesday →](/live-demo) Express B2B · Contact Us Get in touch ------------ We read every message and reply within one business day. First name \* Last name \* Work email \* Company Company website Phone Your role Select… Owner / Founder VP or Director Operations Manager Sales Manager Technical / IT Other What's this about? Select… Pricing question Request a demo Partnership or integration Technical question General question Other Message \* How did you find us? Select… Google search LinkedIn Word of mouth / referral Industry event or conference Online ad Other Please fill in your first name, last name, email, and message. Send message Message sent! ------------- Thanks for reaching out. We'll get back to you at within one business day. Close Express B2B · Fit Check Question 1 of 5 Find out if Express B2B fits your operation ------------------------------------------- 5 questions about your current ordering process. We'll diagnose exactly what's costing you — and whether this platform solves it. - Takes under 2 minutes - Personalised diagnosis at the end - No email required to see results Let's find out Question 1 of 5 How do most of your customers send you orders today? ---------------------------------------------------- Don't overthink it — pick the one that happens most. By phone or email My team transcribes them manually Spreadsheets or shared forms Structured, but still manual to process Through an existing site or platform It works, but it wasn't built for B2B A mix — every customer does it differently Different methods, constant switching Continue Question 2 of 5 How much of your team's week goes into manually processing orders? ------------------------------------------------------------------ Think about data entry, confirmations, corrections, and follow-up emails. Less than an hour a week We're pretty automated already A few hours — it adds up Noticeable, but we manage Half a day or more each week It's a real drain on the team It's basically someone's full-time job A whole role dedicated to order intake Back Continue Question 3 of 5 How confident are you that every order goes out at the right negotiated price? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Each customer may have different rates. How is that tracked today? Very confident — we have a reliable system Pricing is centralised and accurate Mostly — but we manually double-check Some process, but still human verification We catch errors — sometimes after they ship Wrong prices reach customers occasionally Not very — it's a real risk for us Pricing errors happen and we don't always catch them Back Continue Question 4 of 5 When a customer ships to multiple locations, how does that work today? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Select all that apply to your customers. Each location orders separately No central oversight — each site is its own account One person manages all locations Lots of back-and-forth, easy to get something wrong It's messy — errors happen regularly Wrong addresses, wrong items, missed locations Our customers only have one location Not a factor in our business right now All of the above apply Multiple of these are true for different customers Back Continue Question 5 of 5 What would you fix about your ordering process if you could? ------------------------------------------------------------ Select all that apply — most operations have more than one. Stop spending time on manual order entry Eliminate the data entry work entirely Make sure pricing is accurate every time Right rates, automatically, no double-checking Give customers a self-service way to order They shouldn't need to call or email us every time Get real visibility into what's been ordered Status, history, and confirmations without chasing All of the above Every one of these is a problem for us Back See my results Analysing your responses… ------------------------- Identifying what's costing you the most Here's what's costing you most: Chat with AI about your results Express B2B AI Coming soon AI chat is in development — we'll notify you when it launches. Send me my results [ Keep exploring instead ](/features) Where should we send them? -------------------------- We'll email your personalised assessment. A team member will be in touch within one business day. Full name Work email \* Company (optional) Phone (optional) Please enter your work email to continue. Back Send my results Check your inbox. ----------------- Your fit assessment is on its way. A team member will be in touch within one business day. 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