Frequently Asked Questions¶

General¶

What is Emersoft Books?¶

Emersoft Books is a Shopify app that connects your store to Ingram Content Group's catalog, automated Consumer Direct Fulfillment (CDF Lite), and Pubnet EDI purchasing. It lets you search Ingram's full catalog, import books as Shopify products, and fulfill customer orders automatically — all from inside Shopify Admin.

Who is this app for?¶

The app is used by independent bookshops, online-only booksellers, authors, small publishers, and TikTok Shop book sellers. See the home page for a breakdown of use cases by store type.

Is Emersoft Books on the Shopify App Store?¶

Yes. You can install it directly from the Shopify App Store. After installation, the Emersoft team reaches out to schedule your assisted onboarding session — all plans include this.

Does the app work outside the US?¶

Yes. Ingram ships internationally. Prices can be converted from USD to your store's currency at import.

Do I need to set up my own Ingram CDF Lite account?¶

Not necessarily. There are two options, and both give you identical app behavior:

Emersoft's master CDF Lite account — the default for newer and smaller booksellers (roughly under $25,000/year in online book sales). Fulfillment runs through our shared Ingram account, so there's no Ingram application, no 2-week setup wait, and no credentials for you to manage. Install the app and you're ready to dispatch orders.
Your own CDF Lite account — an option for larger, established booksellers who want a direct commercial relationship with Ingram (for example, to negotiate your own discount tier). You apply to Ingram, wait up to 2 weeks for approval, and share the credentials with the Emersoft team during onboarding.

If you're not sure which fits your store, get in touch — the team will recommend based on your volume and goals. See Requirements — CDF Lite fulfillment account for the full comparison.

What do I need to provide for my onboarding session?¶

The specifics depend on your plan and whether you're using your own CDF Lite account, but the core checklist is:

Collaborator access to your Shopify store — your internal .myshopify.com URL, plus a collaborator access code if your store requires one.
Your CDF Lite credentials — only if you're using your own account (Option B). Login, password, Bill-to and Ship-to account numbers, and Ship-to password. If you don't have them, ask the Ingram sales rep who set up the account.
Your Pubnet credentials — only if you're on Omnichannel Pro and plan to use purchase orders. FTP credentials, Bill-to SAN, Mailbox ID, and a Ship-to SAN for each physical location.

See What to prepare for onboarding for the full list and details.

Catalog & Importing¶

I imported a book but it's not showing on my store — why?¶

Books are imported as draft products and are not added to any sales channel automatically. To make a book visible on your storefront:

Go to Shopify Admin > Products and open the product.
Change the status from Draft to Active.
Under Sales channels, add it to your Online Store.
Save.

See Import a Single Book for a full walkthrough.

How many books can I import?¶

The Author / Starter plan supports up to 20 books. Growth and Omnichannel Pro plans have no import limit. See Plans & Pricing.

What information is included when I import a book?¶

Each import includes: title, author, description, cover image, ISBN, publisher, publication date, price, cost, BISAC subject tags, audience type, and awards where available. See Import a Single Book for the full field list.

What format are the BISAC subject tags in?¶

BISAC subject tags include a level number prefix so you can tell where each subject sits in the hierarchy. For example, a book classified as Fiction | Romance | Romantic Comedy gets three tags: 1:Fiction, 2:Romance, and 3:Romantic Comedy. This makes it straightforward to build Shopify Smart Collections or filters by broad genre, sub-genre, or specific category. See BISAC subject tags for more detail.

Are imported books set as taxable in Shopify?¶

Yes — books are imported with Shopify's Charge tax setting enabled by default. If books are tax-exempt in your region, you will need to uncheck this on each product manually after a single import. For bulk imports, the Emersoft team can disable tax on all products in the job — let them know when setting up the import.

Does the app know my specific Ingram discount?¶

Not automatically. The cost price populated at import is based on Ingram's standard wholesale pricing data — it does not reflect your account-specific discount tier. If you have a negotiated discount with Ingram, you can apply it using a custom cost rule in Bulk Import (e.g. "Ingram price minus 10%"), which adjusts the cost across your entire import batch.

When using the Pubnet EDI purchase orders, the cost can be updated from your actual Pubnet order data, which will reflect your negotiated supplier pricing rather than the Ingram standard wholesale value.

Can I list books on my Shopify store that I don't carry in my physical shop?¶

Yes — this is one of the most common ways stores use the app. Import the title via the Emersoft Books app, set the new product to Active, and add it to your Online Store sales channel. By default the product is assigned to the Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram location, so you don't need to manage stock counts yourself — when a customer orders it, Ingram fulfills and ships directly to them.

If you also stock the title physically, add your shop's location to the product as well so customers can buy from your shelf or online. See Flexible fulfillment routing for setting the priority between your own stock and Ingram.

A customer wants to order a book in-store that I haven't imported yet — what's the quickest workflow?¶

The product needs to exist in Shopify before you can ring it up, but importing through the app takes only a few seconds:

In Apps > Emersoft Books, type the ISBN into the ISBN field for an instant exact match.
Click Add to store to import.
Open the product in Shopify Admin > Products, set the status to Active, and add it to the Point of Sale sales channel.
Ring up the sale through Shopify POS.

If the customer prefers Ingram to ship the book to them rather than walking out with a copy, the same product is already linked to Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram, so an order assigned to that location dispatches to Ingram automatically. See Importing on demand at the POS counter for the full workflow.

Can I sell pre-order titles before they are published?¶

Yes. Ingram accepts backorders on upcoming titles. When you import a pre-order, customers can purchase it immediately and Ingram ships as soon as the book is available. If the product shows as "Sold Out" on your storefront before the release date, enable Continue selling when out of stock on the product in Shopify Admin. See Import a Single Book for details.

Will my product data stay up to date?¶

Yes. Prices, descriptions, cover images, and availability update automatically via Ingram's feed. Publication dates for pre-orders update on publication day.

What happens to a product if I edit it manually?¶

Manually edited fields are not overwritten by sync. If you want to reset a field to Ingram's latest data, run a Bulk Import job in Create and update mode with only that field selected.

Fulfillment¶

How do I know CDF Lite fulfillment is working correctly?¶

The best way is to place a test buy — import a book, publish it to your Online Store, go through your own storefront checkout using your own shipping address, and complete the order. Ingram will ship the book to you. If the fulfillment fails or no tracking arrives within a couple of business days, contact support — the Emersoft team can check the logs.

Common reasons a test buy fails:

Option A (Emersoft's master account): shipping rates not configured on the Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram location, or the product not published to a sales channel.
Option B (your own CDF Lite account): the Ingram account not yet fully activated, or a payment method not added to the Ingram account.

Both are quick fixes once identified.

A book shows out of stock at Ingram — can I still sell it?¶

Yes. Ingram accepts backorders on in-print titles. When a customer orders a book that is temporarily out of stock at Ingram, the order is held as a backorder and fulfilled as soon as stock is restored. The app updates the Shopify order with tracking when Ingram ships, and Shopify notifies your customer automatically — no manual action needed.

To keep selling an out-of-stock book, enable Continue selling when out of stock on the product in Shopify Admin so it doesn't show as unavailable on your storefront.

By default, Ingram holds backorders for up to 90 days. You can adjust this in the CDF Lite Settings.

If a customer orders multiple pre-orders with different release dates, when do they ship?¶

It depends on the Order Type configured for your store and the order's cancel date:

LS – Dual Shipment (the default): Up to two shipments per order — one on the order date for anything in stock, one on the cancel date for everything that's been allocated by then. Any pre-order whose publication date is after the cancel date will be canceled, even if it's a not-yet-released title. So a customer ordering three pre-orders releasing months apart will receive them in one combined shipment on the cancel date — or not at all, if the latest title hasn't released by then.
EL – Multi Shipment (with the account-level release flag set to R): Each pre-order ships on its own as it releases. The customer can receive several separate shipments over weeks or months.
RF – Release when Full: Nothing ships until every pre-order has released. The customer waits for the latest title before receiving anything.

For most stores, LS is fine. If you sell a lot of pre-orders with widely-spaced release dates, consider switching to EL — see Order Types & Pre-orders for the full breakdown, an example, and how to choose.

Do I need to do anything when a customer places an order?¶

No. Orders for Ingram-fulfilled products are dispatched automatically. Tracking syncs back to the Shopify order. You only need to act if a fulfillment fails (you will receive an email notification).

Can I send existing Shopify orders to Ingram retroactively?¶

Yes — for orders that are still Unfulfilled. The product on the order must be linked to the Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram location first. Books imported through the app get this automatically; products that already existed in your Shopify store before you installed the app need to be enriched (see Enriching an existing catalog).

Once the product is enriched, open the order in Shopify Admin > Orders, change the fulfillment line's location to Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram, and click Request fulfillment — Ingram takes it from there. Tracking syncs back to the Shopify order once Ingram ships, just like any other CDF Lite order.

The Emersoft team can help with both the enrichment and the order updates if you have a backlog. See Routing existing orders to Ingram for the full step-by-step.

How do I know which carrier (USPS, UPS, or DHL) will ship an order?¶

The carrier is determined by the Ingram shipping method that is sent with the order — Ingram does not choose a carrier on a per-order basis. Each Ingram method always maps to one carrier:

USPS handles USA Economy (Media Mail), Expedited Mail (USPS Ground Advantage), and Priority Mail
UPS handles Ground, 2nd Day Air, 3 Day Select, Next Day Air Saver, and Next Day Air
DHL handles all international shipments (INTL Standard, INTL Priority, INTL Courier)

Which Ingram method is sent for a given order depends on the Shopify shipping option the customer selected at checkout and how that option is mapped in Settings > CDF Lite > Shipping. Once you know the mapping, you can tell in advance which carrier will ship any order — useful for margin planning when setting your storefront rates against Ingram's rate sheet.

See Shipping Methods & Carriers for the full list of Ingram methods, carrier assignments, and PO Box eligibility.

What if a title goes out of stock at Ingram after a customer orders it?¶

The app will flag the fulfillment as failed and notify you by email. You will need to contact the customer directly. See Ingram CDF Lite for more detail on failure handling.

How fast does Ingram ship a CDF order?¶

Orders received by Ingram by 10:00 AM local DC time ship the same day — this applies to both stocked and print-on-demand titles. Orders received after that cutoff ship the next business day. Ingram routes each order to the distribution center closest to the customer's zip code (LaVergne TN, Ft. Wayne IN, Chambersburg PA, or Roseburg OR), which keeps transit times and freight costs low. See Ingram's fulfillment network for more.

How do customer returns work with CDF Lite?¶

Return volumes are typically under 2% for CDF orders, and Ingram offers two return options at the account level:

Bulk Returns — your customer ships the book back to your address; you consolidate and ship to Ingram's Returns Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana in a monthly bulk shipment.
Ingram Direct Returns — your customer ships the book directly to Ingram; Ingram processes the return and charges you a flat $1.25 per unit.

Trade-discount titles are credited at 48% off list price back to your Ingram account (regardless of which option you use). You refund your customer through Shopify as normal — the two flows are independent. If you're on Option A (Emersoft's master CDF Lite account), contact support for the first return on your store and the team will walk you through the flow. See Returns & Cancellations for the full reference.

Does Ingram talk to my customers directly?¶

No. Ingram operates a Tier II B2B support model — they support you (the bookseller) but do not interact with end consumers. If a customer has a question about a shipment or return, you contact Ingram on their behalf and relay the answer. Have the Purchase Order Number ready — see Finding the Purchase Order Number.

How long does Ingram keep my customer's information?¶

Ingram deletes all consumer shipping information (name, address) 40 days after shipment. If you need Ingram to look up historical order details for a customer, do it within that window.

What does Ingram charge per order on Option B (my own CDF Lite account)?¶

As a reference for margin planning:

Pick and pack — $0.70 per unit, capped at $4.00 per line of the same title.
Freight — UPS and USPS published rates (carrier depends on the shipping method — see Shipping Methods & Carriers).
Trade discount — 40% off list price on standard trade titles. Short, Long, and Net discount titles follow the structure in Ingram's inventory feed.
Returns credit — 48% off list price on trade titles when returned, plus $1.25 per unit if using Ingram Direct Returns.

Option A customers (Emersoft's master CDF Lite account) aren't billed by Ingram directly — your CDF costs are rolled into your Emersoft Books subscription. See CDF Lite Pricing for the full breakdown and a worked margin example.

I heard Ingram changed how return credits work — is that true?¶

Yes. Effective March 2, 2026, Ingram no longer auto-refunds returns to the original payment method on the Ingram account. Instead, return value is credited to your Ingram account for future purchases or applied against outstanding balances. This applies to Option B accounts only — Option A customers are unaffected since the Ingram account is managed by Emersoft. If you need to update the payment method on your Ingram account, email [email protected].

Can I use Emersoft Books without selling through Ingram?¶

The catalog import and metadata sync features work independently of fulfillment. You can import books and manage them yourself without using CDF Lite. However, CDF Lite is what makes automated fulfillment possible.

Pubnet Purchase Orders¶

Do I need a Pubnet account to use the app?¶

Only if you want to use the purchase order features. Pubnet EDI is part of the Omnichannel Pro plan. Catalog search, importing, and fulfillment do not require a Pubnet account.

Can I submit POs to any publisher?¶

You can submit POs to any publisher or distributor that participates in the Pubnet EDI network. The app includes a built-in list of all supported Pubnet suppliers — browse and select them in Settings > Providers > Pubnet > Suppliers. You must also have an established trading relationship with each supplier under your SAN before orders can be accepted. For general Pubnet guidance, visit info.pubnet.org/support/for-booksellers.

What is a SAN?¶

A Standard Address Number (SAN) is a seven-digit identifier used across the book trade to uniquely identify publishers, distributors, and booksellers. You need a Bill to SAN for your business (as the buyer) and a Ship to SAN for each physical store location you are ordering stock for — Pubnet treats each location as a separate account. See Pubnet Setup & Credentials for details.

I operate multiple store locations. Do I need separate SANs for each?¶

Yes. Pubnet treats each physical location as a separate account, with its own SAN and its own trading relationship with each supplier. Each location that will place or receive orders needs its own Ship to SAN entered in Settings > Providers > Pubnet. See Pubnet Setup & Credentials.

I submitted a PO but it hasn't been accepted yet — what should I do?¶

Most publishers respond within one business day. If 48 hours have passed with no response, contact support — the Emersoft team can check the EDI transmission logs to confirm whether the order was delivered to the publisher's Pubnet mailbox. You can also check the PO's activity log in the app for a record of all transmission events.

What does "Accepted" status mean on a PO?¶

Accepted means the publisher has sent back their EDI 855 response. This does not necessarily mean every item was confirmed as ordered — open the PO to see the full breakdown: items accepted (with ordered vs. confirmed quantities), items backordered, and any items rejected or canceled with reasons.

Can I add a book to a PO that isn't in my Shopify store yet?¶

Not directly. POs are built from products already in your Shopify catalog. If a title you want to order is not yet imported, go to the catalog search view, find the book, import it to your store, and then add it to the PO. See Import a Single Book.

What if not all items on a PO arrive at the same time?¶

This is handled naturally by the shipment-by-shipment receiving flow. Once a PO is in Shipped status, each delivery from the publisher appears as a separate shipment on the PO — you receive each one as it arrives. The PO stays open until all shipments are confirmed. If the quantity in a specific delivery is short, enter what you actually received in the overlay and the discrepancy is recorded. See Receiving a Shipment for the full process.

Does receiving a shipment update my Shopify inventory?¶

Yes — immediately. When you confirm receipt, Shopify inventory increases at the destination location by exactly the quantities you confirmed. The update applies within seconds.

Plans & Billing¶

What is included in assisted onboarding?¶

Onboarding covers: connecting fulfillment (through Emersoft's master CDF Lite account or your own Ingram account, depending on your setup), setting up shipping rates for the Emersoft Books Fulfillment - Ingram location, installing the Shopify Flow workflow for pre-order management, configuring the Book Details Widget on your product pages, and completing your initial catalog setup. Growth and Pro plans also include a concierge catalog build — the Emersoft team can build your initial catalog for you. See pricing.

I have multiple physical store locations in Shopify — how does that affect pricing?¶

Every plan includes one physical POS location. If your Shopify store has more than one physical POS location connected, each additional location is charged at $100 / month.

This is because Emersoft Books is an Ingram data reseller, and under Ingram's licensing terms, each physical store location is treated as a separate account accessing the catalog data — even when they share a single Shopify instance. Get in touch before subscribing so the Emersoft team can confirm the correct total for your setup.

Can I change plans?¶

Yes. Contact the Emersoft team to discuss upgrading or downgrading. Upgrades take effect immediately.

Have a question not answered here? Get in touch with support.