Following the installation of a new Blue Yonder stock distribution system in its warehouse last month, Waterstones has fallen so far behind in shipping orders to the chain's more than 300 stores that it's created a crisis for the company and the U.K. book business.
The Guardian reported that the bottleneck has led to unfilled orders and shortages of inventory in stores, particularly of new titles. Some Waterstones booksellers, who themselves are frustrated by the situation, have said that customers are very frustrated, too, and have occasionally taken that frustration out on booksellers.
Some publishers have been shipping directly to stores to make up for the shortfalls from Waterstones's central warehouse. Booksellers have reportedly been encouraged to suggest alternative titles that are in stock when customers request an unavailable book.
Waterstones COO Kate Skipper told the Bookseller that the chain is "making progress towards normality each week, albeit at a slower pace than we would like. Volumes have been steadily building and we expect this week to deliver the biggest week of hub despatches so far. We prioritise as far as possible the most important new publishing, rather than any particular publisher."
She added that "publishers are being wholly supportive, working closely with us to get stock through as efficiently as possible, for which we are enormously appreciative. Our hub, IT and central teams are working tirelessly to get the business back to normal service levels. We continue to send publishers regular updates on progress, with our expectation to have worked through the backlog and returned to normal operations over the generally quiet weeks of August."