Christian book retailer recovering after ‘network outage’ impacted order fulfillment
One of the largest Christian book retailers in the United States is recovering from a network outage that began earlier this month and prevented it from fulfilling orders.
A spokesperson for the Peabody, Massachusetts-based Christianbook emailed The Christian Post an update Thursday, reporting that things were returning to normal.
"We are in the process of determining the cause and full impact of the outage but are pleased to report that thanks to the tireless work and dedication of our employees and [information technology] professionals, all backlogged orders have been shipped, communications with customers and business partners have resumed, and we are able to receive and process new orders," the update reads.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Christianbook, formerly known as Christian Book Distributors, offered its "sincere thanks to our loyal and patient customers who have stood by us during this challenging time."
On April 4, Christianbook took to its Facebook account to announce that they were "currently experiencing a network outage that is impacting our ability to process and ship orders received through our website."
"Customers are still able to securely place orders, though processing and shipment may be delayed," explained the company. "We are working diligently to bring our systems back online and process the orders received as soon as possible. … We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience."
Christianbook was founded in 1978 by two teenage brothers who wanted to sell "discounted academic titles to pastors and fellow students" from their homes. Nearly half a century later, the company boasts over 600 employees and approximately 500,000 different Christian products for sale, operating out of a 370,000-square-foot facility. The company also sells jewelry, home decor, stationery, communion supplies, toys, music and movies.
CP became aware of the issue when it received a news tip last week in which an individual claimed that the phone system for the company had been down since April 3.
Christianbook's Facebook page received comments from customers who ordered products and had not received them. Some complained that they emailed the company and hadn't received a response.
The individual who contacted CP said he had been a Christianbook customer since 2021 and had never experienced problems like that before.
