Lulu Direct

Lulu Direct

Free to install. Additional charges may apply.
Rating (3.4)
Reviews

Highlights

Popular with businesses like yours
  • Based in United States
Built for your business
  • Use directly in Shopify admin

About this app

Launched

April 26, 2018

Languages

English

Create, Sell and Ship books easily with the Lulu Direct App

Entrepreneurs and business owners agree that having control over your product is critical to successfully growing your business. The Lulu Direct App connects our global print and fulfillment network to your Shopify storefront for a more efficient way to sell your books. Now every time an order is placed for your books, we’ll print and ship the order, and provide you and your customer tracking to ensure everyone is happy. It’s that simple!

Entrepreneurs and business owners agree that having control over your product is critical to successfully growing your business. The Lulu Direct App connects our global print and fulfillment network to your Shopify storefront for a more efficient way to sell your books. Now every time an order is placed for your books, we’ll print and ship the order, and provide you and your customer tracking to ensure everyone is happy. It’s that simple! more
  • Easy to Use: Connect your books in a matter of minutes.
  • Flexible Formats: Over 3,000 book format options, binding types, and layouts.
  • Professional Quality: We deliver high quality printing at competitive prices.

Pricing

Free to install

Merchant pays for books printed and shipped by Lulu Direct.

Free to install

Merchant pays for books printed and shipped by Lulu Direct.

All charges are billed in USD. See all pricing options

74 reviews

Overall rating
3.4
Counts per rating level
  • 54% of ratings are 5 stars
  • 9% of ratings are 4 stars
  • 4% of ratings are 3 stars
  • 8% of ratings are 2 stars
  • 24% of ratings are 1 stars
April 3, 2024

I am noticing a very inconsistent product when ordering. I ordered 3 copies of a book entitled "Life's A Journey" that should have been printed in an 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" book format. I received 3 books in 8 1/2" x 11" format. As I didn't need them immediately I didn't open the package until to longer after the order.

Then I ordered a 2nd book entitled The Wonderfully Wacky World of those Crazy Critters Around Us!". Again 8 1/2" x 8 1/2", color book. It came in the correct size but was in B/W. LuLu's put in a request to reprint it with expedited shipping. Shipping was delayed, it arrived in color, whoever, the shipper had managed to mangle the book.

I am now attempting to secure an updated version of the 2nd book; however, the system isn't allowing me to connect it to the right item. Therefore, I can't get it in their system so I can request a printed copy to see what I might get this time.

More than a bit annoyed at the lack of quality. I can see how my customers would feel if getting charged for a product that didn't arrive as specified and requested.

RosaLee's Notables
United States
4 months using the app
Edited November 2, 2023

11/1/2023
I updated my review from a 2 to 4 after receiving a helpful email directly from Lulu about how to configure the Shopify checkout to ensure tracking auto-populates an order. The problem should be fixed now.

My other concern regarding error notifications is already being addressed in an upcoming app update. There is no ETA when the new features will be available, but it is being worked on by the development team.

Also, I would like to say the printing quality of the book is beautiful and a lot better than what Amazon can produce.

I applaud Lulu for their excellent customer service and ability to address their customer concerns in a timely manner. I look forward to using the new updates.

----------------------------------
Old Previous review....

The app is easy to use, and the prices for printing are double that of Amazon, but overall, it works well and gives the seller full control over their paperback book profits. Another good feature of this APP is the orders are processed automatically.

Now for the negatives. The APP does fall short. A developer can't state that an APP is integrated with Shopify if it is missing critical key features that are common across all Shopify APPS.

What is missing is error logging and notification. If an order is invalid or fails to process, it is critical this information is sent automatically to the Shopify Admin. I should not have to check my order page daily to find errors. This lack of notification support can cause customer service issues.

Secondly, your APP does not update tracking information or notify the customer when their package is shipped. The Admin gets notified, which is strange because I get notified of a shipping notification but not for order errors.

I have to add the tracking information to an order manually, which is another large gap in the design of your APP. These are common things that are in every APP.

These gaps need to be fixed and are large enough to cause my rating to drop from a five to a two. Your APP completely misses the customer service part of the Shopify business. Your design does not support the sellers properly.

Please correct this in your next update to the app. The features are not hard to implement and need to be integrated ASAP. I will update my review when these features are implemented.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review and input. I am open to assisting with developing or testing these features when ready.

Rachel K Stone
United States
2 months using the app
Edited September 11, 2023

Absolutely the worst app I had to use because there is no alternative that connects to Shopify. The prints take forever to get made and sent to customers. There're no notifications if there is a problem. Using this app only had a negative impact on my business's reputation and brand image because Lulu is unable to do their part. I get customers who never receive the products, only to find out that Lulu marked an address invalid because it had a special character used. Ridiculous. I do not recommend this service to anyone. It's better to not sell printed products at all then sell them with this app.

ScrumMastered
Canada
5 months using the app
September 5, 2023

This was originally a ONE STAR review. I will say that tech support fixed it. Please note there is NO HELP during holidays for this international company so schedule your drops accordingly. I can say there was a problem with their plugin on my account that didn't exist before. Thank you for fixing this LULU.

Old School Dungeon Master
United States
7 months using the app
September 6, 2023

Working with LuLu and creating books directly on their website is easy and the quality of the books is superb. I gave the app 2 stars because it is more expensive to go through the app with a fulfillment charge on top of that. Better off going directly through LuLu website, it is free as well. I also found that I can't connect my LuLu books already made online into shopify without having to redo the entire process of creating a book through the app.

MySisterIsASurvivor
United States
22 days using the app

About this app

Launched

April 26, 2018

Languages

English

Built by Lulu Publishing

About Lulu Publishing

3.4 average rating

6 years building apps for the Shopify App Store

P.O. Box 12018, Durham, NC, 27709, US

Support

Send a message

1 (844) 212-0689

integrations@lulu.com

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