I first used Linnworks over ten years ago for a Bristol based superstore who wanted to integrate all their online and offline sales channels into one manageable system.
2009
At the time, Linnworks was for Windows only and required installing software on each PC. It wasn’t especially easy to configure, but their support was helpful, and when successfully configured the software made tasks a lot easier.
One of the features I liked about it back then was it was easy to connect directly to website databases using simple PHP scripts and even MySQL.
2019
Fast-forward to today, and it’s an entirely different picture. Linnworks have a completely web-based system, that is ugly, clunky, slow and extremely confusing to configure.
I was asked by an existing client to create a custom profit and loss app for Linnworks, which is still in active development. During this project, I had the opportunity to work with their APIs and their support, and I have to say it has been nothing but a frustrating experience.
Their API documentation is dreadful, and their support has been awful and at times non-existent. I still have an unanswered post in their support forum! Moreover, on two occasions my developer account was deactivated for no apparent reason – the second time I gave up and asked my client to sign up instead in the hope, theirs would remain open given they have a paid subscription.
Considering they have a built-in app store, you would expect they would embrace third-party developers, but it seems that is not the case.
There’s a sort of arrogance about Linnworks when you do make contact, perhaps because they have been around for so long, but based on what I’ve experienced they shouldn’t be – a quick Google search uncovers all sorts of awful experiences concerning their support.