CHICAGO, IL (January 31, 2012) – A new website for the online Covenant Bookstore was unveiled today, offering an array of customer-friendly options not available in the former website configuration.

The re-engineered website also sports a new name – CovBooks.com – that is not only easier to remember, but also complements the more contemporary look and feel of the online store, which serves as the official resource distribution center for the Evangelical Covenant Church.

Visitors will immediately notice the clean, uncluttered look of the new home page, with a robust search function and a simplified navigation bar to guide browsers through the hundreds of available resources.

The first drop-down menu conveniently organizes resources into the Covenant’s five ministry priority areas: Make & Deepen Disciples, Start & Strengthen Churches, Develop Leaders, Love Mercy & Do Justice, and Serve Globally. For those desiring to see the larger array of potential categories, there is a special “Shop A-Z” menu offering more than 70 individual categories from which to choose.

The new store includes a full-service shopping cart experience and streamlined checkout process, similar to that found on most commercial websites today. Customers can log into their own account and track orders, explore a variety of shipping options, locate desired downloads, quickly see recently added resources and explore new Covenant resources that are being featured.

Another key feature of the new online store is the ability to narrow search options as never before. In the past, fiction and Christian living books (some of the largest collections) were organized only by the author’s last name, making it necessary for browsers to know exactly what they were searching to find. In the new store, books are categorized topically for a more intuitive and customer-friendly experience.

“As with any large project of this scope, there may be bugs that need correcting along the way,” notes bookstore manager Kevin Kempe. “Please be patient with us as we strive to fill your orders even more quickly than before.”

The new order tracking feature should help customers know the status of orders at any time. However, email and telephone contact information is also provided on the new home page for those needing additional assistance. Email is most often the fastest response pathway, Kempe notes.