Since the eBook explosion, Lulu has been one of the top names in self-publishing and format conversion in the young industry, and now the company looks to shake things up a bit by releasing its new e-commerce platform (as well as adding some major upgrades to its website).

As reported a few weeks ago, Lulu has entered into a partnership with e-commerce platform provider Elastic Path to give readers and writers alike “the absolute best self-publishing experience for buying and selling” eBooks in various formats around the world.

Many of these enhancements are being included directly in Lulu’s new website, such as checkouts that don’t require users to register, faster browsing times, an enhanced international language/currency support, improved address validation and new customizable marketing tools for authors as part of the company’s free publishing services.

This new website infrastructure is meant to help increase the speed with which Lulu can unveil new features and updates for customers. Among these upcoming upgrades is will be APIs that will let businesses and publishers build Lulu’s e-commerce tools right into their own branded websites for free.

In addition to these new features on the website, Lulu is also looking to improve “author agility in a rapidly changing publishing industry” by making it easier for readers to find eBook content anywhere applicable on the Web, most notably in places they already shop, like the Amazon Kindle Store, the iBookstore and the Barnes & Noble Nook Bookstore.

All of these major changes will not affect Lulu’s previous primary service, the easy uploading and selling of eBook content that allows writers to set their own prices and keep as much as 90 percent of the profit for their work.