Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

The average person will spend a third of their life working. With that much of our lives wrapped up in serving others, creating or selling, we need to see the purpose in what we do. Students employees aren’t different. Splitting their time between school, work, friends and sports, they want to see or understand the ways they make a difference.

Studies show that Generation Z — who comprise the bulk of young people entering college now —  have well-informed appetites. These kids were raised on public service messages intended to counter the rise in obesity and diabetes. When Gen Z students are hungry for a snack, they look for nutritious options first. That’s good reason to drive traffic into your store with an easy marketing campaign about the health food you offer, especially as finals approach.

If you’ve worked on a campus before, you probably don’t need anyone to tell you when finals are approaching. You know because the term is coming to an end, of course, but you also know because the atmosphere changes. The collective tension-level rises. Students behave strangely: They’re easily triggered, easily confused and sometimes downright rude. It can be a rough time for collegiate retailers and their associates. But it can also be an opportunity to burnish your store’s reputation as a refuge from the academic grind.

College stores need to establish bonds with customers. Show them you’re interested in helping students save money and succeed. Find creative ways to generate foot traffic.

College stores depend on keeping a steady stream of student foot traffic throughout the year. Regular, well-planned bookstore events and sales can increase student and faculty engagement while positioning the store as a campus social hub. We recently sat down with Carissa Drake, bookstore coordinator at Riverland Community College, to discuss bookstore events and the best ways to reach the entire campus community.

Happy Thanksgiving from MBS!

MBS Corporate Marketing Representative, Lilli Brooks, has exceptional knowledge of the collegiate retail industry. She travels the country, working with store managers and directors to help them improve efficiencies, sales and revenues. Because Lilli has observed the trend in marketplace sourcing close-up in a variety of contexts, she has in-depth understanding of its allure, its inconveniences and its dangers. We sat down to talk to her about how MBS’s new solution Simple Source will allow even the most time-strapped textbook managers to get into the sourcing game, while eliminating the dangers.

Although current surveys show faculty have no preference about whether students buy digital or print books, that could change in light of new research from a pair of reading experts at the University of Maryland.

Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, baby boomers, the silent generation: is there really a difference between these groups when it comes to shopping? Every generation wants a good experience that is convenient. Everyone wants to feel like they are purchasing a quality product at a good price. It is unlikely a customer of any age will come into your store and demand a terrible experience or complain that they didn’t have to wait long enough to be helped. Core consumer expectations don’t vary all that much from generation to generation. So why does Gen Z research matter? Why does your store need to understand today’s students and their motivation?

What’s the biggest retail shopping day of the year? It’s not Black Friday. Actually, December 23^rd and Super Saturday (the last Saturday before Christmas) have replaced Black Friday as the busiest shopping days of the year, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that the entire holiday season from Thanksgiving through the New Year is primed with shoppers who are ready to spend their money on bargains. But, how can college stores take advantage of this annual gluttony of consumerism?