Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

With 100 million daily users, Snapchat is an app that’s already found a devoted audience among millennials. What’s the appeal?

1. Snaps only last for 10 seconds
2. Snaps are all about the visual
3. Snaps can only be seen by your followers

Though these only scratch the surface of what makes the app so popular, they’re a great place to start to explain how Snapchat can be an invaluable tool to increase engagement from your customers, move some merchandise and put a fresh spin on the old flash sale.

Reaching out to new and returning students on a regular basis is vital to the success of any college store. After all, if your students aren’t fully aware of all you have to offer or the important role you play as part of the campus community, they may choose to shop elsewhere. Schmoozefest, a yearly event sponsored by the University Union at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, welcomes students back to campus with free food and gift bags — and The Phoenix Bookstore makes sure they are involved in the festivities.

“Want the usual today?” she asks, after greeting you by name.

At your nod, she starts making your vanilla soy latte exactly the way you like it, without needing any additional information. Which makes sense, since you’ve stopped in for the same drink a few times a week for the last year.

At the end of September, Pope Francis made a historic visit to Philadelphia. This coincided with the final festivities for the weeklong World Meeting of Families, the world’s largest gathering of Catholic families. Because it had been years since the last papal visit, Neumann University Bookstore Director Natalie VanWyk knew it would be important to acknowledge the event, but also realized that she could use it to increase traffic to the bookstore.

There’s still plenty of time till Halloween, but the Lake Superior College Bookstore is already getting a head start on the festivities. October 1 marked the first day of their “Pick-a-pumpkin” sale, where lucky customers can receive up to 25 percent off LSC apparel and merchandise.

Surveys are a great way to get answers from your customers about specific topics or questions. They’re relatively easy to execute, require little effort from participants and can provide valuable insights. But there’s an even better way to get the information you need, without the limited scope that comes with the survey structure — and this method only requires a little bit more planning to achieve positive results.

Last week, NDSU Bookstore welcomed students back to campus with their eighth annual After Hours Party. This tradition is a nice break for staff and students alike after the hectic textbook rush ends, combining an ice cream social with simple games and plenty of prizes. Both the free ice cream and the prizes seem to be equally big draws.

It’s an age-old question: How do you know what your customers really want? Coming up with the right answer leads to satisfied shoppers and increased sales (win-win!), which makes finding the correct solution the driving force behind most successful retail ventures.

While there’s usually an event planned for buyback at Riverland Community College’s three bookstore locations, that’s not always the case with the beginning of the semester. This year, Bookstore Buyer Carissa Drake decided to mix things up a bit.

In a perfect world, every customer interaction would be… well, perfect. Satisfied shoppers would leave your store with a smile, vowing to return soon to purchase more. Then, they’d promptly tweet, like, post and rate their experience on any/all social networks they patronize, encouraging their friends and family members to also visit your store to buy copious amounts of merchandise.