Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

As the world’s largest social media site, Facebook may be the hub of your online platform. With more than a billion active users on Facebook, it is a natural place to look when setting up online advertisements, but how do you ensure you are reaching your specific market? With the declining organic reach, it is increasingly difficult to reach loyal fans of your page, let alone engage with new ones. Advertising and boosting your posts are the next logical steps, but with such a large base, defining your audience is essential. You can choose to do it through keywords, regions, countries, pixels, etc. However, at the end of the day, if you aren’t using Facebook Pixels, you are ignoring Facebook’s greatest targeted advertising tool.

MBS Systems’ 2017 Spring Forums is weeks away. Join us April 18-20, 2017, to learn the capabilities of the system in your store, network with other college stores to learn what they are doing differently and receive in depth training on your own system’s capabilities. The Spring Forums is free, and you receive a special MBS rate on your hotel during your stay.

Twitter is one of the easiest platforms to fall into complacency. The breakneck pace of a Twitter feed makes it harder for your message to be read by a significant portion of your followers. Therefore, using Twitter often feels like no one sees your posts because tweets don’t get as much attention as statuses do on Facebook or pictures Instagram. Many businesses quickly wear out on trying to be creative and fall into the pattern of posting periodic links back to websites and reply only to direct messages. They stop engaging in the real manner that Twitter users want, which lead to their message becoming white noise. Revitalize your Twitter account with these five ideas that you can start implementing today.

Old inventory is costing your college store money. Every day merchandise sits unseen on shelves, it becomes dated. The longer it stays there, the less likely it will sell. You can either continue to let it take up valuable space, or you can form a plan to move the unwanted stock. Below are four ways you can use your unsold products to generate more sales.

As the millennials are graduating, centennials are moving in, bringing a new set of values with them. They have high expectations, a focus on quality, a strong sense of thrift and the shortest attention span to date. Having never experienced life without technology, this resourceful generation is about to change the rules and it is up to the rest of us to keep up.

The CU Book Store at the University of Colorado Boulder brought home the MVP award at this year’s ICBA conference in Las Vegas. This is the first time they have won the prestigious award in the history of their membership in the organization. Constantly watching the industry and learning from their peers, the CU Book Store brings successful innovation to their campus.

The MBS Systems Spring Forums are back and better than ever!

Meet with industry peers and MBS Systems representatives in Columbia, Missouri, from April 18-20, 2017, for three spectacular days of hands-on learning. Network with other college stores from across the country and MBS Systems staff in daily round table discussions about topics that matter to you most. Bring your laptop or tablet to learn about the many capabilities of your system from the experts and get your questions answered.  Best of all, the event is completely free!

Everywhere you look there is another article touting the benefits of eCommerce — and it is impressive. However, brick-and-mortar stores are still going strong and shoppers’ reasons for choosing in-person shopping over online shopping remain valid, as do the reasons some shoppers prefer making online purchases. The beauty of the dilemma is that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. Not only can both exist in harmony, but they can work together to provide a better experience for the shopper and the store.

Rewards programs are a great way to give back to customers and to encourage repeat business. Knowing your customers and adjusting to what suits them best is essential to developing a long-term plan. If they aren’t using the rewards program, it isn’t benefiting them or the store. When UC Davis Stores evaluated their Aggie Kickbacks program in comparison to UC Merced and UCLA, they saw room for improvement.

Nearly every store and restaurant has a loyalty rewards program. Some give you a specific item for free, some give money off and others build points that you can use in specified ways. However, when everyone is running a loyalty program, it becomes harder for a programs to live up to its intended purpose: to inspire loyalty.