Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

Welcome to our fourth installment of Textbook Wisdom, the Foreword Online series devoted to speaking directly to faculty about how the course material industry affects the classroom. This week's article discusses the advantages of encouraging students to use the official school bookstore. Share it on social media; send the link to faculty. Bridge the gap between educators and collegiate retailers. 

It’s a distraction, an onerous bit of red tape or just an abstract requirement that seems out-of-step with classroom reality: Your earnest early-adoption request ends up deleted, routed to junk mail or ignored because faculty don’t understand why you’re sending requests out so early.  If you want teachers to cooperate with the college store schedule, it’s critical to anticipate their questions, understand confusion and offer succinct, concrete answers.

Welcome to our fourth edition of Textbook Wisdom, the Foreword Online series dedicated to speaking directly to faculty about how the course material industry affects the classroom. This article explains the advantages of alternative content. Email the link to faculty — and share it on social media. Bridge the gap between educators and collegiate retailers.

Admit it: It’s an enticing thought. A visit to the grocery store completely absent of all the usual irritations: customers clogging the Express Lane with — oops! — at least 40 items. Slow-movers fumbling through self-check-out. Grim cashiers shoving your heaviest items into a single bag that splits open before you reach the car. Amazon has nixed nearly all the pain-points we associate with shopping in a single swoop with the opening of its check-out free convenience store. It might seem like another dreaded retail disruptor. But how can it not inspire a shiver of excitement?

One-time retail juggernauts Macys and Sears shut down hundreds of stores. The eCommerce force-from-beyond, Amazon, bought Whole Foods and introduced its first checkout-free convenience store, Amazon Go. 2017 was undoubtedly one of retail’s craziest years on record. What does that mean for 2018?

Welcome to our third installment of Textbook Wisdom, a Foreword Online series that speaks directly to faculty about course material issues. This week’s article deals with a perennial bookstore concern: Early adoptions. Post it on social media — and email the link to faculty. Bridge the gap between bookstores and educators.

Want to know how and why faculty treat textbooks the way they do? According to our report, “Winning Faculty Allies in the Struggle for Affordable Course Material Solutions,” many teachers are emperors of their classrooms: They select their books with a keen interest in maintaining academic freedom — and they don’t expect input from others. Find how faculty choices affect the cost of education and how you can help the administration win allies in the effort to reduce course material costs in this exclusive report.

Hiring for rush can be a trial. What you need and what you get can easily be two different things. You need competent, smart people with customer service skills that can manage the confused, impatient and frustrated students that throng the store in search of required titles. For many, though, the criteria you normally use to evaluate an employee goes by the wayside during rush. The sheer need for bodies to man the floor outweighs all other priorities. Still, the semester’s start is the best time to make the sort of impression on students that prompts return business. How can you ensure you have employees that will offer customers a positive experience?

Welcome to Textbook Wisdom, a new Foreword Online series that speaks directly to faculty about issues in the course material industry that affect the classroom. This is our second article. It explains the how inclusive access ensures students have their books Day One. Share it with faculty — and on social media. Bridge the gap between bookstores and educators.