Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

Taking a new look at your store’s processes, tools and capabilities can lead to fantastic results. We recently spoke with Sara Montgomery, Bookstore Supervisor, College of the Siskiyous Campus Gift and Book Shop, about the steps she has taken to help revitalize the campus store and create brand new revenue streams to support the future.

Ms. Montgomery came to the College of the Siskiyous Campus Gift and Book Shop with a fresh perspective. Without a background in collegiate retail there was a lot to learn, and she needed to do it fast. The store’s long-time partnership with MBS Store Technology Solutions helped her in more ways than she could have imagined.

“Our school has been partnered with MBS for years. I personally came into my position about a year and a half ago. One of the top benefits of our partnership is working with Heather [Gillespie], my systems sales rep. I had no community college bookstore experience, only retail sales experience,” Montgomery said. “My first real contact within the industry was Heather. She is warm, welcoming and we have such wonderful conversations. She introduced me to people who utilize the same technology that we have in our store. She went out of her way to set me up for instant success and not just on an MBS level. She really took me under her wing and helped me get to know such generous and helpful people in California who could give me invaluable insight into my job. Everyone I have worked with at MBS has been very solutions based. Whatever my challenge may be, they find a resolution.”

College of the Siskiyous Campus Gift and Book Shop Benefits From Strong Support Services

While getting familiar with community college campus store retail and the MBS system, Ms. Montgomery has had the opportunity to learn a lot about what needs to be done and how to build efficiency in her store’s processes.

“There has been a lot of training time. Malissa Weimer has been invaluable. She has been absolutely amazing — gold stars all around. She has basically memorized the system. She is really good with the training aspect and walking me through the way the system is built and designed to help me as a store supervisor, as a purchaser and also as a budget manager. We are all expected to wear a lot of hats in this arena of independent college bookstores as budgets continue to get slashed and profits are shifting. Malissa understands that my time is valuable so she shows me how the system supports me and gives me more time to do the things that will generate money to support the store,” Montgomery said.

“When Malissa is absent, the customer service is still there. I have confidence that someone will always be at the other end of the call who is really great and willing to walk me through whatever I need even when I don’t know the proper names of the reports,” Montgomery said. “So many people have helped me. Julie Wood helps with all my buybacks and explains how to do returns. Matt Ritz on the tech team — thank goodness for him! He is a champion. Angela Gray in implementation is like a master orchestrator. She is the grand maestro. Everyone has been great. It has been nice to have to continuity of service throughout the various departments.”

Modernizing the Campus Store System

Since taking her position with the College of the Siskiyous Campus Gift and Book Shop, Ms. Montgomery has done her due diligence looking at other collegiate retail system options and speaking with other stores.

The level of personal service she receives from MBS gave her confidence that the MBS system continues to be the right option for her store. By implementing system updates and utilizing the full range of tools and resources available to her store, she is revitalizing the store’s system and creating new efficiencies that save time and increase the store’s solvency.

“Historically, we weren’t fully utilizing the system. The full robust system and features create efficiency and modernize our ability for merchandising, textbook adoptions, and more. We are moving forward in a way that increases efficiency and solvency as a bookstore by having a system in place that allows us to look closer at our data,” Montgomery said.

The store has implemented MBS system tools that will help improve the customer experience, give the store more options to serve its community and enable new revenue streams.

“There is a lot I am excited about with our system updates. I am excited about increased business intelligence analytics with Dashboard. The gift card program will be really wonderful for students and departments on campus. We are always looking at a variety of ways to build and add traction to the bookstore. The gift card aspect will be a big one,” Montgomery said. “With the modernization of our system, there is continuity at the register — we capture student information right away, it is integrated with our campus systems and we experience so many benefits daily.  For example, something as simple as having a Bluetooth scanner. Want to talk about a dream when you are doing inventory? One person has the scanner, and one is at the register. You don’t have to walk back and forth. There is time savings in that.”

Creating Alternative Revenue Streams for the Campus Store

“Getting a mobile station has been a huge win for our store. I wanted the mobile POS system because it opens up so many ways to generate revenue. We already do spirit wear and merchandising. Now, with the mobile station, we are doing all of the athletics concessions, selling merchandise and candy. We've been able to take our merchandise from our brick-and-mortar store to our athletic facilities with our MBS system. We're still able to monetize and track our sales,” Montgomery said.

“It makes sense for us to be there, especially for our football games. It's a service that we didn't know our students needed. My pitch to our board of trustees was this might be the only college experience our students have and it should be a great one. We work to help make the games memorable. Our bookstore staff at the games really act as vibe curators. We sell merchandise, we wear the merchandise we’re selling and we're out there cheering on our teams. It's part of building school spirit and marketing our college which is part of our job as a campus store. It's a big deal and MBS has helped us do that whether we're out on the field or out on the court sideline or in our store.

“It’s a lot of work, but there is value in it for the store, the students and the entire school. I’ve found we are really giving back to the campus and filling an unmet need that nobody had identified. I’m a social butterfly. I don’t mind cooking and meeting all the parents. We are pulling in decent revenue for five hours of work, but more than that, these games have become a bucket filler,” Montgomery said. “We are really connecting with students on a level that has been so uplifting. I am not just the bookstore lady. Now, they know me by name. I’m at every game cheering them on and rooting for them. Some students have even started hanging out in the bookstore because it is a place they feel comfortable and welcome. We are working on creating a lounge area for students in the store.”

Adding Efficiency With the MBS System

One of the most tangible day-to-day values of the MBS system is that it adds time saving efficiency. From inventory to shipping to the ease of accessing meaningful data, the system tools have allowed the Campus Gift and Book Shop to streamline processes and reshape how the store serves its campus.

“It's increased my efficiency and allowed me to take a closer look at my inventory and identify ways to keep a leaner inventory. My assets are more fluid and not collecting dust on the shelf, which has been problematic in the past. Another thing I found with this system is that it's allowing me to have a clear snapshot of where I'm at in my budget: what money is owed, what will be coming back, and just allowing me to have a better, clearer picture of where we are throughout the year,” Montgomery said.

“That's how I intend to continue to use the system to bring me closer to my goal of not only having a solvent budget here on campus but also being profitable. There is room for it, but you have to get creative. That's the part I'm most excited about with this system. It is going to free up time for me to be more creative on how I can reshape the way that the bookstore serves this campus.”

Building Interdepartmental Connections

In addition to building revenue, Ms. Montgomery has been focused on building strong interdepartmental connections.

“We’re working toward what I think the bookstore should do and the role it should have on the campus. We work a lot with interdepartmental connections. We sell the services our team provides to the campus community,” Montgomery said. “For example, our library is tasked with finding ways to build ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost) courses. As a bookstore, that could be intimidating, but I don't see it like that. Our librarian is a value add for our students. We both serve students and try to save them money. I do my best to help Jude, our librarian, extend her budget and provide her with greater discounts on anything she orders from us. Together, we are able to serve a larger number of students.

“That doesn’t necessarily add money to the bookstore, but I can tell you Jude is a champion for me. She is also a faculty member and attends faculty meetings where she has become a champion for the bookstore,” Montgomery said. “I will also be going to faculty meetings and have presentations on what the adoptions look like, what the costs are and continue to reach out to faculty members, letting them know things like ‘I've got seven copies of your book left. Could you poll your students to see if anyone else needs any books?’ Basically, I treat my faculty like they are also my clients. Everyone the bookstore interacts with is our customer. I am always looking for ways we can better serve administration, faculty, students, community and alumni while still benefiting the bookstore.”