A great retail experience can change how a customer perceives a store and its brand. However, in a campus store, the impact of a student’s experience with your store extends beyond the walls and brand of your store. It also changes how students view your entire campus.
You care about students and their success, and you recognize that a great student experience is more important than the bottom line. That’s how collegiate retail sets itself apart from the rest of the retail world, both on and offline.
5 ideas to improve student experience
- Streamline rush
Rush can be chaotic. Long lines, crowded aisles, busy store associates and hard-to-find textbooks make for a stressful experience. Add to that prices higher than students would like to pay for textbooks, and many students could leave the bookstore unhappy and ready to find other means of acquiring or not acquiring their books.
Savvy stores have found ways to help streamline the experience for students by reorganizing the book by author or by completely changing textbook distribution in the store with counter service. Also, look for way to lower students costs through cost-saving programs and diverse format options.
- Improve transparency with electronic shelf labels
Electronic shelf labels are an easy way for stores to supply students with a lot of useful information upfront. With electronic shelf labels, stores can make information as easily accessible in-store as it is online.
You can let students know the quantities you have, whether books are out of stock and formats available. They are also integrated with your system for easy, instant updates, saving employees time during the busiest part of the year.
- Tailor your efforts when marketing to college students
Students don’t have to be in your store to interact with your brand. In the hyperconnected world, in-store and omnichannel experiences should blend together seamlessly. Therefore, the experience you provide customers on your website, app and social media channels needs to be as exceptional as the service you provide in your store.
A simple way to begin enhancing your store’s personalization efforts is with social media. Here are some ways to boost your store’s social media efforts.
- Provide a convenient eCommerce site
You must strengthen your omnichannel presence as part of improving the student experience with your campus store. Your store’s eCommerce site is a big part of that. On your website, student can have access to the same merchandise they can find in-store, but they also have even more convenient shopping options like creating a wish list or being able to easily read customer reviews.
By enabling reviews on your eCommerce site, student shoppers have a way to easily research products and get real-life feedback without having to go to other websites. In addition, your campus store eCommerce site can help expand your campus store’s market and better streamline textbook orders.
- Ensure student satisfaction with price matching
It’s disappointing to make a purchase only to see the same product offered for a lower price somewhere else. For many college students, saving even a few dollars has a big impact on their day-to-day life. Price matching is a simple way to demonstrate to students that you understand their situation and that your store cares about them.
Just knowing that the college store is willing to match lower prices can be the difference between shopping in the campus store with confidence and scouring the web for a better deal.
Explore small changes your store can make that will have a big impact on the customer experience you provide. Start with the areas that have the most room for improvement like rush or your omnichannel presence. Invest in these areas to improve student experience and help your store operate more efficiently.
