The retail industry isn’t stagnant. Trends come and go, and as technology progresses forward, customer expectations can also evolve. Which trends are most important for college stores right now? Let’s look at five retail trends that could have the biggest impact on your college store before the end of this year.
5 Retail Trends College Stores Can Easily Implement
- Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs certainly aren’t new, but they do continue to be a motivating factor for all shoppers. Now is a great time to create, promote and/or grow your campus store loyalty program.
Because loyalty programs are everywhere in retail, your store’s program will need to stand out in a way that encourages students to take that extra step to sign up. As you are building a new program or assessing the effectiveness of your existing loyalty program, there are two items to consider.
First, what do your shoppers expect from a loyalty program? College stores have a clear target market: students. So, how does your loyalty program appeal specifically to them from the name of the program to the rewards their loyalty can earn? Look at or design your program holistically with your primary audience in mind. This will help you explain it to students, get people to sign up and create a fun program.
Second, consider the different types of loyalty programs you could offer. A discount-based program would be great for encouraging another trip to your store (whether in-person or online). However, customers can also easily forget about the reward that is waiting for them. Another option is a free gift or merchandise. Let’s say your store sells specific game day t-shirts for each game. Perhaps if customers buy each game day shirt, they get an exclusive shirt or sweatshirt. This is the same idea as a coffee shop punch card (buy 10 coffees, get the 11 free). Another way you could frame your loyalty program is almost like a game. Have a prize wheel that loyalty members can spin at checkout. Maybe they get something free, maybe the get a discount, only the wheel knows. This type of loyalty program is a great way to catch interest and get new sign ups while offering in-the-moment rewards. - Enhance the brand experience students have with your store
Brand experience is about more than what shoppers see or experience in your store. Your store’s brand tells customers what they can expect, gives them an opportunity to be a part of it and leaves them with a lasting impression.
For example, let’s take a look at Apple. Apple has one of the most devoted and loyal fanbases in retail. When you think of the brand, what comes to mind? Sleek design, easy-to-use technology, innovation. Both the website and stores have a minimalist quality, mirroring the sleek design of their products. Their stores are known for great service, reminding us of their user-friendly products. Their product names have become synonymous with the category of product itself (aka people don’t just have a smartphone, they have an iPhone).
Consider the brand experience you want your store to convey to shoppers. What is the most essential function of your store? To promote your campus. How can your store do that in an obvious way (in design and service) that customers can immediately recognize and want to be a part of?
The experience you cultivate should also carry over to your store’s eCommerce site, your store’s social media accounts, your store’s pop-up locations and any other way your store interacts with your customers. Check out these great ways to create a cohesive in-store, website and social media brand experience. - Drive engagement
It is more important than ever to ensure your store has clear, effective and simple ways to drive both in-store and online engagement. The economy has a big impact on shopping behaviors.
Look for ways to simplify customer interactions, proactively build customer relationships, add efficiency and utilize targeted marketing strategies. Having these essential tools in place helps your store give customers the personalized experience they want while also not taking too much time for store staff to effectively manage.
The MBS CRM, for example, expands college store marketing options and simplifies customer service. Through the tremendous amount of information at your fingertips in CRM, you can easily identify customers for your targeted marketing campaigns. With access to customer groups, transaction details, promo code usage, loyalty information, etc., you can create specific customer lists to send messages from your marketing platform of choice that truly speak to those customers. - More automation
Automation can help save your store staff so much time. From merchandise to course materials, marketing and order fulfillment, college stores have a lot of areas where they can easily add automation and improve the overall efficiency of the work they do.
“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,” Sara Montgomery, Bookstore Supervisor, College of the Siskiyous Campus Gift and Book Shop, said.
With the MBS system, stores have a myriad of campus integrations and resources available to help automate and streamline processes, including course import which imports the class master from the campus system, registrar link which connects students directly with their course materials, SFA batch or real-time interface which facilitates SFA payments for course materials in-store and online, and sales audit which enables mapping information to appropriate accounts on the G/L system for tracking.
“Probably the number one benefit of partnering with MBS Store Technology Solutions has been the array and number of applications that are housed in Arc. It has really allowed our purchasing and accounting teams to work in tandem with one another and achieve a high level of accuracy and control over our inventory,” Craig Bauer, Course Materials Manager, University of Manitoba BookStore, said. - Social media as a shopping destination
Social media shopping continues to engage customers and adds another sales revenue stream. Facebook and Instagram both provide simple social media shopping opportunities for customers and for small businesses to get their products in front of more people. This year, TikTok is also looking to offer shopping opportunities to users on its platform.
The reason why social media shopping is appealing to its audience is it is simple. Rather than a customer having to go directly to your site or click on a link, they can view the product they like and purchase it directly from the site they are already engaged with and trust. Check out this easy instructional post for how to set up Facebook and Instagram shopping.
