When faced with moving to a smaller location, the Belmont Store changed their textbook distribution and delivery to take the student experience to the next level.
When faced with moving to a smaller location, the Belmont Store changed their textbook distribution and delivery to take the student experience to the next level.
Foreword Online will return on January 7, 2019. Happy holidays from all of us to you.
If this year’s holiday shopping season is anything like last year’s, many Americans will wait until the eleventh hour to buy gifts — students included. About half of us were done with our shopping last season by December 20, according to a survey by the National Retail Foundation. The report estimated that 126 million consumers, 53 percent, would wait until Super Saturday, the weekend before Christmas, to finish up their shopping.
The average person will spend a third of their life working. With that much of our lives wrapped up in serving others, creating or selling, we need to see the purpose in what we do. Students employees aren’t different. Splitting their time between school, work, friends and sports, they want to see or understand the ways they make a difference.
Studies show that Generation Z — who comprise the bulk of young people entering college now — have well-informed appetites. These kids were raised on public service messages intended to counter the rise in obesity and diabetes. When Gen Z students are hungry for a snack, they look for nutritious options first. That’s good reason to drive traffic into your store with an easy marketing campaign about the health food you offer, especially as finals approach.
If you’ve worked on a campus before, you probably don’t need anyone to tell you when finals are approaching. You know because the term is coming to an end, of course, but you also know because the atmosphere changes. The collective tension-level rises. Students behave strangely: They’re easily triggered, easily confused and sometimes downright rude. It can be a rough time for collegiate retailers and their associates. But it can also be an opportunity to burnish your store’s reputation as a refuge from the academic grind.
College stores need to establish bonds with customers. Show them you’re interested in helping students save money and succeed. Find creative ways to generate foot traffic.
College stores depend on keeping a steady stream of student foot traffic throughout the year. Regular, well-planned bookstore events and sales can increase student and faculty engagement while positioning the store as a campus social hub. We recently sat down with Carissa Drake, bookstore coordinator at Riverland Community College, to discuss bookstore events and the best ways to reach the entire campus community.
MBS Corporate Marketing Representative, Lilli Brooks, has exceptional knowledge of the collegiate retail industry. She travels the country, working with store managers and directors to help them improve efficiencies, sales and revenues. Because Lilli has observed the trend in marketplace sourcing close-up in a variety of contexts, she has in-depth understanding of its allure, its inconveniences and its dangers. We sat down to talk to her about how MBS’s new solution SimpleSource will allow even the most time-strapped textbook managers to get into the sourcing game, while eliminating the dangers.
As MBS’ signature publication, Foreword Online is dedicated to offering daily industry insight and cutting-edge news that keep college retailers ahead of the curve. Follow us on social media. Contact us with ideas and feedback. Subscribe for regular updates.
