Discovering what satisfies customers can be as simple as self-reflection. Young and old, we want courteous, swift service that meets a need, slakes a thirst or fulfills a desire. We also want shopping to be fun, and we want associates to be personable and informed. However, knowing when and how a customer experience has gone awry is complicated.
Topics: textbook rental, MBS Risk-Free Rental, cost savings
A growing number of students are choosing not to purchase their course materials because of the cost associated with them. The practice causes the problems one would expect: more student stress as their grades take a hit, teacher frustration at students not being prepared and a lot of finger-pointing from everyone. The students blame the bookstore and the school. The bookstore could have had better prices on inventory if the faculty had their adoptions in on time. The faculty, in turn, are unaware of how their role can impact the cost to the student. Few people outside of the college store understand the whole process beginning to end — but everyone has an opinion. People want more cost-savings options. After new, used and digital course materials, what’s left? Rental.
Topics: Marketing to Students, college stores, Generation Z
Topics: MBS Systems, MBS Arc, MBS Systems Arc
MBS Systems’ cloud-based retail management system, Arc, offers single sign-on access to all your back-office work. Move seamlessly from one task to the next without breaking stride. View detailed graphics and charts on critical store data. Take action within seconds of receiving quality information.
A student stares down at rows of books, perplexed, eyebrows drawn together as she squints at the shelf tags between the constant stream of other students shuffling by. To her left, another student stands with his friends trying to look up the books he needs online.
Big data has infiltrated nearly every aspect of our lives. It determines the advertisements we see, the routes our GPS directs us, the posts we encounter on social media, unusual activity on our credit cards, entertainment recommendations from streaming services and the list could go on. Big data has become big business.
Topics: social media, Bookstore marketing, YouTube
YouTube is huge. As a platform, it has the potential for enormous reach and is one of the most intimidating areas of social media. Videos have a permanency that other platforms lack. The production value of the most popular videos keeps getting better and people want to see regular content. YouTube, as a marketing platform, isn’t for everyone. It requires a level of energy and comfort with the camera that cannot be manufactured. For those who can truly embrace it, it is a game changer.
Recently, a former colleague posted a gripe on Facebook illustrating a generation gap that partly explains why students aren’t buying textbooks: Of his 100-plus freshmen at a competitive southeast state school, only two knew the definition of a verb.
Topics: mobile POS, Bookstore marketing, digital shelf tags
Esther Rosner, MBS territory manager, began working for the company when it was located at the Paris Road location in Columbia, Missouri. Through the years, she has watched MBS grow and the book industry change. We sat down with Esther at the annual sales force meeting to hear about the evolution of the textbook industry and how stores continue to adapt to the industry changes.
Topics: retail technology, business intelligence, Big data
In today’s technology-fueled world customer loyalty isn’t a given. If your store doesn’t have what someone is looking for, they can shop somewhere else with just a cell phone and a few taps on the screen. Customers expect stores to meet their needs without expressing what they want. On the surface, the problem looks impossible. You can’t read your customer’s mind—or can you?
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