Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

T.S. Eliot famously declared that April is the cruelest month, but for most students, February stands out as the year’s gloomy nadir. Those in temperate climes have two more long months of dark, sleety nights before spring arrives. Midterms loom for all. That’s why this month’s marketing plan is devoted to helping you transform your store into a cheerful mid-winter refuge. Plan a February Feud, a riff on the classic gameshow that will brighten the month and offer students the best cure for the blues: Laughter.

Happy holidays from Foreword Online.

Everyone is talking about it. The “Amazon Effect” is scattered across retail news. The most recent companies to feel the impact are Ralph Lauren and J. Crew, but large department stores like Macy’s have been feeling the effect for a while. When Amazon has the seeming ability to line up these large corporations, regardless of what they sell, and systematically watch them fall, what hope does any brick-and-mortar store have?

Geofencing can be used for anything from increasing foot traffic in stores to parents keeping track of their children — even human resource departments can utilize this technology to monitor employees who work in the field or from home. These virtual fences allow marketers to hone their advertising efforts to a selected group of people, often based on various factors of online behaviors, within an established distance from a store’s location using their mobile GPS. An Orwellian advancement in technology to some, but to others, geofencing gives brick-and-mortar businesses a way to compete in a growing eCommerce market.

Sometimes we need a sales associate’s attention, and sometimes we need to be left alone. For those in customer service, it can be tough to tell the difference, and getting it wrong can cost businesses sales and customers. As college stores seek to become campus destinations that offer memorable experiences, knowing how and when to approach a shopper is critical.

Earlier this fall, Kate Weinand with the University of Mary Bookstore came to Columbia, Missouri, to attend the MBS Systems Training Fall Forums event. Over the course of a few days, attendees are able to network with individuals from other stores and learn more about the capabilities of their MBS system. We sat down with Ms. Weinand to hear more about the University of Mary Bookstore and its new location. 

How’s this for a mind-boggling number? $2 trillion. That’s how much cybercrime is projected to cost businesses by 2019, according to Forbes.

Open Educational Resources are a hot topic in education. Students need ways to lower costs. Naturally, they look to schools to provide them with better solutions. In turn, many schools look to OER to help accomplish that goal. However, these no-cost options are just a piece of the course materials puzzle.

University stores are demonized on many campuses: “The bookstore is only out for profit,” faculty and students say. At Bloomsburg University Bookstore, nothing could be further from the truth. Manager Laura Heger stays enmeshed in student life, working actively to build the store’s reputation as a campus service through dialogue with customers.  

 “May the odds be ever in your favor!” ®