Diversifying revenue is a must for most college stores in today’s market. Developing unique ways to set themselves apart from competitors solidifies student engagement and campus relevance while securing the future of the campus store.
In this white paper, learn how college stores nationwide have supplemented top-line revenue, increased campus relevance and changed the way students view of the college store. Download Alternative Revenue Streams for College Stores.
Bring additional revenue streams into the college store
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Form beneficial partnerships
“With the decrease of students purchasing actual books, we have to get them in somehow. Partnering with different companies for pop-ups allows us to bring in products that are in demand. We use these pop-ups to test out different product before we buy into it for inventory. Pop-up companies usually have relationships that we may not have with different vendors. This opens the door for collaborations and further reach with customers. So far, we’ve had between 10 to 12 different pop-ups in the store. These range from companies like Champion, Hype and Vice, and Chubbies to student-owned and run companies.”
University of Arizona BookStores, Assistant Director, General Merchandise, Jake Wright -
Maximize existing resources
“Our eCommerce site successfully reaches alumni and brings in customers who want spirit wear products. To help increase the site’s effectiveness, we recently started using a new email service provider called Bronto, which helps us manage our email lists better. It really works well with things like abandoned carts. We are starting to see a lot of revenue come from a targeted email series to people who add an item to their cart but don’t complete the checkout process. We then send an email nudging them to complete the transaction. It says something like ‘Hey, you forgot this. We would love to send this merchandise to you.’ Some people get an offer for free shipping if they complete their order. We have really experienced good traction with that. We track how those customers are converted and it has really been enlightening.”
UCLA Store, Associate Director of Marketing & Computer Store, Rick Crowe -
Add additional services
“The most impactful endeavor that we implemented was the food service business on campus. The college had always leased the food service space. However, when the last vendor left and the college put it out for bid, they did not get many offers. One of the deans on campus asked me why we didn’t put in a bid for it, so after getting my staff’s buy-in, I drafted a proposal and the rest, as they say, is history. The Red Fox Grill is now under the umbrella of MECC Bookstore and seems to have cinched our value to the campus.”
MECC Bookstore, Manager, Dora Hill
Download the Alternative Revenue Streams for College Stores white paper and learn how to create a sustainable plan for the future.
