Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

College stores face an increasingly competitive market where student loyalty is hard to win. As students choose among competitors, it is vital to communicate what you offer that they cannot get outside vendors. That’s why we sat down with MBS Marketing Coordinator Abraham Dyer to discuss how college stores can identify and use their differentiators to drive more traffic into the store and ensure it remains a vital part of the campus ecosystem.

Do you believe in luck? Do strange occurrences happen when there is a full moon? Whether or not you personally believe in superstitions, many people do. So many, in fact, that on Friday the 13th retail sales can suffer. This April, take the opportunity to turn this well-known superstition into a fun sales event for your store.

A new year is a great time to revamp your social media efforts. Maybe you have pages on multiple social media platforms, but are only interacting on one of them. Maybe you have fallen off on your posting consistency or tracking efforts. Now is a good time to hash out a new plan and stop doing what isn’t working.

With winter slowly coming to a close and spring break right around the corner, everyone could use a little bit of fun to brighten their day. A lively scavenger hunt will engage students and give them the opportunity to save some green in the store this March.

We share a monthly marketing plan at the beginning of every month designed to increase store traffic and boost student trust and engagement. Included in the plans are posters, flyers, examples social media posts and more so your store has everything it needs for a spectacular event. As you develop your store’s marketing idea for 2018, check out our top five most popular monthly marketing plans in 2017.

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.

How important are a store’s mission and vision statements? This question can garner a fair amount of debate. Some will adamantly support the practice, stating that when everyone is on the same page and have shared expectations, they work toward a common goal. But, there are also the people who have been in education for a long time and have witnessed many hours go into the creation of a mission or vision statement, only to then see the words collect dust and get ignored.

College-style culinary skills are hard won. It takes months of trial and error with a dorm room kitchen set — coffee mug, soup spoon, sugar packets — to create concoctions that satisfy students’ cravings. What’s more, circumstances usually force the average student to work on a micro-budget of a few dollars or less, increasing the challenge. This holiday season inspire a pilgrimage to your store. Host a Frugal Feast — a recipe contest, taste test and sale all in one. 

What do you do to set your store apart and connect with students? Do you have an annual event everyone looks forward to attending? Has your store hosted an event that went over really well with students? We would love to share your story with our readers!

Foreword Online shares a new post daily to help you stay a step ahead. We cover the topics important to college stores ranging from monthly marketing plans with promotional materials included to posts that highlight other college stores and what they do to set themselves apart. Striving to bring you the latest in retail news, ideas and developments, we would like to hear from you about what topics you would like to read more about.

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