Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers

Recently, Hibbing Community College merged with four other regional colleges in northern Minnesota, creating the new Minnesota North College. In order to accommodate the merger, the five separate college bookstores have consolidated into one bookstore serving six campuses. Consolidating resources, the smaller stores are able to effectively serve their campuses as well as thoughtfully evolve to better compete in a changing market. We recently sat down with Bookstore Coordinator Becky Mayo to discuss how MBS Store Technology Solutions is helping them with this evolution.

The college store website is one of your most valuable sales and marketing tools. Not only does it provide easy access to your store’s inventory, but it is a great avenue for student communication. Commodore Books & More had a website redesign on their to-do list for a long time, but it never seemed like the right time. After 2020 sent college store websites skyrocketing in day-to-day importance, the store knew it was time to undertake the redesign.

When college stores have the support they need, they can offer more to their campus community. The day-to-day system tools from eCommerce to back-office can have a huge impact on how much can be accomplished in a day. However, stores must have access to ongoing training, quality customer support and knowledgeable product experts to truly maximize their capabilities.

Over the course of 2020, eCommerce sites became even more important for college store success. Suddenly, it was essential that most of the store’s merchandise and products were available and easily accessible online. We recently sat down with Joe Buskirk, Coordinator for the College Store, Harford Community College, to discuss how they were able to quickly update their site to better serve students and the campus community.

Online shoppers expect an easy and seamless shopping experience on your college store website. Part of that is easy navigation. Many shoppers will not devote a lot of time to searching for the brand, color or size before heading to another website. Website filters help ensure customers can easily sort through your merchandise to find exactly what they want.

MBS Online Buyback is a great student resource that your college store can easily provide at no additional cost. As more colleges and universities move classes online in an effort to protect student and community health, it is important establish a buyback plan to prepare for the possibility that it may not be feasible to host an on-campus buyback. MBS is here to help you do that.

To improve the experience in your store, it takes more than knowledgeable, helpful employees. You also need a college store management system that will help you avoid retail pitfalls like long, slow-moving lines, websites that aren’t optimized for mobile and not keeping up with student buying trends. So, what should your college store look for in a retail system?