Foreword Online

Ideas, information and industry news for collegiate retailers



5 Easy Ways to Improve the Student Experience in Your Campus Store

Posted by Liz Schulte on 8/12/19 6:00 AM

Customer experience is a buzzword in the retail world. A great retail experience can change how a customer perceives a store and the store’s brand. However, in a campus store, the impact of a student’s experience with your store extends beyond the walls and brand of your store. It also changes how students view your entire campus.

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3 Ways to Strengthen Your Campus Store with a Mobile App

Posted by Liz Schulte on 8/5/19 6:00 AM

In today’s retail world, customers have very specific expectations for service, convenience and even technology. As more traditional retailers adopt new technology and practices to improve the customer experience, consumers expect the same level of service from every store they shop with — including the campus store.

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SDSU Bookstore Promotes College Affordability at Freshman Orientation

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/29/19 6:00 AM

The SDSU Bookstore’s relationship with students begins before classes start. Students need a reliable place where they can purchase their course materials, but great campus stores like the SDSU Bookstore offer so much more. The SDSU Bookstore educates freshman students and their families during orientations by giving them tips on how to save money on their course materials.

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5 Counter Service Best Practices that Improve the Student Experience in the Campus Store

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/17/19 6:00 AM

As course materials become increasingly complicated, the overall student experience during rush can influence how they see the campus store. Some students see the crowds and immediately decide to order online. Others brave the rush only to become frustrated when they can’t find what they need and have to wait in line for help. Recently, we spoke with several stores that have implemented textbook counter service to improve the student experience in their stores. 

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Normandale Community College’s Free Pop-up Clothing Closet Strengthens the Campus Community

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/8/19 6:00 AM

Students at community colleges often face a variety of challenges. From balancing work life, school life and family life to weathering financial hardships and covering living expenses, many students are one unplanned hurdle away from not being able to finish their degree. Campus resources that offer students academic or nonacademic lifelines can be the extra boost they need to make it through the week, the month, the year or all the way to graduation. Recently, Normandale Community College offered its students one such lifeline that showed how much their school and community cares about one another.

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Spotlight: MCC Streamlines Rush With Clerk Service

Posted by Liz Schulte on 7/1/19 6:00 AM

The Monroe Community College Bookstore in New York identified an opportunity to streamline students’ rush experience. In the 2018 fall term, they made two major changes to how they handled textbooks in their store: they reorganized their shelves by author and they switched to clerk service. Recently, we sat down with Book Store Manager Charli Suter and Textbook Manager Darren Kwiatkowski to discuss what led to this change and how it has helped improve the student customer experience.

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How to Use Social Proof in Your College Store Marketing

Posted by Liz Schulte on 6/26/19 6:00 AM

When you are shopping, does an advertisement you saw online entice you to buy more than talking to a friend who tells you about a great sale or deal they found? Probably not. Students, like any shoppers, want to know they are getting high-quality merchandise for a fantastic price, but in the world of retail marketing, everyone claims their products are the best and that they are giving you the deal of a lifetime. Naturally, firsthand experiences are easier to trust.

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Include Food

Posted by Lori Reese on 7/19/18 5:30 AM

Salty, sweet or protein-rich: food is guaranteed to drive students into your store morning, noon and night.

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Inspire Loyalty With Your Rewards Program

Posted by Liz Schulte on 2/21/17 5:30 AM

Nearly every store and restaurant has a loyalty rewards program. Some give you a specific item for free, some give money off and others build points that you can use in specified ways. However, when everyone is running a loyalty program, it becomes harder for a programs to live up to its intended purpose: to inspire loyalty.

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The More Things Change: How College Retail Hasn't Changed, Even When It Has

Posted by Dean Asher on 11/23/16 12:19 PM

The college retail industry has changed significantly in the last few years. With the rise in big-box online retailers and shifts in technology, everything from marketing and advertising to inventory management and the title procurement process has evolved over the past decade. But that doesn't mean everything is different.

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