Competition for bookstores at higher education institutions is growing with the rise of online retailers. Students are seeing more options to access affordable textbooks.
In a recent interview with University Business, Ruby James, vice president of finance and business affairs at Millikin University, discussed how Millikin is offering more affordable textbooks and seeing increased merchandise sales.
"Prices in our store were way more expensive than prices online," James says. "Plus, our stock was incomplete and we often had a lot of books on backorder."
In May 2015, Millikin's campus store was downsized and repurposed to exclusively sell school supplies and university apparel and merchandise. Used, new and rental textbooks are sold online by Millikin's official virtual bookstore partner retailer, eCampus.com. Books can be shipped directly to the student's home or dorm, or to Millikin's campus store. Through the eCampus.com Marketplace, students can sell and buy texts from each other, often at a significant discount.
"Through eCampus.com, books are available 100 percent of the time," James said. "Students enjoy the same ease of ordering as they do with familiar online retailers like Amazon."
Now that campus store staff are no longer bogged down with book ordering, they have time to focus on increasing sales on university merchandise in both the campus store and through the Millikin Virtual Bookstore powered by eCampus.com.
"We now have time to select a wider variety of apparel and merchandise at lower price points, and even promote them at athletic events and other university events," James said. "Sales on these items are significantly higher than before the campus store transformation."
Click here to read more in an article from University Business.