THE CAMPUS STORE
COMEBACK
NACAS 2014 OCTOBER 5-8 MONTRÉAL, CANADA
3/25/12
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PRESENTERS
Jim Zaorski
Founder/CEO
Sequoia Inc.
Jared Ceja
Director, Aux. Services
Chaffey College
Sara Leoni
CEO
Rafter, Inc.
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STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
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The Perfect Storm
for College Stores
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• General state of economy
ECONOMY
• State/system affordability initiatives
AFFORDABILITY
• Budgetary pressures
BUDGETS
• Declining enrollments
ENROLLMENTS
THE PERFECT STORM
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COMPETITION: ONLINE SELLERS
• eTailers cherry-picked profitable titles
• Sophisticated ecommerce systems
• Customer Acquisition + Relationship
Management (CRM)
• Advanced pricing & inventory systems
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OnCampus RESEARCH SAYS:
67% of students purchased textbooks from an on-campus store (in-store)
66.80%
48.40%
24.80%
On-campus store
(in-store)
Amazon.com
On-campus store
(website)
8.40%
7.70%
7.10%
eBay/Half.com
Chegg.com
From peer/student
Q: Where did you purchase your required course materials for the current fall term
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CHARTING THE COURSE
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OnCampus RESEARCH SAYS:
% of students that purchased exclusively from one retailer
On-Campus Store
(in-store or website)
36.6%
Amazon
16.1%
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PRICE AND USED BOOKS IMPACT
PURCHASE LOCATION
Top factors that influenced purchase location
Ability to sell textbooks back
21.50%
Ease of ordering and using online site
21.90%
Ability to order online
Availability of course materials before the first day of…
Convenience of store location
Confidence in obtaining correct book for the course
Speed of receiving textbooks
Ability to purchase used textbooks
Price
23.50%
24.30%
28.10%
29.45%
31.40%
39.50%
57.50%
Q: What were the top factors that influenced where you purchased required course
materials this fall term?
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A BETTER SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
•
Elastic pricing (digital shelf tags)
•
More options (new, used, print on demand,
digital, rental)
•
“Progressive” price comparison
•
Communicate with shoppers in the store via
their smart phone
•
Reward frequent shoppers
•
Capture and analyze customer data to drive
more sales
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TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS
•
Integrated shopping carts (one cart, many sources)
•
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) modules
•
Digital Shelf Tags
•
iBeacon
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A SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE
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CHAFFEY COLLEGE
Public community college known as
the leader in affordable education
•
Rancho Cucamonga, CA
•
Enrollment: 14,543 FTE
•
Mascot: The Panther
•
Founded: 1883
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CHAFFEY BOOKSTORE SINCE 2009/10
• Text sales per FTE: +14%
• Text market share: + 13.5%
+143%
• Non-text sales per FTE: + 143%
Rental program saves their students more than
$1.1M each year versus new!
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RENTALS
• Aggressive rentals
– Partnering for success
– Rentals “changed everything”
– The new normal
• Competitive versus consistent
RENT
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DYNAMIC PRICING
• Traditional pricing model
• How “dynamic pricing” works
• Competing while still maintaining overall
margins
$
• Digital shelf tags
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DIGITAL SHELF TAGS
• Rapid prices changes
– Emerging deals
• Maximize rentals
– Add new titles
• Improve communication
– Students always get
accurate information
• Save trees
• Save time
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SOURCING
• Alternate Course Materials Sourcing
– Purchasing/repurchasing rentals
– Marketplace sourcing
• A Word about “Digital Books”
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TRANSPARENCY
• Nothing to hide
• Best prices for our
students
• Same prices as
going direct
• Only way the
campus gets funds
from on-line sales
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THE SECONDARY IMPACT
• GM growth driven by specialized supplies, Box Office services,
gifts, and apparel
• Earn loyalty with text and leverage it for other growth
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OTHER PROGRAMS
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THINGS TO WATCH
• The new normal does not happen overnight
– Engage your team, the campus, and especially students
• Financial impact
– Sales will shift categories
– Short-term bumps will be experienced for long-term gains
– Get in front of things with communication
• Flexibility is crucial
– Staff that struggle with change will struggle with this
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MAKING IT WORK
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THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS
Students
Stewardship
Campus Involvement
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TO WIN YOU HAVE TO DELIVER AGAINST
YOUR STUDENTS’ NEEDS
• Offer value
– “Competitive” pricing
– Excellent service
•
Emphasize strategic advantages
– Local services and convenience
•
Invest in technology
– It is what students expect
– It is what your store needs
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YOU HAVE TO RELENTLESSLY
MANAGE THE NUMBERS
• Understanding key drivers & benchmarks
• Maximizing the value of resources & inventory
– ROI focus
• Leveraging relationships
– Listening to your student staff
– Partnering for success
• Uncharted waters
• Address blindspots
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CREATE ADVOCATES FOR YOUR
BUSINESS VIA CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT
• Listening
– Input sessions
– Surveys, social media
– Student & Faculty senate
– Employees
• Administrative involvement
• Woven into the fabric of the campus community
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Smooth Sailing
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THANK
YOU
Jim Zaorski
Sara Leoni
jim@sequoiars.com
sara.leoni@rafter.com
Jared Ceja
jared.ceja@chaffey.com
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