Is your college’s campus store keeping up with the latest trends in service and merchandise? Trends in retail change fast, but it’s important to know what they are and how they could impact your store’s success.

Slingshot’s Kara Bunde-Dunn, Chief Sales Officer, presented a NACAS webinar on recent trends this fall with Lorelle Davies, VP of Finance and CFO at Columbia Gorge Community College. Here’s a summary of their presentation.

1.) Elevated Service Experiences

Traditional counter service models put the burden of materials acquisition on students, but the latest trend aims to remove students from the acquisition process. Dorm delivery ensures students receive all their materials on time and reduces the amount of time needed to find and acquire their materials. Even in non-traditional academic settings, the campus store can be structured to package and deliver materials to off-campus addresses by the first day of class. With subscription models like Slingshot, students also have more time and less decision fatigue when their materials are delivered for them in one personalized package to their front door.

2.) Equitable access (ea)

For one low, predictable fee embedded in tuition, students receive all course materials by the first day of class. EA’s benefits include lower costs for students, improved access to materials, better academic outcomes, and the timely use of financial aid. EA also offers academic freedom for faculty, meaning they are not limited to digital materials, which is often the case with Inclusive Access programs. EA can also be used for more than textbooks—supplies are included!

For the campus store, this model means greater student satisfaction and ease of use ecosystem. Before implementing EA, institutions should: 

• Educate stakeholders (students, faculty, and staff) effectively to prepare them for the switch
• Get faculty feedback and buy-in during the decision-making process
• Have a resident EA expert at the institution for questions and troubleshooting
• Decide how the partnership with the physical store will look and operate

3.) removing course materials from the campus store

It’s simple—the less space you need to house inventory, the more space you have to create a visually stimulating retail store. If course materials are sourced from another location, like a distribution center, you have room for innovative merchandise and unique spaces, like a t-shirt vending machine, a technology bar, charging stations, lounge spaces, or even a coffee bar in partnership with your food service vendor.

4.) centralizing auxiliary services

Institutions are recognizing that the campus bookstore can be merged with other auxiliary services like the print shop and mail room to create greater financial and operational efficiencies. Centralizing auxiliary services to one location in the campus store can drive foot traffic to the store and revive struggling revenue-generating services. It can also help consolidate staff and management, leading to cost savings and a potentially smaller footprint in the institution’s facilities.

5.) unique general merchandise

Institutions are recognizing that the campus bookstore can be merged with other auxiliary services like the print shop and mail room to create greater financial and operational efficiencies. Centralizing auxiliary services to one location in the campus store can drive foot traffic to the store and revive struggling revenue-generating services. It can also help consolidate staff and management, leading to cost savings and a potentially smaller footprint in the institution’s facilities.