New Barnes & Noble College Research Reveals Students’ Evolving Attitudes Towards Collegiate Retail
- Research findings reveal the growing importance of convenience, elevated experiences, and dedicated service and support.
- Students continue to view the campus bookstore as a critical resource in their academic journey.
Through its proprietary research platform, Barnes & Noble College Insights™,
“Our proprietary research enables us to translate data into actionable insights to make the campus store more relevant, impactful and valuable for the students, faculty and communities we serve,” said
Elevated Service and Support Drives Students’ Positive Perceptions of BNC Bookstores
Within the survey results, students provided strong, positive feedback on
- 93% of students gave high ratings for the performance of their BNC-operated bookstore and had high levels of satisfaction across many aspects of the shopping experience (both in-store and online).
- 86% of students had high levels of satisfaction with their campus store’s customer service.
- 86% of students gave high ratings to their bookstore staff’s availability, friendliness and knowledge level.
The Student Pulse findings corroborate a recent third-party independent survey* of senior administrators at 334 colleges and universities across the
*Source: |
Innovative Solutions and Depth of Assortment. Bookstore Remains a Key Destination.
Student Pulse results show students still believe the campus store is a critical resource in their academic journey — and it remains the #1 place faculty recommend for purchasing course materials and where students decide to purchase their course materials. Students also said the bookstore remains a key destination for school-branded apparel — outperforming all other national retailers.
- 75% of students shop at the campus store for school-branded apparel — well ahead of competitors such as online retailers (25%), big box/mass retailers (15%) and specialty retailers (9%).
- 72% of students prefer to shop in-store for school-branded apparel.
- 88% of students said it was important to have textbooks/course materials available at the campus bookstore.
- 70% of faculty continue to recommend the campus bookstore for textbook purchases.
- 62% of students said they purchased their textbooks at the campus bookstore.
Student Views on New, Innovative Course Material Distribution Models
Students are also highly interested in access to lower-priced course material bundles. Equitable access programs such as First Day Complete allow higher education institutions to offer students discounted course materials, either bundled into tuition or offered as a separate course charge and made available before the first day of class. Students also indicated that they often use a combination of digital and print course materials during the semester.
- Nearly 90% of students indicated interest in a course material bundling program, such as BNC’s First Day Complete.
- 76% of students said they would have a more positive perception of their school if it offered an equitable access course material bundling program.
- More than two-thirds of students (68%) indicated they used at least some print course materials during the semester.
For more information on the 2024 Student Pulse survey, visit https://www.bncollege.com/insight/student_pulse_data_2024.
Survey Methodology
Barnes & Noble College Insights™
conducted an online quantitative survey in
For more information about Barnes & Noble College’s offerings, visit www.bncollege.com.
ABOUT
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240529841598/en/
BNED Contact – Media and Investors
Vice President – Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
(908) 991-2776
hblankenbaker@bned.com
Source: