New Barnes & Noble College Research Reveals Students’ Evolving Attitudes Towards Collegiate Retail
May 29 2024 - 6:32AM
Business Wire
- 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.
Barnes & Noble College (BNC), a Barnes & Noble
Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) company and a leading solutions
provider for the education industry, today announced results from
its 2024 Student Pulse survey, which revealed valuable insights
into college students’ evolving attitudes toward campus store
shopping behaviors and preferences, bookstore satisfaction and
purchasing decisions.
Through its proprietary research platform, Barnes & Noble
College Insights™, Barnes & Noble College surveyed nearly
140,000 students across 640 campuses nationwide, representing
four-year public, four-year private and two-year public
institutions. These valuable insights provide an important view
into college students’ perceptions and help shape how Barnes &
Noble College innovates through differentiated and relevant retail
products, experiences and service models.
“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 Jonathan Shar, President, Barnes & Noble College.
“As shown in our 2024 Student Pulse report, our reimagined approach
to collegiate retailing resonates with consumers. From innovative
course material distribution models like our First Day® and First
Day® Complete inclusive and equitable access programs, to our
next-generation retail and e-commerce offerings, product assortment
and merchandising strategies, students have consistently ranked our
campus bookstores and the services they deliver with high
satisfaction. Through our unique commitment to service, support and
local management teams on each campus, we are well positioned to
continue to improve the experiences and value we bring to customers
and help our partner institutions achieve their highest-priority
goals.”
Elevated Service and Support Drives Students’ Positive
Perceptions of BNC Bookstores
Within the survey results, students provided strong, positive
feedback on Barnes & Noble College-operated bookstores.
- 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 U.S. who gave Barnes & Noble College
the highest ratings for satisfaction among national college
bookstore providers across 12 categories, including overall
satisfaction, bookstore staff and customer service, overall course
materials program support, emblematic and general merchandise
assortment, retail innovation, and marketing programs and
events.
*Source: Hanover Research, National
College Bookstore Partner Satisfaction Study, 2022.
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 March 2024 of nearly 140,000 students across
the U.S. attending a BNC partner institution, including community
colleges, four-year public and four-year private institutions. The
annual survey was conducted to understand students’ evolving
attitudes toward course materials, campus store shopping behaviors
and preferences, and purchasing decisions.
Barnes & Noble College takes every opportunity to understand
the needs of our students and customers, building stronger
connections and supporting the highest priorities goals for our
partner institutions. Insights from the annual Student Pulse
surveys and other research initiatives help us fulfill our
commitment to ensuring students have the affordable course
materials they need to succeed in class, as well as access to an
inviting, convenient retail environment.
For more information about Barnes & Noble College’s
offerings, visit www.bncollege.com.
ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC.
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (NYSE: BNED) is a
leading solutions provider for the education industry, driving
affordability, access and achievement at hundreds of academic
institutions nationwide and ensuring millions of students are
equipped for success in the classroom and beyond. Through its
family of brands, BNED offers campus retail services and academic
solutions, wholesale capabilities and more. BNED is a company
serving all who work to elevate their lives through education,
supporting students, faculty and institutions as they make tomorrow
a better, more inclusive and smarter world. For more information,
visit www.bned.com.
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BNED Contact – Media and Investors Hunter Blankenbaker
Vice President – Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
(908) 991-2776 hblankenbaker@bned.com
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