Understanding Your Market: Textbook Central

Buying textbooks in college is a yearly struggle that no student looks forward too. Not only do you end up paying way too much for them (let’s be honest, they can cost as much as a semester’s worth of rent in the dorm) but half the time, you don’t actually use the books in your class or you use them that one time for that one assignment that you just made up anyway. Some companies have set out to change this, making online textbook shopping a huge commodity among college students. Not only can you find your books for cheaper, but you can also sell them back, usually for more money than your campus bookstore will buy them for, at little to no cost to you. In this post, I will give a definitive ranking of some of the best and sketchiest online textbook retailers and show you how consumer awareness and marketing research can play a huge part in becoming a successful retailer.

The Great: Chegg & Amazon

#1  – Chegg

Chegg has done incredible things in the ways of online textbook retail. From impeccable customer service to the added benefits of their site, this online retailer has shown that the way to college students hearts (and hard earned cash) is by treating us with the respect we want.

Clearly there’s a lot going on with Chegg’s website, and for good reason. In the last few years, Chegg has established itself as a top competitor in textbooks. Their prices usually run close to Amazon’s and I can honestly say that they are one of my favorite sites to use when it comes time to buy my books. The process is simple; just type in the name or ISBN of the book and boom, you can look at the book and a list of prices for renting or buying the book. Want to know if the e-book is cheaper? Well the price is right there and it just takes a few clicks to see the difference between all of them.

The company understands that students want to feel like a priority and that education goes beyond the classroom. Not only can you buy textbooks on the site, but there is a college blog, online tutoring, and internship opportunities. They grasped that students want a place where they can go to get the help they need for school, as well as unwind after a long day of classes. Through motivational emails and tweets, Chegg has used their marketing research to update their site as they learn more and more about the students they are trying to help. Students were having trouble with their classes, their online tutoring service was born. Problems landing that internship? No problem when Chegg creates a space designed to help students figure out what type of job they want and the internships that can get them there. They have even been known to send freebies with their textbooks just as an extra for purchasing books from them. And if you need to sell or return a book back to them, no problem. You know you will be getting the best price for them and if you’re selling, the shipping is on them. Overall, Chegg has done a good job understanding its target customers and marketing in a way that benefits them. 

#2 – Amazon

When most people think of buying textbooks online, Amazon is one of the first names that pops into their heads. Amazon has established it as an online retailer to beat in just about every market you can think of. And while textbooks are just a small little speck in the company’s overall goals, they make up a large part of their site, especially for college students which also make up a large part of their customers. Like Chegg, they also list their prices for their various mediums as well as prices from other retailers. Selling books back to them is also quite easy as they pay for shipping and only ask that you drop it off at your nearest UPS.

While Amazon is already known for having impeccable customer service, they are sure to use a few marketing research techniques to get them there. One way is through surveys, usually presented by email after you make a purchase. By asking basic questions about the purchase, Amazon has been able to continue to provide excellent customer service in all of their many markets.

The Good: ValoreBooks & Textbooks.com

#3 – Textbooks.com

Textbooks.com employs the marketplace strategy when it comes to textbook retail, comparing various sites and showing the best prices for each. Competing with Slugbooks.com and ValoreBooks, Textbooks.com has done a good job at understanding its target market. By showing the prices of other textbook retailers, Textbooks.com definietely has an appeal among students trying to find the cheapest books possible. They also put the sale price for the book in case you want to sell it back. However, there is little advertising done for the site in general. Unlike Amazon and Chegg which are often advertised on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Spotify, I hadn’t heard of Textbooks.com until I started researching for this blog post.

Overall, they have a good business strategy. However, from a marketing standpoint, the retailer could do a better job with its marketing presence. By advertising on some of the actual retail sites, they might gain more popularity as well as allow other retailers to see their competition and sell on a different medium. They could also try marketing research methods such as surveys, online observation, and through the use of social media. I am excited to see in the near future how the company is doing, especially after seeing its competitors like Chegg and Amazon gain more and more popularity.

 #4 – ValoreBooks

ValoreBooks is a much lesser known site and is more of a marketplace for textbooks, but it’s still a good Example for this blog post. While they also have a place for the sale of used technology, their textbook sections makes up the greatest part of their site. And while the site is still probably a great place to find cheapter textbooks, there are some concerns with their website and marketing efforts.

For starters, the central theme in color scheme of the website as well as overall idea is a little lost in the homepage design. Where Chegg and Amazon keep to a general color scheme, this tries to keep with a color theme, but it gets lost in its bland design. And while they offer various forms of social media, they have less sites that accredit them, which might explain why they are less widely known. That also shows poor marketing efforts on their part because at first glance, this website does not appeal to college students, which would make up their target market.

The site also advertises that they beat Amazon, however, their prices seem a little too good to be true and the other sites they use in their marketplace are less known than ValoreBooks. Like a case of good intentions executed poorly for this website in particular. That said, their price guides are useful and by keeping things simple, it is easy to see where everything is, which is nice when you are already stressed out buying textbooks. That said, this company could probably do some good by conducting an online survey and doing more marketing research on their target market and the demographics for college students who would be using the site.

The Bad: Intel Education Study

#5 – Intel Education Study

So first I would like to say that Intel hasn’t had the best marketing strategy in general as a company. It runs in many of our computers and laptops and yet very few people think about the company at all. When I discovered they had a study website that also sold textbooks I was intrigued. But as I delved into the site, I quickly realized there is a reason that I had never heard of it before. First, for the textbook I am using in this blog, there isn’t even a picture for it. They also only offer one option, which is to rent the book. Now I know renting is almost always cheapter, but there are certain instances wehre it is beneficial to buy the book. And not only that, the site offers very little information about any other form of the book, just a description, price, and medium that is being sold or that is for rent.

In fact, their education study program is not advertised well on their main website.

And while they offer an app, which is a good marketing strategy where students are concerned, there is nowhere on the homepage that shows any type of social media use or student connection. In fact, the only marketing effort that the site actually has going for it is that it is mentioned on Slugbooks.com. This reflects poor on this company in particular because technology is their specialty so as far as online marketing strategies go, Intel should be at the top of the list. However, this site falls flat and overall exhibits poor execution as far as online retail goes.

The Worst: AbeBooks.com

#6 – AbeBooks.com

This website takes the cake for poor marketing strategies as well as poor online presence. Not only is the website asthetically unpleasing to the eye, there is little content on the homepage and the website overall seems a little sketchy.

First, when I searched for the book, it was hard to use the title because it just brought up obscure books with the same or similar title, some of which weren’t’ even textbooks. When I used the ISBN number, this is what comes up.

No picture, little information, and only one price and medium. And while the site offers the book from other competitors, it seems a little off-putting that their price is extremely cheap while their competitors offer the book at a normal discounted price. There are no marketing efforts for the site as well which is useful in that there are no ads accompanying the site but there are also no ads for the site pretty much anywhere. The only way I found it was once again mentioned on Slugbooks.com (and I do mean mentioned, not talked about, the name just comes up as one of their retailers). Overall, I would like to know more about the marketing strategies AbeBooks.com applies because to me, it looks like little to none. In my opinion, I would be surprised if long term the company makes it for very long because their site definitely needs some work. 

Security Online: Social Media Explored

By now you probably know (or I hope you know for that matter) that the internet can be a very open and impersonal place. From credit card fraud and identity theft to simple hacking of social media, people are becoming more and more aware of the dangers of sharing even the most trivial information online. So today I thought I would talk about the various forms of social media that we use every day and compare their privacy and account settings so that you can too can be an informed user.

We all do it every time we download a new app or new software. We click the little box that says “I agree to the terms and conditions” or something of that nature. But there’s a reason that’s one of the most common lies among Americans. No one wants to sit there and read through all of those terms and agreements. Most people don’t think anything about it. Then a couple days later, you wonder why all of your Facebook ads match the same things you just Googled an hour ago.

Yes, companies do this all the time. They share your information with marketing analysts who use the site for their own products, and sometimes, that persistent hacker breaks through causing you to wish you had looked at those terms a little more carefully. It’s actually a large problem in the law business and there are many debates over whether or not those terms and conditions are valid if they are placed in a lengthy document or their privacy policy is hard to find. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

These are screenshots I took of some of the privacy policies from various social media accounts. While none of these things are too alarming, you can see that even “trusted” websites warn you that people might not always have the best intentions with the information you post and that nothing posted is truly ever secure.

Facebook

Snapchat

                                                              Twitter

As you can see at the end, Twitter has a warning that reminds users to mind what they post and that just because your account is private, it does not mean that your friends accounts are.

Another thing we often times forget is updating our privacy settings. This is important, especially for social media that we use daily. Twitter in my opinion has one of the best privacy and account settings pages because it is not only laid out nicely, but you can also set up analytics to see how many people are viewing your tweets and the kind of activity your account is drawing.

Analytics are not only helpful from a marketing standpoint but from a user standpoint as well. If we are aware of the activity and kinds of notice our social media accounts are attracting, we can understand better how important it is to make sure our accounts are as secure as possible.

Although I don’t feel that Facebook necessarily does a bad job with privacy and safety, the company has gotten into trouble many times for privacy and security settings that are questionable. Many people overlook their security page and forget to update their security preferences frequently as Facebook updates its website.

While this post is not meant to scare you into going off the grid, I do want everyone to be aware of how powerful our social media presence can be. Updating your account settings and security preferences only takes a couple of minutes but it could make a hacker’s job much harder if done correctly.

And while we are here, let’s touch base on hackers for a second. Below is a picture of cyber-attacks happening around the world (yes, there is a site to see that and you can read an article about it here).

No I don’t expect China or Russia to all of a sudden attack your personal computer, but as you can see, hackers are not just people sitting in their homes somewhere near you who got bored and wanted your credit card information. It goes much deeper than that. They can steal your entire identity and they don’t even need your computer to do it. More and more hackers are gaining information by getting on people’s social media profiles and finding out information such as your favorite color, pet’s names, or other information usually used as security questions. Then with this information, it only takes a couple of clicks to break into your personal accounts and see everything from your bank statements to your emails. So remember the next time you choose a password or security questions that if it’s something someone could make a connection to on any of your profiles, it probably needs changed. 

E-Marketing on a Global Scale: Starbucks & Saxbys

Hola, Salut, Hello, Ciao, Hallo, Ní hǎo, Hej, Kon’ nichiwa, Shalom…

Marketing globally can be a challenge in a dynamic world, especially with some of the large culture gaps we have. However, the internet has made it much easier to change marketing techniques to specifically fit each individual country you are trying to reach. Being able to market on a global scale can also mean the difference between a company that has a 10 year plan and a company struggling to make it through the next financial term. In this post, I will give examples of how global e-marketing can not only make a company stand out as a competitor, but can also help a company grow its business. 

If you’re like me, then coffee is a normal part of life. And what company comes to most people’s minds when they think of coffee? 

Starbucks coffee has stood the test of time since opening its first store in Seattle, Washington back in 1971. The company continues to grow and change so that it is constantly keeping up with the demand of its customers all around the world. From China, to India, to the United States, Starbucks makes sure to have a large global presence when it comes to marketing its brand online. Their stores are open around the world with one of their newest stores opening in Brazil just this past week. Their website also allows customers to select a website from 49 different regions. Some regions have even been separated into the various languages that are used in a particular country. 

But the company doesn’t just stop at translating its pages into different languages. Instead, it specifically tailors each website to fit that particular region’s culture and customs, making sure the company knows its target market and is creating a marketing experience especially for them. As I navigated between various Starbucks websites, the content of each homepage changed to fit that particular country/region. Here are some examples.

Starbucks U.S. 

Starbucks India

Starbucks Mexico

Starbucks France

Starbucks China

Starbucks Australia

You’ll notice that it’s not just the language that changes between each site, but also the word usage, marketing strategies, and overall look and feel of the homepage. Even the type of coffee that is being advertised changes from country to country, showing how each country or region views coffee. One thing that particularly stands out is their use of technology globally throughout the company. In America, Mexico, France, and China, the Starbucks app is heavily marketed to customers as a great way to keep up with recent Starbucks news as well as to join and keep track of their rewards program, a feature that has made their online presence very interactive. However, in countries such as India and Australia, the app is an afterthought (it’s not even on the page for India) because smartphones either aren’t as prevalent, or people simply find other ways to connect online in the case of Australia. In fact, Australia’s page instead puts their social media references at the top of the page unlike the other regions, and focuses on blogs related to the company. The social media presence of the company also changes to match each country. Where America features an app, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and a Pinterest, countries such as India and Mexico only feature a Facebook and a Twitter, which are going to be the most popular forms of social media in those countries.

Another way that Starbucks increases their global presence is through their “Responsibility” which is just their volunteer work and their producers around the world. In the U.S., this page is dedicated partially to how the company is doing financially, displaying the annual report at the top of the page. It then goes on to feature pages on the global community Starbucks tries to create as well as its environmental impact and ways it is trying to help the communities it is impacting.

On the other end of the spectrum however is China’s page which features their global impact and global community on their homepage.

In this way, Starbucks changes the entire ethical, social, and economic view of the page for each company, which is all another way to increase its marketing reach globally. Now lets look at an example of a company that could use some help increasing its global reach.

On a different end of the global e-marketing continuum is Saxbys coffee. Although a significantly newer company than Starbucks (founded in 2005), Saxbys has already begun to make a name for itself, primarily on the East Coast (U.S.) and slowly moving into the Midwest. Known for its small, local coffee shop feel, Saxbys tends to be a favorite among the non-Starbucks/large coffee chain crowd. However, the company still has a lot of growth if they want to continue to have a successful business model. Right off the bat, Saxbys homepage is minimalistic and has very few features for interaction.

While they do have an app and a fairly good social media presence (bonus points for the hashtag prominently displayed at the top of their homepage), they have zero global presence as well as a small e-marketing presence in general. They do use four different forms of social media, but the site still lacks that community feel that the coffee community often enjoys being a part of. There is a lack of interaction between customer and coffee shop on their website, which shows through things such as their blog which has no section for comments, but rather just buttons at the bottom to share as well as an abundance of hashtags. 

When it comes to marketing online, there are a few basic principles to remember, especially with a company website. Where Starbucks has an interactive website that encourages visitors to their page, Saxbys has a much more understated website that is not very interactive and really does not require much attention from the user. There is no indication of whether or not the site is updated frequently and because the company is fairly small, there is no indication of security behind the site. The one thing the Saxbys website does have going for it is that it downloads quickly.

While Starbucks has been a favorite among coffee drinkers for several decades now, their global marketing presence has helped them grow into the company they are today. Although Saxbys is still in their growth phase, a global marketing presence could bring their company into a whole new light and help them not only become more financially stable, but more stable as a company in the dynamic world we live in. Simple things like a website can make a big difference in marketing presence and can also be the difference between continuous growth and a stagnant presence. Being a coffee lover myself, I always enjoy seeing what new things Starbucks will bring to the table as far as marketing and their global and technological presence and I am excited to see how Saxbys furthers their company and hopefully grows into a powerful coffee house all over the world.

*For more ways to say hello in other languages, click here 

Websites and the Social Online Presence: High End Fashion

The world of high end fashion can be an exhilarating place to shop in. Whether you prefer going to fashion week to see the latest collection from your favorite designer or you would rather spend your time on 57^th Street getting lost in the shiny displays and flabbergasting price tags, high end fashion is appreciated not only in a shoppers world, but in the artistic community as well. The fashion world is one of the forerunners in international business, creating things from every day wear, to Olympic uniforms, to the next trends to be passed down for years to come. However, in such a dynamic and competitive world, an online presence can mean everything. In this article, I will examine several examples of excellent e-marketing efforts, as well as examples of some companies that might need to reevaluate their marketing strategy online.

One thing you can say about high end fashion is that it isn’t cheap. Clothing that we have a problem spending $50 on might sell for over $3000 at a “couture” company. The people who shop at these stores want to look and feel like royalty. While these stores usually do make a large portion of their sales in store (after all, why buy a $1500 pair of shoes unless you can show off to the people outside the store), there is something to be said for a store’s online presence. First let’s look at the good examples: Marchesa, Louis Vuitton, and Christian Siriano.

Marchesa, although a lesser known company too many, is known for its posh looks and bold details and textures in its designs.

The homepage of their website continues with this theme by showing various textured dresses in a black and white theme giving the site a feel of elegance. When you click on the various pages, you the dynamic colors of their collections grab your eye on the neutral backgrounds they are placed in. Their social media pages are easy to find from the home page, and all of their information is displayed neatly. One of the only downfalls of this website is that you cannot buy items online. This however makes the most sense for this company due to the uniqueness and types of clothing they sell, which is mostly dresses. They are also one of the few companies that have a Pinterest account, which gives their customers (or wishful customers) a more personal experience. Personalization can be a useful tool in marketing and it is a trend among some of the top brands in the world. Although there is not much item personalization in the high end fashion world, Marchesa does something slightly more unusual on social media that has boosted their online presence. They run their Instagram as a personal account, posting not only pictures of new designs, but reposting from the founders and designers accounts, posting from events or accounts where their dresses were featured, and their Fan Fridays. Fans of the company from all over the world can post a picture of their own personal designs with the hashtag #marchesafanfriday and they might have their design featured on the Instagram page. It not only gets their customers involved, but is a great way to create a personal experience for everyone involved in the company.

Another fashion forerunner is Louis Vuitton, who not only uses minimalism to create a sleek design for their website, but also strives to make their customer experience personal and fun. Their website is not only easy to navigate, but also makes the average shopper feel more at home. Members can easily sign in as well as browse new collections or catch up on the latest news with the company. Focusing more on neutral tones and a minimalist feel, the feel of the site seems to match the look of the clothes being displayed on it. Although online shopping is also not a main point for this company, there is a way to find out more about an item or in the case of certain things, call for availability of the product and see its price.

With 8 different forms of social media, Louis Vuitton wants to make sure the world knows about them in a big way. Something that makes their company unique is their use of Snapchat to promote their brand. 

This allows the brand to stand out among competitors and gives them a fun way to make their company more personable to their customers.

Lastly, in our frontrunners is Christian Siriano. While this website is less visually appealing than some (white and light blue or black text doesn’t exactly scream come shop here), they do have a thriving Instagram account, as well as a way to shop online. They have clearly established what they are selling and what their customers want and they work to meet that demand. The company even sells prints of its designs online and they ship worldwide reaching various markets at once. Their site is easy to navigate and their Instagram account features funny pictures of employees as well as focusing on the latest designs the company produces. 

Now that we’ve seen some good examples of e-marketing in this industry, we will look at some poor examples of e-marketing and how the simplest things can not only harm a brand’s image, but also be off-putting to potential customers.

Let’s start by looking at Givenchy. Givenchy is known by Givenchy Paris but right when you open up the home page, you are greeted with an American flag causing some question about not only how the brand is being marketed, but what their overall objective is. Earlier we looked at how Marchesa used black and white as a form of elegance. But here, Givenchy uses a black and white theme and it looks dull.

Furthermore, the page is not only difficult to navigate (I couldn’t even figure out how to get from one design to the next in their collections) but their pages look like there was not really a plan for any sort of organization. Their social media tabs aren’t even prominently listed, but instead, one has to search the site and go under the “More” tab to find them. Once on their social media pages, you’re greeted with more of the same black and white images from their website. And the biggest faux paux of the site is that there is a timer that pops up as your pages are loading, which not only cheapens the site, but also shows how slow it runs in comparison to most other websites.

There is no place to shop online either but instead, when you click on the E-Store tab, you are redirected to a page telling to download their app in order to shop from a remote location.

Givenchy is not the only company who is not staying competitive online. Chanel and Manolo are two other companies who are struggling to keep up appearances online. While I cannot put a picture in this post that completely shows the struggle of navigating Chanel’s site, I have included the link to the website so you can see for yourself. Each move of the mouse pointer moves a part of the page which is not only dizzying but also makes it difficult to click on the tab you want to go to. A good concept gone wrong in other words. Once again, the social media is found under the chanel.com page down at the bottom, which might take some searching to find.

Manolo’s site is no better using barely any color (or dull colors) and offering few ways to navigate the site and no place to shop online. Instead, their collections are just placed at the bottom of the page where you can scroll through. The only tabs on the page are either there to show you the collections at the bottom or to put you on their mailing list or contact them. Even their Twitter page is more dynamic and designed to catch the reader’s eye.

As you can see, effective use of websites and social media can not only help a brand establish their presence, but also promote the objective of their company and help them relate to customers. Creating a personal experience for customers so that they can feel like the company relates to them is important in marketing and can help gain rapport and boost sales. Although in the high-end fashion world, there is a higher demand in stores than online for an actual shopping experience, this just goes to show that sometimes, a little work online can go a long way.

Side Note: Two runners up for poor examples also include YSL and Ralph Lauren whose websites need some work.