Prepare now. Order products as soon as possible for your store, as availability is sometimes limited and lead times are longer than usual due to the pandemic.

Create a gift table. Start with your in-store display. Once that has been set up, you can work on virtual gift tables. Create a page to group items just as you did in store.

Theme ideas:

• gifts for $25 or less
• stocking stuffers
• gifts for family members
• spirit gear for fans

Focus on your web presence. Ensure the online shopping process is easy and intuitive. Go through the process, from searching and adding items to the cart to your checkout process and ensure it flows smoothly.

Continue to connect with your customers virtually. Continue utilizing social media and email campaigns to highlight gift ideas and drive traffic to your website.

Create a cause component. Shoppers are drawn to spend money when it also supports a cause. Consider supporting a specific group or department with a percentage of overall sales, or a percentage when the customer mentions the cause at checkout.

Monitor sales data. Check in regularly to detect fast and slow sellers. If there’s time, reorder merchandise selling quickly and ensure all stock is online or on the sales floor.

Lincoln, Neb. (December 02, 2020) – PrismRBS, a leading provider of higher education retail technology, announces its new partnership with FreedomPay, a leading consumer-centric commerce platform. FreedomPay’s Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE) offers world-class security by tokenizing credit card data, eliminating the storage of credit card numbers within the PrismSuite system.

“We are pleased to be able to offer our customers a world-class, secure commerce platform option through our FreedomPay certification,” says PrismRBS President Jeremy White. “This partnership benefits users of our Prism suite of products by offering a new choice in who they partner with to provide secure, reliable and innovative payment solutions.”

“FreedomPay is delighted to partner with PrismRBS to provide best-in-class, safer, and swifter payment solutions across the education sector,” said Chris Kronenthal, President and CTO at FreedomPay. “With our highly advanced platform, together FreedomPay and PrismRBS will help to take clients and consumers from legacy to leading-edge technology.”

About PrismRBS
PrismRBS has more than 40 years of higher education retail technology experience and is committed to serving the independent campus store. As a system provider for more than 400 stores in the United States and Canada, PrismRBS provides campus-wide solutions that empower retail stores with state-of-the-art eCommerce tools, real-time analytics and intuitive back-office software. Learn more at prismrbs.com.

About FreedomPay
FreedomPay’s Next Level Commerce platform transforms existing payment systems and processes from legacy to leading edge. As the premier choice for many of the largest companies across the globe in retail, hospitality, lodging, gaming, sports and entertainment, food service, education, healthcare and financial services, FreedomPay’s technology has been purposely built to deliver rock-solid performance in the highly complex environment of global commerce.

The company maintains a world-class security environment and was first to earn the coveted validation by the PCI Security Standards Council against Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE/EMV) standard in North America. FreedomPay’s robust solutions across payments, security, identity, and data analytics are available in-store, online and on-mobile and are supported by rapid API adoption. The award-winning FreedomPay Commerce Platform operates on a single, unified technology stack across multiple continents allowing enterprises to deliver an innovative Next Level experience on a global scale. www.freedompay.com

LINCOLN, Neb. – November 13, 2018 – PrismRBS, a subsidiary of Nebraska Book Company, announced its first PrismPOS cloud services customer to operate within a Canadian based Microsoft Azure cloud region. PrismRBS is dedicated to providing the best technology in their effort to empower Canadian higher education customers. In order to achieve these goals, it’s important to adopt cutting-edge services like the Microsoft Azure cloud.

“Delivering cloud-based services and solutions on Canadian soil is a part of our strategic vision. PrismRBS is committed to providing the best campus-wide retail solutions designed to support our Canadian customers. Collaborating with companies like Microsoft is so crucial and only the beginning of what the company has in store moving forward,” says Jeremy White, President of PrismRBS.

PrismRBS successfully implemented their cloud based point-of-sale, PrismPOS, in Canadian territory. With more certifications than any other cloud provider, Microsoft Azure cloud allows Canadian campus retailers to run PrismRBS products with confidence their data is secure as required within PIPEDA restrictions. Along with the protection of secure data, the Azure cloud provides access to a menu of pre-built tools and features, regional data centers and improved functionality. Whether it’s in a campus store, food service or a coffee shop, the PrismRBS product suite provides the tools needed to drive sales and create lasting consumer experiences.

About PrismRBS

PrismRBS is a technology and software provider for campus retail services owned by NBC. PrismRBS serves as a partner to over 500 college retailers, providing technology solutions which support student success and strengthen higher education retail across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. In addition, PrismRBS leads the industry in point-of-sale solutions, real-time dashboards and analytics, back-end inventory software, mobile solutions and eCommerce software and services. For more information about PrismRBS, visit www.prismrbs.com.

###

—Nebraska Book Company (NBC) is excited to announce Jeremy White’s promotion to President of PrismRBS. White will oversee PrismRBS and its commitment to continue providing world-class products and services to its new and existing customers. 

Jeremy has been with NBC for nearly five years. During which time he has led the company’s information technology business in various capacities and achieved the cultural shift needed to establish PrismRBS as a leader in the campus technology industry.

“We have seen tremendous leadership from Jeremy, and have confidence in his ability to take PrismRBS to the next level. Jeremy’s leadership on our product roadmap, customer service and people development will ensure PrismRBS achieves its growth targets,” said Jay Amond, President and CEO of Nebraska Book Company.

As President, Jeremy White will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations and execution of the business strategy for PrismRBS. Whether it is in a campus store, food service or a coffee shop, the PrismRBS product suite provides the tools needed to drive sales and create lasting consumer experiences.

“I am excited to take on this new role as President of PrismRBS and deliver on our commitment to provide the best campus-wide retail solutions designed to support our customers’ success,” said Jeremy White, President of PrismRBS. “I look forward to seeing what our amazing PrismRBS team will achieve as we grow our business.”

About PrismRBS

PrismRBS is a technology and software provider for campus retail services and owned by NBC. PrismRBS serves as a partner to over 500 college retailers, providing technology solutions which support student success and strengthen higher education retail across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. In addition, PrismRBS leads the industry in point-of-sale solutions, real-time dashboards and analytics, back-end inventory software, mobile solutions and eCommerce software and services. For more information about PrismRBS visit www.prismrbs.com.

PrismRBS is passionate about campus retail and we pride ourselves on being its most trusted partner in the industry. Our campus-wide solutions are thoughtfully designed to provide solutions that enhance the retail experience.

We believe that by empowering campus retail services with state-of-the-art eCommerce tools, real-time analytics and time saving back-office software, campuses will have a more positive experience and make a greater impact in the campus marketplace.

PrismRBS is the product of a strategic partnership between Nebraska Book Company’s technology division and RATEX Business Solutions. Together, we are excited to transform the campus retail experience. To learn more about PrismRBS visit, www.prismrbs.com.

About NBC, Inc.

NBC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nebraska Book Holdings, Inc., began in 1915 as an independent college bookstore and has evolved into a key resource partner to over 2,000 college retailers nationwide. NBC offers strategic business services and technology; including, localized eCommerce capabilities, back-end system access, campus-wide POS software and textbook solutions. NBC is devoted to supporting and strengthening higher education retail across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. For more information about the technology division of NBC, visit nebook.com/retail-systems-management/

About RBS, Inc.

RATEX Business Solutions (RBS) is the leading independent provider of sophisticated technology and expert management consulting services to college and university stores in North America. Dedicated to innovation, we help college retailers align technology with smart business to achieve success. RATEX is owned by the Collegiate Retail Alliance (CRA), a business coalition of independent college stores that have joined together to develop and deploy the industry’s best business practices. For more information about RATEX Business Solutions, Inc. visit www.ratex.com

In our history of working with multiple software companies, have we never personally experienced such an aggressive and successful deployment of a complex mission critical application. Clearly this represents a new direction, and business modernization process, designed to meet the historically underserved needs of the Independent College Book Store.

We’ve found that the Prism|POS product itself is an intuitive and extremely user friendly application, and we believe that it will cut down on our student cashier training time by 50%. Current functionality of the product already meets our basic POS needs, and we’re confident that the enhancements over the next few weeks will exceed our previous capabilities.

The Cloud based nature of the application is also in line with the overall direction of our University, relative to managing IT hardware spend.

The announcement of the new Prism|rbs, LLC is even more exciting to us as we have experienced firsthand the ability of these two groups of talented individuals to deliver a quality solution in record time. We look forward to our new relationship with this energized business partner!”

— Chris Gotski | Director

Google research has found that at least 90 percent of consumers switch between multiple devices, on average three per day to complete a task[1]. Because of this change, businesses are using different marketing strategies to guide their customers through an omnichannel journey.

Customers have a need to interact with a brand at anytime, anywhere. As a business, the key to success is the preparation and strategy you put behind your business to compete and become relevant in this ever-changing marketplace.

The NBC e-commerce team has pulled what they find are some key strategies to help you start a successful omnichannel experience.

“Content is king” –It is important to reach your customers through the right channels with the right context.

How does NBC help you do that? Our Digital Marketing Program provides key marketing techniques to reach your customers across an array of channels accessible by all devices.

• By using intuitive retargeting campaigns that include both on site slider panels and abandoned cart emails, shoppers are able to view their browsing history and convert based on items they liked or showed interest in during their website visit.
• We work congruently with our clients to create promotional campaigns that are shared through a vast affiliate network of loyalty and rewards sites.
• By utilizing geo-targeted search engine marketing campaigns we help drive new traffic to our customer’s sites by bidding out the competition. The campaigns are crafted creatively by using keywords that will attract new visitors, alumni and parents.

Knowledge of the customer– To provide a valuable experience to your customers, you need to understand their shopping interests and their goals. Through web-analytics, businesses can now identify the various channels traffic is coming in from as well as demographic and geographic information that will help make decisions to generate more sales on-site and in the store.

• Google Analytics- A powerful tool on its own, G.A. allows you to tap into relevant information about your shoppers.
  • How did your shoppers land on your site- social media, direct, organic or referral traffic.
  • What device did they use? Mobile or desktop- It is important to have a mobile friendly website that allows your shoppers the ability to browse and shop your site with ease.
  • What was the average order value? Information such as AOV allows you to create promotions based on the average basket size of your website.

This, among many other metrics attained within website analytics are key to using website data in ways of promoting your website and store through the channels and devices that your shoppers are most utilizing.

Responsive website design- As we discussed earlier, shoppers are now accessing your site through multiple channels and devices. You wouldn’t want to invite your friends to a house warming party when your house is not ready yet.

NBC’s new website template allows your shoppers to engage in a customer friendly experience from start to finish.

• With a newly updated look and feel to the homepage, you can now keep your customers informed about the latest news through engaging content via rotating banners.
• The checkout optimization allows for an improved flow from start to finish.
• The template adopts to any screen size allowing you to transition your mobile visitors to mobile customers.

[1] https://instapage.com/blog/what-is-omni-channel-marketing