Dive Brief:
- Bowdoin College will take its textbook sales online, contracting textbook rental company Chegg to handle the business.
- Inside Higher Ed reports the campus bookstore has become less profitable as students turn to online orders, and Bowdoin can better use the former textbook center for IT space.
- Chegg expects students to see significant savings if they choose to buy used textbooks or rent them, but they will also be able to buy new textbooks and pick them up at the school’s pop-up textbook center at the start of each semester, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Amazon has provided services similar to those Chegg is planning to larger universities, including Purdue, UC-Davis, and UMass-Amherst, according to Inside Higher Ed. Akademos, too, runs virtual bookstores for campuses across the country. In recognizing students are largely turning online for cheaper textbook options anyway, colleges are better serving their populations by providing a link to established companies through partnerships like these. At Bowdoin, Chegg is expected to fill about 90% of orders with the college doing the rest, meaning the campus role won’t disappear entirely.