Online textbook shopping hurts Campus Store textbook sales

by: Scott Wiseman on January 26, 2012

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Madeline Smith | The Daily Utah Chronicle

Musical Theater majors Madison Dean, freshman, and Ali Rea, freshman, search for their Writing 2010 books at the Campus Store. As opposed to purchasing text books online, "It's easier to get books in the store," Rea says, "I can't wait for shipping." The Campus Store sells new and used textbooks for students throughout the semester.

Although some students are paying an increasing average of nearly $700 per semester on textbooks, local campus stores are seeing a negative impact in sales.

On Friday, BYU’s campus store laid off 29 employees, citing a loss of profits leading to budget cuts. The U’s campus store has not had to lay off any employees, but is also seeing a decrease in profits.

“The textbook department is seeing an expected slight decrease in sales,” said Shane Girton, associate director of the store. “The decrease isn’t enough to affect the store as a whole.”

BYU’s bookstore had about 300 employees, whereas the U’s campus store employs 40 full-time and 100 part-time workers, said Beth Frieden, human resources supervisor for the U’s campus store. About 80 percent of the U Campus Store’s part-time workers are students.

A possible answer for the loss in profits is the diversification in how students are getting their textbooks. In most cases, rentals, e-books and online merchants are delivering textbooks to students at a cheaper price than traditional campus store prices.

Four years ago, new textbooks accounted for 70 percent of all textbook sales nationwide but only account for 34 percent now, according to a statement by online textbook retailer eCampus. Textbook rentals account for 40 percent of sales.

“Rentals are definitely responsible for a good portion of our sales,” Girton said. “They’re a cost-efficient option to students.”
Jared Grant, a senior in political science, said he used to buy his textbooks from the campus store but now buys them online.

“It’s much more worth it to purchase the books online,” he said. “I got three textbooks for about $9 this semester.”

Grant said even though the store is convenient, it’s a better bargain on the internet. “I like e-books a lot, but they’re a bit hard to take notes with,” he said.

Whether the campus store will take a future hit because of alternative methods of delivering and purchasing textbooks is yet to be seen. Girton said the streamlining of the campus store’s operations and expansion to locations such as the Red Zone in Sandy and Layton have been effective.

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