Students are one of the trickiest holiday audiences a campus bookstore serves. They’re tight on budget, short on time before finals, and they’re rarely the only person involved in the purchase. A parent, grandparent, or alumnus is often the one holding the credit card, while the student is the one holding the wish list. Selling well this season means building promotions around both sides of that equation: reaching the people buying gifts for students, giving students a reason to buy for themselves, and delivering each message in the channel where it will actually get seen. Here are three places to focus.
Sell to the Gift-Giver, Not Just the Student
A lot of holiday revenue at a campus store never comes from the student at all. Parents, alumni, faculty, and campus fans all shop the same inventory, but they don’t all shop for the same reasons or at the same price points. A digital gift guide organized by audience makes that shopping easier: a “For the Student” page for dorm and finals essentials, a “For the Alumni” page for nostalgia-driven gear, and a “For the Parent” page that does the thinking for relatives who aren’t sure what a college sophomore actually wants. Campus store industry guidance recommends building these guides around bestsellers, apparel, gift bundles, tech accessories, and stocking stuffers across a range of price points, so there’s an entry point for every budget. For bookstore managers, the practical takeaway is that the gift guide shouldn’t just mirror the store’s product categories. It should mirror the people shopping.
Give Students a Reason to Buy From You First
Students are actively looking for a deal, and the data suggests that mindset is only getting stronger. In a recent survey from student-verification platform Pion, 68% of U.S. students named better deals and discounts as the top factor in where they shop this holiday season, 61% said they plan to hunt for deals more actively than before, and 45% said they look for a student discount on every purchase. The same source points out that offers gated to verified students can also create a sense of exclusivity and urgency that speeds up the decision. A campus bookstore has a built-in advantage here, since it already knows who its students are. A student-only holiday offer, whether that’s a percentage off spirit wear, a free gift with purchase over a set amount, or early access to a holiday drop before the general public sees it, gives students a concrete reason to check your store before they check a national retailer.
Match the Message to the Channel
Even the best offer falls flat if it shows up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Email is the right home for content students want to browse, like the gift guide, while text messages and push notifications work better for time-sensitive news such as a flash sale or the last day to order for delivery before break. That split matters for a student audience in particular, since students are deciding quickly and often between classes. It also pairs well with bundles: according to Klaviyo’s holiday research, 27% of consumers say they’re looking for bundle or multi-buy deals this season, rising to 30% among millennials and Gen Z. Pre-built bundles, such as a “finals survival kit,” a “cozy dorm set,” or a “gift for the person who has everything on campus,” are easy to promote in a short text and easy for a rushed shopper to say yes to. The strongest holiday campaigns use both: email to inspire, text to close.
Final Thought
Selling to students during the holidays comes down to three habits: knowing that the buyer and the recipient are often different people, giving students a reason to choose the campus store over a national retailer, and meeting everyone in the channel that fits the moment. None of it requires a bigger promotional budget. It requires being specific about who each message is for and when it needs to arrive. The students and their families are already looking for gifts. The bookstores that make those gifts easy to find, easy to afford, and easy to buy are the ones that capture the sale.
