Although Brian Cartier predicts that books will not disappear anytime soon, the head of the National Association of College Stores is looking to move NACS's 3,100 member stores, many of them small independents, toward a digitized future. NACS's commitment to keeping pace with technological changes is arguably the reason that its membership has stayed stable over the past few years. Cartier regards technology as one of NACS's top priorities, a view reflected in the first plank of the organization's strategic plan announced this past spring: “NACS will invest the necessary resources to position college stores as the provider of choice for content delivery in any format.“

The catalyst for exploring ways college stores could make the transition to digital content and technology providers came in 2005 at the “store of the future presentations” at that year's NACS/CAMEX convention. Three years later, NACS invested $1 million to form NACS Media Solutions, a for-profit subsidiary with a two-person office in Albany, N.Y. (NACS has a second satellite office for lobbying and legislation in Washington, D.C. Its other for-profit subsidiaries include its 46-year-old wholesaling operation, NACSCORP, and its PartnerShip freight program.)

As for NACS Media, says Cartier, “We're trying to create a viable business model for our members and the association. Right now it is totally an investment, more research and development than profit-making entity. About one-third of our members aren't in a position to do e-commerce. We're very sensitive to the needs of smaller stores, and anything we do has to be able to be adapted to them.”

NACS Media's first project, putting touch-screen kiosks with Web-ordering options for downloading DVDs into member stores, had disappointing results. In January, through a partnership with Polar Frog Digital, it offered DVD on Demand at seven college bookstores and another 10—25 stores were to have added kiosks this past spring. However, the project was halted early. Cartier says simply, “It didn't work. We didn't have the right content.” NACS also faced challenges with its business partner and has since removed the kiosk equipment, which it is storing for another pilot to launch next summer. In the meantime, NACS Media is exploring other ways to deliver content, such as creating an e-book platform for digital course material to be tested in the fall. If all goes as planned, it could set up formalized pilots as early as January 2010.

NACS Media is also in conversations with three companies for print-on-demand—related projects. “We think that in the near future POD is going to offer an important role for our stores to play,” says Cartier. Although he can't reveal too many details, according to an RFP that went out last October, the organization is looking for both local/regional and in-store POD programs for delivering print content to consumers in 24—48 hours. Cartier anticipates having some elements of the group's POD strategy in place by this October, and a pilot program could start by the end of the year.

One POD model that Cartier is weighing involves a hub-and-spoke arrangement, where one store would offer print services for nearby stores. At least one NACS member has already invested heavily in POD and might be a good candidate for experimentation. The University of Alberta Bookstore, in Canada, was the first bookstore in the world to offer on-demand books using an Espresso Book Machine, which it installed in November 2007.

For Cartier, one of the attractions of POD is that it would cut down on returns, which he calls “one of the biggest issues in textbooks.” Another approach to eliminating returns is rental. Although textbook rental requires deep pockets to invest in inventory and then stretch the payback over two to four years, 50 stores in the U.S. already offer some kind of rental program (and Cengage Learning has just announced an expansion of its rental option for students). Cartier notes that the provision for rental grants in the Higher Education Opportunity Act could provide seed capital for more stores getting involved; NACS is awaiting final details from the Department of Education on eligibility.

Although NACS Media grew out of research on the store of the future, just what that store will look like continues to evolve. To keep up with trends, NACS's On Campus Research unit recently set up a panel of close to 10,000 students to get insights into their thinking.

Profile
Name: Brian E. Cartier

Age: 59

Company: NACS Inc. (National Association of College Stores)

Title: Chief executive officer

First job: Management trainee with the Arthritis Foundation

Bookselling in the future will be… evolving. Books are devices; what booksellers sell is content. The idea is to sell content where, when and how people want.