Combating the Higher-Ed Used Book Market
In a pilot launch at Illinois State University, working most notably with McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Group, and SAGE Publications, we surveyed 681 students across 21 Packback-eligible courses to decipher the precise revenue implications of the 24-hour digital rental model. The end result was a 58% increase in revenue for our publishing partners, and a tenfold increase in student digital adoption. The reason for this boost was that 82% of our users declared that they would have otherwise bought a used textbook, and 12% declared that they would not have purchased any books if not for the 24-hour rental option. The used book market share in this sample reduced from 75% to 55% of students. Building off of these results, Packback's 24-hour digital rental service will launch nationwide in Fall 2014.
- Companies:
- McGraw-Hill Companies
- Sage Publications