University of Massachusetts Amherst Partners With eCampus.Com Virtual Bookstores to Increase Access to Affordable Course Materials for Students

LEXINGTON, Ky., Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- After a competitive search for a partner to meet their textbook needs, UMass Amherst selected eCampus.com Virtual Bookstores to help students obtain course materials at a significantly reduced cost, while also providing a streamlined and convenient ordering process. eCampus.com, who is taking over bookstore operations from Amazon, will offer dynamic internet pricing adjusted on a daily basis to over 30,000 UMass Amherst undergraduate and graduate students, bolstering confidence that students are receiving the right materials at a competitive price. Beginning in Winter and Spring 2019, students can order course materials through a customized online bookstore with free two-day shipping to campus and all surrounding areas.

"We're thrilled to welcome UMass Amherst to the eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore program and applaud this institution who is making college affordability a priority for their students," said Matt Montgomery, President and CEO of eCampus.com. "Through increased access to best-fit course content, we look forward to providing a new online bookstore standard for the institution that aligns with their mission of excellence and innovation. Together with UMass Amherst, eCampus.com will promote academic success through a superior customer experience that best serves the needs of both students and faculty."

Students can take advantage of every purchasing option, including new, used, rental, digital content, and an expansive network of third-party Marketplace sellers, saving up to 70% off publisher list prices. With nearly 80% of adopted titles available for rent, eCampus.com will offer a wide selection of discounted course materials, along with a price match guarantee program. Students can take advantage of a superior in-house customer service department to ensure a smooth ordering and delivery experience. An additional collaboration with UMass Libraries will make low cost and open educational resources easy for faculty to adopt and increase access to high-quality and affordable materials for students.

Remaining committed to a superior customer experience, the eCampus.com platform will offer a seamless integration with SPIRE, UMass Amherst's Student Information System, creating a customized ordering process utilizing Single Sign-On (SSO). With this cohesive strategy, students will also enjoy the convenience of registration integration, offering streamlined course material ordering at the same time they register for classes. Further simplifying the ordering process, students can make purchases using their campus UCard. In addition to a continuous online presence, the eCampus.com solution will maintain on on-campus Course Materials Service Center in the Campus Center as well as offer temporary locations in high-traffic areas to ensure students have convenient options to place orders, receive face-to-face customer support, and take advantage of onsite buybacks.

In addition to student benefits, the eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore will also serve UMass Amherst faculty with a powerful online adoption tool to streamline the entire adoption process and improve efficiencies. The eCampus.com Faculty Adoption Support Tool (FAST) offers an intuitive interface with step-by-step guides to research, compare real-time pricing, and adopt course materials, along with the academic freedom to choose best-fit content from over 10 million titles, regardless of publisher or platform. The adoption tool will integrate with SPIRE, the institution's SIS, allowing for any materials and course notes to appear in course description information for students. Faculty also benefit from a dedicated management team to extend additional adoption support.

"We recognize the challenges students face with the rising costs of higher education and are dedicated to increasing textbook affordability through our new partnership with eCampus.com Virtual Bookstores," said Andrew Mangels, Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance for UMass Amherst.

More information on eCampus.com Virtual Bookstores can be found at http://ecampuscms.com.

About eCampus.com

eCampus.com is a premier online retailer of textbooks and digital course materials. Consistently exceeding industry standards, eCampus.com's mission is to provide the easiest, fastest, and most affordable way for K-12 and higher education students to buy, rent, or sell textbooks and digital content. The company launched on July 2, 1999, the birthday of original investor Dave Thomas of Wendy's. From the beginning, their driving force has been meeting the needs of the customers they serve. Remaining an innovative leader in the course materials industry, eCampus.com serves over 250 colleges and universities through an innovative course material solutions suite, including full-service Virtual Bookstores and the eCampus.com ALL Access program. eCampus.com's mission enables institutions to increase course material affordability, serving millions of students to date. Through products that simplify the adoption, management and procurement of course materials, eCampus.com propels student success by delivering the right course materials, at the right time, at the right price. Learn more at http://www.ecampus.com.

About University of Massachusetts Amherst

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system, is a public research and land-grant university established in 1863 as the Massachusetts Agricultural College. The university is comprised of 9 schools and colleges which offer 239 undergraduate and graduate programs, supporting an enrollment of over 30,000 students. UMass Amherst is the largest public university in New England and is ranked among the top 30 public universities in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report. Learn more at http://www.umass.edu

SOURCE eCampus.com