Rush Readiness — Bookstore Best Practices
The cyclical nature of our business can provide predictability but also means we can go months between the need for certain tasks to be completed. To prepare for a successful Rush season, we recommend completing the best practices listed below four to six weeks before Rush.
EA/IA Connect
Build your catalog early!
Don’t wait until the last minute to build your items or import your items in your Connect catalog. As you receive and confirm adoptions in your Retail Management System, build those items in Connect! This will reduce the stress of last-minute setup and allow you to be thoughtful in the setup of these items.
Custom IA Pricing Requests
If there are items you are requesting custom pricing for, please include a “need-by deadline” in those requests so we can provide that information to the publisher.
Verify that your enrollment is current!
While many of you have enrollments automated so new terms open for registration are included in the nightly feed, it is still a good practice to verify that these feeds are properly updating the upcoming term.
Don’t forget to activate your catalog!
You don’t need to wait until you are completely done setting up your catalog to activate it. Activating your catalog allows items that are set up with active sections to be available on Compare and to the instructors in the LMS. Note: students only see materials when the course is published. However, you are still able to add new items and new sections and make some metadata changes to the title.
Pricing will be locked; however, if changes are needed you can reach out to the Enablement team for assistance in changing pricing!
Final Catalog Check!
It’s good practice to do a final catalog check right before classes start. Make sure your course IDs are in the system, all titles have distribution rights, and any late-added sections are reflected on the items.
Digital Adoptions:
Making digital adoptions available for direct sales to your students is the easiest way to ensure they are ready for the first day of class. With digital, there is no need to worry about shipping delays and the pricing is based on the length of need. As you confirm your adoptions in your Retail Management System, make sure you make digital options available!
Assistance
Finally, as we enter the busy Rush season, our team is available to assist you with any questions.
For Bookstore-related inquiries, the Customer Enablement Team is available from 8 am to 8 pm EST by reaching out to Success@Vitalsource.com.
*When reaching out about an issue, please include as much information about the product, the issue, the course, and an error message, if applicable. This allows for more expedient troubleshooting.
Students can reach out to our 24/7 team through the options available on our support.vitalsource.com site.