Amazon Just Took a Huge Shot at College Bookstores
Amazon is matriculating. The e-commerce giant has inked deals with three major universities to run websites selling all sorts of college students' delectables, including textbooks, college-themed apparel and ramen noodles, the Wall Street Journal reports. Students at Purdue University, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of California Davis can use the new co-branded website to place orders. The campus initiative gives unlimited next-day on-campus delivery to Amazon Student Prime members quicker than the two-day delivery for regular Amazon Prime customers. Also as a part of the deal, Amazon will set up new package distribution centers at each partner school. Amazon is aiming at a coveted market that spends 10.3 billion every year at college bookstores. Barnes  Noble is currently a major supplier for college bookstores, selling 1.75 billion in its college division in its 2014 fiscal year. Follett Corporation is also a major player in the space. "College campuses are an opportunity for us," said Ripley MacDonald, director of Amazon student programs. "We hope students like it and continue being Amazon customers.", WSJ