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Publishers and retailers are readying themselves for the new academic season with a host of back to university and school offers, with some predicting a a strong season off the back of a rise in university applicants.
Sage has devised point of sale materials—including pens and yo-yos—to keep freshers occupied. The publisher is also running a competition with academic bookshops for the best displays—the best one will win a case of wine.
Palgrave Macmillan is releasing a number of textbook "value packs", which include two or three books on a particular subject bundled together. Head of college marketing Rae Hardy said the publisher would produce print/e-book bundles across a range of titles, particularly in the sciences. "This is a great opportunity to test the market and the feedback to date from students is really good," he said.
Retailers' websites already display a range of offers. Waterstones.com is offering 30% off York Notes and 30% off OUP dictionaries, foreign language and reference books, along with other discounts. Borders.co.uk has half-price dictionaries plus up to 30% off other back to school titles.
Academic bookseller Blackwell has many "three-for-two" deals including offers on Palgrave Shakespeare and Oxford World Classics. The retailer also has medical promotions with special offer packs with Elsevier, and medical handbooks and revision promotions with OUP. Head of sales and marketing Phill Jamieson said: "We're confident that we have the right mix of promotions to appeal to students during this back to university period, offering great value for money."
Publishers were generally optimistic that they would benefit from a renewed interest in education. Sage sales and marketing director Clive Parry said: "There has always been a sense that in a recession people return to education and the university application statistics are confirming that this year." Continuum chief executive Oliver Gadsby added that he was feeling "pretty optimistic".
However, while an OUP spokeswoman said the group was "pleased" with the build up this year, she said it was "difficult to predict how the academic season this year is likely to pan out" in light of the recession. She explained: "The landscape across the campus accounts is rather uncertain, with some accounts closing or choosing to open for limited periods while others look to manage their stock very carefully. Overall, we are hoping for a positive back to university season, but things are rather uncertain with many factors at play."