|
WebStore of the Month, see sample stores, tips, advice and more!
Not Subscribed to The Board? Subscribe today!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Palo Alto High School
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Featured WebStore Administrator |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Julia Sing
Auditor, Palo Alto High School
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Julia's WebStory
We had a busy month of sales in April with putting our theater tickets, AP tests, and Prom tickets all on the WebStore for purchase. We've had some great feedback from our parents and students about the new look of the WebStore and parents have commented on how nice it is to be able to create their own accounts. Over 50% of our prom ticket sales were sold online this year! During these high volume sales we did encounter some issues in the software which is common with the release of a new version; however the support team has been very responsive to any issues that I have reported.
My objective is to run our office as smooth as possible without any possible obstacles such as bounced checks, long lines for students and complaints from parents or students about wait times. The WebStore has been extremely beneficial in helping me keep my office running smoothly!
- Our community benefits from the convenience of paying online anywhere, anytime without having to waste their time making a trip to the school to make a payment.
- Personally, the WebStore has reduced my manual workload to allow me to focus on other tasks, as well as reduced lines for our students during school hours. The WebStore also provides me with the sense of payment guarantee. I don't have to worry about bounced checks when students pay online.
Julia's Advice:
Here are a couple things that we've done at our school to drive parents and students to buy online that you can try at your school:
- Regularly send emails to parents who have subscribed to our school mailing list with updates regarding deadlines for sales and price increases and always direct them to our WebStore for purchasing.
- We've made the decision to not charge a convenience fee to students when they purchase online, and instead we have absorbed this fee in the cost of the item. This has been a huge factor in getting students and parents to buy online as there is now no difference in cost between in store and online.
- Our Musical gained publicity from an article in our local newspaper. As a result many community members were interested in purchasing tickets and being able to offer them online through the WebStore helped them to achieve that.
The combination of these strategies has really helped increase our school community awareness about our WebStore and has played a big role in the success of our WebStore!
Back to Top
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Tips from Julie the WebStore Wizard |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Top 5 Tips for WebStore Success During Fall Registration
- Include "Buy online" and your school website address on ALL printed materials sent home to parents for fall registration.
- Recommend the WebStore as the preferred means of purchasing all registration items
- Provide an obvious link to your WebStore on the homepage of your school website so parents and students can find it easily.
- If you have email addresses in your SIS system, be sure to include that field in your Dr. Download for the upcoming year. Student or Parent email addresses will then be included in Tracks and will sync to your WebStore to allow you to communicate with your students by sending email notifications through your WebStore.
- List WebStore option and school website information on voicemail message since some of you may be out of the office during the summer.
Webstore & Fall Registration MUSTS:
- Start now! Messaging for fall registration needs to start happening well before the end of the school year. Add our customizable Fall Registration flyers in all mailings home to parents.
- Get your fall registration items up on your store before the end of the school year and keep store up and running through out the summer so parents can see what's available. This will also save you a LOT of time from scrambling to set up your store when you get back from the summer!
All-Star Tips:
- Provide a small discount and setup a code in your WebStore Manager for those that buy online during fall registration.
- Set up a rapid notification call to parents informing them about the online payment option for fall registration.
- If you do have access to parent/student email addresses send mass email notifications to students and parents referencing the WebStore and your school website.
I'll be calling all of you soon to set up 10 minute calls about setting up your store for fall registration and to answer any questions that you may have about the best way to use your store!
In the meantime, visit my blog at www.webstorewizard.blogspot.com for more helpful hints and tips!
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ren Bartlett, Implementation Coordinator
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Expertise: Schedule installations and training, organizing anything, staying on top of the task at hand. As for my job, I like to complete tasks. I secretly like being the go-to guy. I facilitated the office move from Poway to Sorrento Valley.
Just for fun: I like to play computer games. I enjoy amusement parks, although I don't get to go to them very often.
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
ActiveEducate, a part of Active Network, delivers industry-leading online fee payment, registration and data management tools for schools and districts, administrators, finance personnel and students. Active's simple, web-based technologies help improve efficiency and reduce the costs associated with managing school fees, activities, events, merchandise, fundraising, after-school care, and more. Learn more at www.ActiveEducate.com.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
