eCampus.com, an online retailer of textbooks and course materials, has stepped in to fill the void left by Amazon’s discontinuation of its textbook rental service in April 2023, ChainStoreAge reported. As a former inventory provider for Amazon, eCampus.com has decided to retain the extensive inventory it once supplied to the e-commerce giant. This move allows college students access to nearly one million rental titles on eCampus.com, offering four times the availability compared to competitors in the market.
To rent textbooks from eCampus.com, students can visit the website and easily search for desired titles by entering the book’s title, author, or ISBN. The platform provides various rental durations and shipping options, with the added benefit of free shipping on orders over $35. At the end of the rental period, customers can opt to return their books for free, extend their rental, or even purchase the textbooks.
In addition to rental options, eCampus.com also offers new and used textbooks for purchase, as well as a selection of e-books and digital content. The retailer accepts popular digital payment methods like PayPal and Venmo during the checkout process.
Clay Pickens, Chief Strategy Officer at eCampus.com, highlights the comprehensive course materials selection available on the platform, emphasizing the multiple rental term durations and various purchasing options. These additional payment methods align well with the core demographic of students, demonstrating the company’s commitment to providing the best customer experience.
Headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, eCampus.com serves over 300 schools, colleges, and universities. Their suite of course material solutions include full-service online bookstores, inclusive access and equitable access programs, and campus store operations and management. The company, which launched in 1999, introduced its textbook rental program back in 2002.
The market for online college textbooks is substantial, with Barnes & Noble College, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble Education Inc., also entering the scene. They are set to launch a digital portal called First Day Complete at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte) for the fall 2023 academic semester. This “concierge service” will provide all necessary course materials, including textbooks, lab manuals, access codes, digital materials, and e-books, bundled together and delivered before or on the first day of class. Barnes & Noble estimates that this initiative will result in average student savings of 35-50%.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
