As the air turns crisp and students prepare to hit the books, retailers have a golden opportunity to captivate a vibrant market sector: the back-to-school shoppers. To help retailers master the back-to-school season, CommentSold has curated a guide highlighting trending products for students and college dorm décor, that make selling these items a breeze.
Whether you want to list your fresh stock for live selling on your Shopify website or sell on social channels, CommentSold has you covered. You can even sell your back-to-school stock on your own branded website and mobile app and avoid platform-bound limitations and cuts, increasing customer engagement and profits simultaneously!
Trending Products for Students & College Dorms
Clothing and Accessories
Comfort and style go hand-in-hand when it comes to college student fashion trends. With the back-to-school season being as hot as it is, lounge sets, graphic tees, and layering pieces are in demand.
Let your shoppers visualize complete outfits with the shop-the-look feature and integrate it with contextual live selling to showcase how different pieces and accessories like bracelets, hair bands, etc. can be paired or styled to go with showcased attires. Remember, when customers can buy in real-time, you’re not just showcasing items—you’re closing sales on the spot.
Backpacks and Bags
From eco-friendly canvas backpacks to multi-pocketed sling bags, students need stylish yet practical solutions to tote their essentials. Showcase a variety of bag styles and pair purchases with secondary offers to upsell to your customers. For example, on the checkout page, you can feature simple keychains and stickers that students can use on their bags. You can also get rid of old inventory by featuring mystery items on the checkout page to drive impulse purchases.
If bags and backpacks aren’t your shop’s specialty, you can use CommentSold’s Dropship Program to sell various back-to-school items risk-free while bypassing warehousing and fulfillment hurdles.
Stationery
Offering unique, eco-friendly stationery can set you apart in the back-to-school season. You can get creative to incentivize purchases: create custom coupons or codes and hide them in your social media images or descriptions. Then, urge your shoppers to go on a scavenger hunt to secure discounts. This sort of gamification can get students and parents more engaged with your live sales, helping to boost branding and conversions.
You can take it a step further by pushing discount codes and offers via push notifications to get people to use your mobile app. Remember, selling on your own app can drive 3x the conversions. So acknowledge those who use discounts you send via push notifications and encourage people to download your app and enable notifications to take advantage of future offers.
Tech Gadgets
In the tech-savvy world of students, staying ahead of gadget trends is key. CommentSold’s waitlisting feature along with automation, means your shoppers are automatically notified whenever products are back in stock. When items like coveted noise-cancellation headphones sell out, interested customers can join a waitlist. Once restocked, shoppers will be automatically informed. If pre-authorized, shoppers’ waitlisted items are automatically carted and checked out too!
You can even plan your inventory purchases by generating a waitlist report to see which products are in demand.
Dorm Room Décor
Help college students make their dorms a cozy haven with trendy, personalized décor. Introduce them to the CommentSold Shopping App. Whether you want to live sell on social channels or integrate live selling on your Shopify website, it is one of the best ways to showcase how décor can transform a student’s room.
You can even offer furniture and make it easier to purchase for students by enabling “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) integrations via Klarna, PayPal, or Sezzle. Go further by using free shipping windows and cart expiration timers to urge your viewers to make impulse purchases and drive revenue.
Kitchen Essentials
From single-serve coffee makers to bamboo cutlery sets, students appreciate compact, user-friendly kitchen appliances. Showcase your products on multiple sales channels to reach your audience wherever they are most comfortable, be it Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or your branded mobile app.
You can create special listing pages for each category of items, like kitchen essentials. And once the back-to-school season is over, you can just revert to a previous version of your website instead of redoing the website at the start AND end of every season. This allows you to overhaul pages, add new collection pages, and even completely redo your website–all with the CommentSold CMS.
Wellness Products
Wellness products, from aromatherapy diffusers to herbal teas, are popular among students. You can describe the scents and their fragrance profiles to give your viewers a better idea of what they are purchasing.
With platforms like CommentSold, video snippets are automatically generated from your live sales, which you can use on all your channels. You can even sell 24×7 with shoppable replays which get automatically added to your website and mobile app, so you can be more in control of the shopping experience.
Seize the Back to School Season With CommentSold
A competent live selling platform not only enables you to sell items but also gives you opportunities and resources to excel at selling while helping you make the overall experience enjoyable. Whether targeting parents on Facebook or selling directly to students on TikTok or Instagram, the multichannel approach ensures that the reach is extensive and effective.
But beyond the products and platforms, it’s the experience that truly matters. By offering seamless invoicing, real-time engagement, personalized recommendations, and more, retailers can cultivate a lasting relationship with their customers, turning seasonal shoppers into year-round loyal brand advocates. As the back-to-school season unfolds, try CommentSold and see how its capabilities help you lead the charge in offering an unparalleled shopping experience.
