Scholastic adopts a multi-tiered lesson plan for e-commerce

Scholastic Corp. is making the successful transition from a one-track content provider into a multi-faceted web retailer that’s generating revenue by combining online shopping, content and an interactive community into a single business model, e-Scholastic president Seth Radwell told attendees June 7 during his Day Two Keynote address at the Internet Retailer 2006 Conference and Exhibition in Chicago.

Radwell, whose keynote session focused on the new role of marketing segmentation, says Scholastic’s chief web retailing objective is to build an online business model that provides content, as well as products and services, to e-Scholastic’s primary customers: teachers, parents and students. “We have three unique audiences,” he said. “Our traditional segmentations and direct marketing models need to be extended and leveraged to take advantage of the unique capabilities of the online environment.”

To build a multi-faceted and diverse e-commerce business, e-Scholastic is using what Radwell calls “Internet enablers” to create synergies with parents, teachers and students. For instance, e-Scholastic is using strategies such as e-mail marketing, podcasting and really simple syndication (RSS) feeds to augment its interactive marketing program with messages that convey more than just a sales offer to the customer. “We are creating a marketing message that is valuable in and of itself,” he says. “We want customers to open and save an e-mail, agree to have content from us podcasted to them or have them sign up for an RSS feed.”

In six years, Scholastic’s web and e-commerce business model has evolved from a subscription service into a sophisticated program that today offers a unique experience to each user, he says. For example, teachers can use Scholastic.com and additional microsites to shop online for educational materials, as well as download curriculum material, create interactive lesson plans and post and track individual homework assignments. Parents and students also can use various interactive tools such as e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms dedicated to specific tasks such as homework and other programs to measure and assess a student’s academic progress. “We provide each user with a customized view of the information they need,” Radwell says. Scholastic is No. 42 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites.

Scholastic’s established brand and business base offers e-Scholastic an excellent opportunity to build a more diversified e-commerce operation, Radwell says. Scholastic distributes more than 320 million books annually to an audience that includes 100,000 schools and 1.5 million teachers. “We can leverage our extraordinary reach to teachers, children and parents,” Radwell says.

E-Scholastic is on track to generate projected revenue of about $280 million in fiscal 2006, an increase of 17% over web sales of $239 million in fiscal 2005, Radwell says.