FEBRUARY 3-6, 2020    |    HILTON EL CONQUISTADOR

Ryan Petersen
Vice President, General Management
Verba | VitalSource

Ryan Petersen, Vice President, General Management, Verba | VitalSource, helped found Verba Software with his high school friend, Jared Pearlman, and their Harvard classmate, Mike Regalie.  Begun as a student government project to help Harvard students find the best values in course materials, Verba has grown into one of the leading innovators in the college store industry, serving over 300 college stores with price-transparent shopping interfaces, faculty course discovery tools, and sophisticated marketplace analytics.  Verba products are helping independent college stores stay relevant and competitive in an increasingly challenging environment.

Sessions

Thursday, February 6
10:35 AM – 11:20 AM

Oven Fresh Data: Course Materials Insights From January Rush and Beyond

For over a decade, Verba has helped independent college stores stay current with the changing demands of the course materials business. With Verba and VitalSource now unified, the company is able to draw insights from its unmatched data on what students are purchasing, where they’re shopping, and how much they’re paying. These insights help independent stores set strategy and stay ahead of the competition.

Ryan Petersen and Jared Pearlman will premier their latest insights from the terabytes of data they collected from the January 2020 rush season, including (but not limited to):

  • Comparative trends in student purchasing behavior
  • Market share developments between new, used, rental, and digital
  • Student choice and store performance under all-inclusive models
  • Trends and emerging models in the industry

With the pace of change in the course materials business, you’ll want to have the very latest snapshot of student behavior and course materials sales to chart your strategy and set your objectives.