City of Industry, Calif. – Newegg.com hopes to go to the head of the class in back-to-school IT sales.
In pursuit of that goal, the top tech-oriented e-tailer has jump-started the back-to-school season by launching a student-only online store and offering an introductory $20 discount off its white-glove “Newegg Premier” affinity program.
Newegg described the effort as its “most comprehensive back-to-school initiative to date.”
Back-to-school is a critical season for IT resellers, second only to holiday, as notebooks, tablets and peripherals comprise the lion’s share of student purchases, according to a recent TWICE webinar.
Access to the new cyber store, located at Newegg.com/students, requires a verifiable .edu email address. Once inside, college kids will find special pricing and discounts on a range of tech products including laptops, desktops, gaming PCs, tablets, loudspeakers, TVs, headphones, laser printers, flash drives, computer monitors and other peripherals.
“Students need every advantage to thrive at school,” said Soren Mills, chief marketing officer of Newegg North America. “Our ‘Back2School’ initiative is our way of helping them stretch their budgets and make sound investments in the technology that will serve them well this upcoming academic year.”
As part of that effort, the e-tailer is offering students Premier membership for $30 a year, a limited-time $20 discount. Membership includes free expedited shipping in three days or less; discounted rates on two-day and next-day shipping; free returns with no shipping or restocking fees; a dedicated customer service phone number; and exclusive deals and pre-sale alerts.
To herald the new store, Newegg is also sponsoring a “Hack2School Challenge” that invites students to share their favorite college hacks, in which technology is used to “streamline the college experience.” Customers will vote on the submissions, and the 10 most creative and effective hackers will split $16,000 worth of IT products, while the grand-prize winner’s school will receive a “mini tech lab” featuring 81 products.
Customers can also see which products are trending in real time by visiting the company’s new Trending Now page, developed with InSparq, which analyzes purchase behavior and social-media sharing activity.
Newegg, based here, was founded in 2001 and has since amassed 28 million registered users. It ranked fifth on TWICE’s Top 25 E-tailer Report, with online sales of $2.6 billion last year.
