Education

Education institutions operate multiple distinct commerce contexts — a student-facing bookstore, an events and course registration system, an alumni giving program, a campus café or retail outlet, and a departmental procurement portal — each with different pricing rules, access controls, and reporting requirements. StoreConnect runs all of them from a single Salesforce org, sharing one student/alumni database and one set of reporting tools.

Challenges in education commerce

• Multiple audiences with different access and pricing — students, staff, alumni, and the public all need different pricing and product access, but institutions don't want to maintain separate stores for each
• Course and event enrolment — registering for courses, workshops, and events should be part of the same commerce infrastructure as merchandise and other purchases, not a separate system
• Departmental purchasing — academic and administrative departments need to purchase supplies, equipment, and services against department accounts with appropriate approval and reporting
• Alumni relationships — alumni giving, merchandise, and event attendance need to connect to the institution's existing alumni CRM records, not a separate alumni platform
• Campus POS — bookstore, café, and on-campus retail need to use the same inventory and student/staff pricing as the online store
• Compliance — student data handling has specific requirements (FERPA in the US; local equivalents elsewhere) that require institutional data to stay within controlled infrastructure

How StoreConnect addresses them

Membership tiers for students, staff, and alumni

Membership tiers drive pricing and access across the institution. A student membership tier gives access to student pricing. A staff tier gives access to staff discounts. An alumni tier gives access to alumni merchandise pricing and reunion event registration. Memberships are managed as Salesforce subscription records, connected to the customer's Contact record.

Course and event enrolment

StoreConnect's booking system handles session-based registration for courses, workshops, seminars, orientation events, and professional development programs. Sessions have capacity limits, location details, and availability windows. Students register online and receive confirmation; enrolments are recorded in Salesforce.

Combined checkout

Students and alumni can register for an event, purchase a course text, and donate to a scholarship fund in a single checkout transaction. See combined-checkout-function.

Restricted products and student pricing

Products with student pricing are restricted to authenticated users with the student membership tier. The public store shows standard pricing; students see their pricing when logged in. Restricted products can be made entirely invisible to non-qualifying users.

Multiple stores from one org

Run a student bookstore, an alumni store, an events store, and a staff procurement portal from the same Salesforce org. Each store has its own branding, catalog, and pricing configuration. A student's purchase history, membership status, and loyalty points are available across all stores because they share one Contact record.

Departmental purchasing

Departments are managed as Salesforce Accounts. Departmental purchasers log in and see their account pricing and spending against a department credit balance. Purchase orders can be required. Department spend is reportable in Salesforce without exports.

Alumni giving

Integrate alumni giving into the same commerce platform as merchandise and event registration. Alumni can make one-off or recurring donations to specific scholarships, funds, or programs. Giving history connects to the alumni's Salesforce Contact record, supporting development team reporting and relationship management.

Campus POS

Bookstore and on-campus retail locations use StoreConnect POS — the same system as the online store, with the same product catalog, student pricing, and stock levels. Staff can look up a student's account, apply their membership pricing, and process payment by card or campus account balance.

Key capabilities

• Booking system for course and event enrolment
• Multi-audience access and pricing
• Multiple stores from one org
• Memberships and subscriptions
• Departmental accounts and purchasing
• Campus POS
• Campus loyalty and rewards
• Combined checkout

Typical use cases

1. Student bookstore — students authenticate with their institution credentials and see student pricing; the public sees standard pricing; campus staff process in-person sales on POS
2. Professional development registration — staff and external participants register for workshops and seminars; external participants pay at checkout; internal staff charge to their department account
3. Alumni giving and engagement — alumni donate to scholarship funds, purchase alumni merchandise, and register for reunions through a dedicated alumni store
4. Orientation registration — incoming students register for orientation sessions and purchase welcome packs in a single checkout transaction
5. Departmental procurement — academic departments purchase lab supplies, equipment, and stationery against department accounts with Salesforce-based approval and spend reporting

Relevant Salesforce tools

• Experience Cloud — student and alumni portals that share authentication with StoreConnect
• Education Data Architecture (EDA) — Salesforce's education data model; StoreConnect Contact and Account records are compatible with EDA's relationship structures
• Marketing Cloud — student and alumni communications, course reminder journeys, alumni re-engagement campaigns
• CRM Analytics — enrolment reporting, departmental spend dashboards, alumni giving analytics
• Agentforce — AI-assisted student services and enrolment support