Amazon and the University of California, Davis, are conducting a pilot program under which Amazon pays the school 2% of net purchases made by UC Davis Amazon Student members or by users who enter Amazon through a storefront on the home page of the university's store.
The program began last fall, and promises to contribute at least $40,000 to develop a textbook scholarship in collaboration with We Are Aggie Pride, a student group that provides emergency funding for UC Davis students in need. Other revenue will help support student programs and services.
Jason Lorgan, director of UC Davis Stores, called the program "a win-win for the university and its students. The site complements the existing UC Davis retail operations and provides additional items that we're unable to provide. We expect it will generate significant revenue for the university and do not believe it will harm our in-store sales."
UC Davis Stores also offers students online price comparisons among a dozen textbook retailers--including Amazon--and makes it easy to buy from those retailers.
UC Davis Stores has eight locations on campus, in downtown Davis and near the university's Sacramento campus. In its last fiscal year, it had sales of $22.1 million and contributed $1.2 million to help fund the Memorial Union and its student programs and services.
Incidentally, we hear from some general independent bookstores around the country that Amazon continues to send "Dear Independent Bookseller" letters, asking them to join the Amazon Source Program, under which the indies would sell Kindles. The reception to that program, introduced last year, remains chilly.