About Us
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The Beginning
Original investors of eCampus.com included Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, Long John Silver's founder James Patterson and George F. Valassis, creator of the free-standing insert which revolutionized the coupon industry. All told, eCampus.com raised $91 million from 429 investors during the dot com bubble. Determined to launch the website before fall classes began at U.S. colleges and universities, eCampus.com was built from scratch in just eight months. The website launched on Mr. Thomas' birthday, July 2nd, 1999 and pioneered selling used textbooks online.
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Products and Services
eCampus.com today is a premier online retailer of new, used and electronic textbooks for sale or rent, study materials and book buyback services headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to direct retail sales via the online eCampus.com storefront, the company partners with colleges, universities and K-12 schools to serve as their official bookstore. Currently the eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore Program serves as the official bookstore for over 150 schools nationwide and that number continues to grow each year.
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Awards and Achievements
About.com Readers Choice Award for "Best Website for Buying College Textbooks"- 2012, 2013
Internet Retailer Top 500 List- 2007-2016 -
Our Philosophy
With students best interests at the core of all efforts put forth by eCampus.com, the company has an "Adapt or Die" philosophy, making necessary changes to their business model to best suit the modern day student. The company's executive team is comprised of the former Vice President, Director of Customer Service, Distribution Operations Manager and Senior Project Manager at Thomson Learning, which is known today as Cengage Learning. This invaluable experience and the company's winning philosophy have allowed eCampus.com to remain profitable today, where other online textbook industry leaders are not.
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Our Mission
eCampus.com's mission is to set online bookstore industry standards for savings, selection, convenience and customer service as expressed in the company's slogan "Textbooks Easy. Fast. Cheap!" The company celebrated 15 years in business in 2015 and will continue to provide students with an easy, fast and cheap way to order their textbooks and materials for years to come.
Our Executive Team
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Matt Montgomery
President and Chief Executive Officer
With three sons currently attending or recently having graduated college, Matt Montgomery understands better than anyone the importance of saving money on college textbooks. It was this understanding that inspired Matt to direct eCampus.com, a website that would make selecting and purchasing textbooks the easiest and cheapest thing about attending college. Prior to his success in educational publishing and online textbook sales, Matt attended Ball State University where he earned a degree in Operations Management. Before taking on the role as President and CEO of eCampus.com, he gained invaluable experience at Thomson Learning working as the Vice President of Operations. It was there that he teamed up with the current Vice President of Customer Experience at eCampus.com, Mark Carson, to develop the "Adapt or Die" philosophy in regards to the online textbook industry. This winning philosophy is what makes eCampus.com a major player in the online textbook industry today.
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Mark Carson
Vice President of Customer Experience
As the Vice President of Customer Experience, Mark Carson oversees Internet Marketing, Customer Service and Information Technology at eCampus.com. Mark earned a degree in Biology from Indiana University which led him to an initial career in teaching. His background in education has made him an advocate for empowering and educating students. During his time as an educator, Mark was recruited by K-12 Publisher Silver, Burdett and Ginn, now a division of Pearson, to work as Product Manager. Within 18 months, he helped take the company from 3rd to 1st in U.S. Sales. Following his success at Silver, Burdett and Ginn, he became the Director of Customer Service at Thomson Learning. Mark is proud to be one of the executives that have made eCampus.com a national name for buying or renting textbooks.
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Dave Clay
Vice President of Operations
As Vice President of Operations, Dave Clay oversees Customer Order Fulfillment, Human Resources, the facilities and the physical bookstore locations for eCampus.com. Dave attended the University of Kentucky where he earned a degree in Business and in Communications. Dave started his career in the textbook industry as a Distribution Operations Manager for one of Thomson Learning's fulfillment centers in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dave introduced and successfully implemented distribution automation at eCampus.com. Throughout his time with eCampus.com, Dave has directed and completed yearly distribution volumes of 1.5 million parcels consisting of over 15 million units. On peak days, orders total up to 15,000 parcels and consist of over 165,000 units.
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Kevin H. Smith, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Smith serves as Chief Financial Officer for eCampus.com. Kevin attended Morehead State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. He spent his early career in public accounting, primarily involved with audit and consulting engagements for small- and medium-sized companies. Kevin took his first corporate controller position with a Lexington, Kentucky based industrial services company serving the automotive industry, where he later earned the title of Finance Director. When Kevin joined eCampus.com in 2006, he brought with him a deep understanding of information systems, internal controls and business processes. He established reliable financial reporting systems that have enabled the company to thrive while navigating the ever-changing textbook market.
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Barry Kern
Vice President of Partner Services
As Vice President of Partner Services, Barry Kern oversees the sales division of the eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore Program which currently serves as the official bookstore for over 150 schools nationwide. Barry attended the University of Phoenix where he earned a degree in Management. His professional career has been exclusively in the book publishing industry. He began his career in Southern California as Distribution Manager for Craftsman Book Company where he was later promoted to Executive Vice President. Barry was then recruited by a division of Simon & Schuster as the Vice President of Operations in charge of the North American and International operations located in Sydney, Johannesburg, London and Amsterdam. Prior to eCampus.com, Barry was also a Senior Project Manager for Thomson Learning and Reed Elsevier. During his time at eCampus.com, Barry implemented the sales methodology and sales force, establishing the eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore Program as one of the nation's leaders in outsourcing the textbook portion of college and university physical bookstores.
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Matt Montgomery
President and Chief Executive Officer
With three sons currently attending or recently having graduated college, Matt Montgomery understands better than anyone the importance of saving money on college textbooks. It was this understanding that inspired Matt to direct eCampus.com, a website that would make selecting and purchasing textbooks the easiest and cheapest thing about attending college. Prior to his success in educational publishing and online textbook sales, Matt attended Ball State University where he earned a degree in Operations Management. Before taking on the role as President and CEO of eCampus.com, he gained invaluable experience at Thomson Learning working as the Vice President of Operations. It was there that he teamed up with the current Vice President of Customer Experience at eCampus.com, Mark Carson, to develop the "Adapt or Die" philosophy in regards to the online textbook industry. This winning philosophy is what makes eCampus.com a major player in the online textbook industry today.
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Mark Carson
Vice President of Customer Experience
As the Vice President of Customer Experience, Mark Carson oversees Internet Marketing, Customer Service and Information Technology at eCampus.com. Mark earned a degree in Biology from Indiana University which led him to an initial career in teaching. His background in education has made him an advocate for empowering and educating students. During his time as an educator, Mark was recruited by K-12 Publisher Silver, Burdett and Ginn, now a division of Pearson, to work as Product Manager. Within 18 months, he helped take the company from 3rd to 1st in U.S. Sales. Following his success at Silver, Burdett and Ginn, he became the Director of Customer Service at Thomson Learning. Mark is proud to be one of the executives that have made eCampus.com a national name for buying or renting textbooks.
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Dave Clay
Vice President of Operations
As Vice President of Operations, Dave Clay oversees Customer Order Fulfillment, Human Resources, the facilities and the physical bookstore locations for eCampus.com. Dave attended the University of Kentucky where he earned a degree in Business and in Communications. Dave started his career in the textbook industry as a Distribution Operations Manager for one of Thomson Learning's fulfillment centers in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dave introduced and successfully implemented distribution automation at eCampus.com. Throughout his time with eCampus.com, Dave has directed and completed yearly distribution volumes of 1.5 million parcels consisting of over 15 million units. On peak days, orders total up to 15,000 parcels and consist of over 165,000 units.
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Kevin H. Smith, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Smith serves as Chief Financial Officer for eCampus.com. Kevin attended Morehead State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. He spent his early career in public accounting, primarily involved with audit and consulting engagements for small- and medium-sized companies. Kevin took his first corporate controller position with a Lexington, Kentucky based industrial services company serving the automotive industry, where he later earned the title of Finance Director. When Kevin joined eCampus.com in 2006, he brought with him a deep understanding of information systems, internal controls and business processes. He established reliable financial reporting systems that have enabled the company to thrive while navigating the ever-changing textbook market.
-
Barry Kern
Vice President of Partner Services
As Vice President of Partner Services, Barry Kern oversees the sales division of the eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore Program which currently serves as the official bookstore for over 150 schools nationwide. Barry attended the University of Phoenix where he earned a degree in Management. His professional career has been exclusively in the book publishing industry. He began his career in Southern California as Distribution Manager for Craftsman Book Company where he was later promoted to Executive Vice President. Barry was then recruited by a division of Simon & Schuster as the Vice President of Operations in charge of the North American and International operations located in Sydney, Johannesburg, London and Amsterdam. Prior to eCampus.com, Barry was also a Senior Project Manager for Thomson Learning and Reed Elsevier. During his time at eCampus.com, Barry implemented the sales methodology and sales force, establishing the eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore Program as one of the nation's leaders in outsourcing the textbook portion of college and university physical bookstores.
Our History
1999 eCampus.com Launches
eCampus.com launched on July 2nd, 1999 and pioneered selling used textbooks online. From the beginning, the company made a personal commitment to all students to be an easy, fast and cheap way to order their textbooks and materials. eCampus.com continues to stand by their commitment, having saved students millions of dollars on textbooks for over 15 years.
2002 The eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore Program
The eCampus.com Virtual Bookstore Program enables colleges, universities and K-12 schools to streamline their textbook fulfillment processes and turn them into profit centers. Over the years, the company has perfected their virtual bookstore model, accompanying it with proprietary software that is second to none in the online textbook industry. The success of the division is undeniable as they currently serve as the official bookstore for over 150 schools nationwide and that number continues to grow each year.
2008 eTextbooks
In August of 2008, eCampus.com announced a groundbreaking partnership with digital textbook giant CourseSmart. This partnership gave customers access to CourseSmart's massive digital library of eTextbooks and gave eCampus.com the ability to offer students an environmentally friendly opportunity to save money on textbooks. In addition to the partnerships eCampus.com has with digital textbook companies, eCampus.com has also developed their own library of eTextbooks, as well as an eReader to support them.
2009 Textbook Rentals
eCampus.com announced their rental program in fall of 2009. The eCampus.com "Rent and Return" program allows students to rent all of their textbooks from one place on their own terms. The company has the largest rental inventory and offers three different rental terms. Textbook rentals continue to be the most popular option for students, saving them hundreds of dollars each semester.
2012 eWards
In August of 2012, eCampus.com launched their rewards program, eWards. eWards is completely free to join and available to all eCampus.com customers. When a customer enrolls they are awarded 50 points. Additional points can be earned several ways, such as buying, renting and selling textbooks. Points can be redeemed for gift cards of different values to be used toward future purchases. The rewards program continues to grow today as it is approaching nearly 60,000 members.
