Over the past couple of years, Magellan has partnered with colleges and universities to launch branded merch choice stores for admissions and advancement campaigns. Each store is tailored to a specific audience and goal, but across programs, clear patterns emerge in participation, efficiency, and engagement.

A choice store is a custom online storefront created for a specific group, such as admitted or deposited students, that allows recipients to select their own branded merchandise from a curated collection. Rather than distributing the same item to everyone, choice stores introduce personalization, create a moment of interaction, and generate actionable engagement data.

We analyzed 12 choice stores in total, including 9 admissions-focused programs. Beyond handling fulfillment, these stores generate valuable insights that help enrollment teams better understand student behavior, gauge interest at different funnel stages, and see how branded merch is resonating. Choice stores provide tangible signals around what students value, when they are motivated to engage, and how merch can support broader recruitment strategies.

Choice Drives Participation and Improves Fulfillment Efficiency

Choice stores require students to take an action by selecting an item, which creates measurable participation and fulfillment efficiencies.

Across the programs analyzed, we consistently found that requiring students to make a selection reduced the number of items ultimately fulfilled for admitted and deposited students. This created opportunities for admissions teams to either save budget or intentionally redirect resources toward students who demonstrated higher levels of interest. By aligning fulfillment with participation, colleges achieved greater impact from their merch spend while increasing the likelihood that students would value and use the items they selected.

Key insight: Participation-based fulfillment transforms branded merchandise into a deliberate engagement touchpoint, where every shipped item reflects a student who actively chose to participate.

High-Perceived Value Branded Merch Performs Best

Across admissions-focused choice stores, blankets consistently ranked as the most-selected item when offered. This trend held even when blankets were presented alongside other popular options such as t-shirts, hats, socks, or bags.

These results suggest that students gravitate toward items that feel premium or special. Even when items are similarly priced, perceived value plays a significant role in driving selection.

Observation: Perceived value matters more than price alone.

Designing Choice: Products, Variations, and Flexibility

Choice stores don’t require a constantly changing product assortment to be effective. Some colleges offered the same product while introducing choice through design, color, or style. Examples include:

• T-shirts in different colors
• Sticker sheets with different designs
• Socks in different materials or styles

These approaches show that choice can be introduced at different levels. Even small decisions, such as selecting a color or design, create a sense of ownership and increase engagement while maintaining brand consistency.

How Colleges are Deploying Choice Stores Across the Funnel

Colleges are using choice stores strategically at different points in the enrollment journey, depending on where they want to influence behavior.

• Admits and yield: Several schools used choice stores to celebrate admission. In one case, students were required to log in to the college’s portal to access the store, which encouraged an essential next step in the enrollment process.
• Post-event engagement: Marquette University used a post-event choice store following off-campus admissions events. This approach extended the impact of regional travel, reduced the amount of items counselors needed to travel with, and captured Slate data on admitted student interest after the event.
• Multiple touchpoints: The University of Richmond deployed choice stores in two separate areas of the funnel, admits and deposits, offering different designs and color choices to maintain momentum and personal preference throughout the student journey.
• Deposits and melt: Drake University integrated its choice store directly into its platform and automatically sent the store link to students via Slate after each deposit. Another college focused on campus readiness by offering practical items such as a laundry bag, keychain, and flag.

Together, these examples show that choice stores are flexible tools that can support enrollment goals at multiple stages, from initial excitement to sustained commitment.

Demonstrating Impact: Early Signals from the Data

While many factors influence enrollment outcomes, results from recent choice store programs show strong signals that choice can support yield, engagement, and melt mitigation.

Drake University: Choice as an Early Indicator of Commitment

Drake University launched its Bulldog Bonus choice store for deposited students across first-year, transfer, and Bright Scholars populations.

• 71 percent of deposited students claimed their Bulldog Bonus item
• Students who claimed their item had a melt rate of just 6.8 percent
• Students who did not claim their gift melted at a rate of 38 percent

While multiple factors contributed to reduced melt, the Bulldog Bonus surfaced clear behavioral signals through Slate, helping the admissions team identify engaged students in real time.

Missouri S&T University: Engagement Gains Across the Funnel

Missouri S&T used a choice store to encourage admitted students to select an item and express school pride. The program produced measurable engagement across multiple funnel stages.

• 41 percent of admitted students claimed an item
• 57 percent of those students submitted their enrollment fee
• Summer melt decreased from 9 percent to 4 percent
• Applications increased by 3.7 percent after prospective students were informed they could select merch upon acceptance

These outcomes indicate increased engagement, stronger momentum, and a heightened sense of belonging among students who interact with the choice store. 

Key Takeaways for Enrollment Teams

• Choice stores create measurable participation and engagement signals by requiring students to take action
• Participation-based fulfillment aligns merch distribution with actual interest
• Higher-perceived value items consistently perform best
• Even small choices, such as color, style, or design, increase excitement and participation.
• Choice stores can be used at multiple points in the enrollment funnel

Choice stores turn branded merch into a trackable, intentional engagement tool. With numerous colleges bringing these programs back year after year, early results continue to show that choice stores are playing a meaningful role in modern enrollment strategies.