Virtual School Store Challenge For Your Classroom

No Inventory Needed. All Digital. All Real Learning.

The Virtual School Store Challenge is a team-based business simulation where students compete to run the most successful school store—developing real-world skills in marketing, finance, and entrepreneurship.

💡 What Is the Virtual School Store Challenge?

The Virtual School Store Challenge, an innovative and competitive business simulation designed to give students hands-on experience in running a real business!

A fully digital, classroom competition where students work in teams to build and manage a virtual school store. Students select products, set prices, design marketing strategies, manage budgets, track profits—and compete on a live leaderboard.

This challenge is brought to you by ActiveLearningLabs in association with BSN Sports, the largest distributor of team sports apparel and equipment in the
United States.

How it Works

Form Teams & Collaborate

Each team manages a store with 5 products, hence a team size of 5 is preferred for this activity. Teams will collaborate and choose leadership (CEO, CPO, CMO, CFO, COO) for their business. All team activities will need consensus from all team members. Collaboration score is one of the criteria for success in this activity.

Data Analysis - Choose Products & Personas to Target

Teams will analyze historical sales records of 30 BSN products and 8 customer personas to find the best 5 products to sell in their store and the 3 customer personas to target. Teams will be provided built in interactive tools to make this decision. Teachers will present Market Saturation report, and teams will use the report to avoid competition for the products they choose. Students will also assign a product owner for each product.

Build a Brand That Stands Out

In this creativity section, teams will collaborate and create a unique identity for their store—name, slogan, and logo. This branding will appear in all future activities and shapes how customers perceive their store. A great brand isn’t just creative—it aligns with the products and target audience. Teacher will get a chance to score the branding materials of all teams, the branding score will affect the virtual sales that the team gets.

Price & Promote to Win

Each Product Owner will use demand-profit curves to set prices and adjust them in response to competition. Team members will then collaborate to divide the limited marketing budget, using the provided Marginal ROI toolset to strategically allocate funds across marketing channels.

Purchasing, Staffing and Financing

Teams now make inventory decisions—how many units of each product to purchase before launch. Overspend and you risk leftovers; underbuy and you lose sales, use the interactive tools provided to make optimal purchasing decisions. Do math to calculate staffing needs, amount to be financed, and the best loan option from the give list.

Launch Virtual Sales & Track Results

The system simulates sales based on team decisions, product selections, branding scores, demand curves, pricing, marketing, and inventory. Students watch their stores perform in real-time and reflect on what worked—and what didn’t. It’s the most exciting part of the challenge!

🏆 Live Leaderboard – Real-Time Competition, Real Excitement

No manual tracking needed. The platform automatically calculates:

✅ Total Profit from virtual sales
✅ Collaboration Score based on team participation
✅ Marketing ROI and smart purchasing decisions

All results are processed instantly and presented through a live leaderboard—ready for teachers to project or share with student teams at any time.

Teachers spend zero time calculating scores.
The system handles it all.

As teams climb the rankings, they can celebrate wins, analyze what worked, and reflect on the decisions that made them stand out—just like a real business team.

🎉 Perfect for showcasing student achievements, sparking friendly competition, and bringing the entire classroom together for a final moment of pride.

🤝 Collaboration at the Core – Building Real SEL Skills

In this challenge, no one wins alone. Success depends on how well students work together as a team.

Each store sells 5 products—and each team member is responsible for managing one. That means students must:

👂 Listen actively to each other
💬 Communicate clearly during decision-making
🧠 Respect different perspectives
📊 Align strategies to meet a shared goal
🤝 Support each other through the ups and downs of their virtual business

Team success is only possible when all five members contribute, communicate, and collaborate.

This lab isn’t just about profits—it’s about preparing students for the real world, where teamwork, leadership, empathy, and accountability are essential skills.

💡 Collaboration Score is a key part of the final leaderboard, emphasizing the importance of Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and rewarding teams that truly work as one.

🧑‍🏫 Why Teachers Love It

“My students were invested like never before. They debated pricing strategies, reviewed data, and worked together like a startup team. This is what CTE should be.”

🎓 Aligned to NBEA and CTE Standards

The Virtual School Store Challenge is more than just a fun simulation—it’s built to meet real classroom goals. Our activities are carefully aligned with key standards from the National Business Education Association (NBEA) and Career & Technical Education (CTE) frameworks.

Students develop practical, measurable skills in:

🛒 Entrepreneurship & Business Management
💵 Marketing & Pricing Strategies
📦 Operations, Inventory & Purchasing
🧾 Accounting & Financial Literacy
💬 Collaboration, Leadership & Communication
🎯 Decision-Making & Problem-Solving

Teachers can confidently use this lab to meet multiple learning objectives while delivering a highly engaging, hands-on project.

Whether you’re teaching Business, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, or CTE pathways, this challenge seamlessly integrates into your curriculum and supports national standards—while giving students a memorable, real-world experience.