Center for Retail Transformation

In the first of a three-part series for the summer semester, on Tuesday, June 7, at 12 noon, the GMU Center for Retail Transformation will host a virtual panel on how retailers can transform shoppers' in-store experience.

The Center for Retail Transformation at George Mason University School of Business is delighted to host the panel, "Retail and the Metaverse” on March 23, 2022 at 5:00 pm ET. A primer on the metaverse, this panel will focus on how it relates to retail with a focus on opportunities and shortcomings to keep in mind.

Body

George Mason University’s Center for Retail Transformation, part of the School of Business, is working with Microsoft to host a series of informational panels this spring and summer to help students understand how technological innovation is affecting retail businesses.

George Mason University announced today that the University will work with Microsoft as a founding sponsor of thought leadership and event activity for the Center for Retail Transformation housed within the university’s School of Business.

With technology changing how we shop, Gautham Vadakkepatt, director of the Center for Retail Transformation, notes that companies should utilize automation “and use our talented workforce in a context that actually adds value to the company.”

Because of shortages, “smaller retailers might also see more people visit their stores or websites seeking substitutes or alternatives for gifts, [which means], there is an increased opportunity for smaller retailers to win over customers,” Gautham Vadakkepatt notes in an interview with Loudoun Now.

"In contrast to individual companies enforcing vaccine mandates within their company, government-directed vaccine mandates are beneficial in that they take this decision out of the hands of the retailer and, to a certain extent, level the playing field across retailers," says Gautham Vadakkepatt, director of the Center for Retail Transformation, in an interview with Retail Dive.

Assistant Professor of Marketing Gautham Vadakkepatt, director of the Center for Retail Transformation at the George Mason University School of Business, has been named a RETHINK Retail Top 100 Retail Influencer, an annual list featuring the world’s most instrumental influencers in retail.

The Center for Retail Transformation and the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship at George Mason University School of Business have entered into a research collaboration with Fairfax County on the Relay project in Merrifield, Virginia. Relay is an autonomous (self-driving) electric public transportation shuttle that will circulate between the Mosaic District and the Dunn Loring Metrorail Station.

The pandemic has not killed brick and mortar stores despite the move of consumers to clicks and online buying. Only changes that provide greater convenience to consumers at reasonable cost to retailers will persist. Most disruptions have already been coming and the pace and convergence have simply been accelerated. But very big questions remain.