Special Issue in Computers in Human Behavior
Innovation in consumer-computer interaction in smart retail settings
Guest Editors:
Eleonora Pantano, PhD, Middlesex University London, UK (e.pantano@mdx.ac.uk); and Alessandro Gandini, PhD, King’s College London, UK (alessandro.gandini@kcl.ac.uk)
Aim and scope
Increasing computing capabilities, improvements in mobile and wireless technologies, the development of flexible software architecture and automatic identification systems as well as the development of “contactless technologies”, such automatic payment and self-checkout have changed both the way consumers access and consume information, and the way in which firms and organizations acquire and retain clients and deliver services (Demirkan & Spohrer, 2014; Hristov and Reynolds, 2015; Pantano and Priporas, 2016).
In this scenario, the current retailers’ trend is to integrate innovations able to (i) shift services from physical employee (human) to the computer (self- service technologies), by creating a new way to access, search, compare and consume products, information and services, while enriching the traditional in-store service with new options (Pantano and Migliarese, 2014). As a consequence both in-store consumer experience and building relationships with consumers is dramatically changing. Attempts have been made in a number of studies explaining the extent to whichbuilding relationships with consumers becomes more difficult in the new technology-enriched retail settings, due to the increasing consumers’ willingness to choose self-service services (Poon et al., 2012; Pantano and Migliarese, 2014).
The aim of this special issue is to provide empirical and theoretical contributions to innovation management for retailing by focusing on innovations on consumer-computer interaction, in order to support scholars and practitioners to take advantages from the technology-based innovations through a more comprehensive and actual perspective. Seeking to understand this innovative force in retailing, we recommend this special issue proposing empirical and theoretical contributions, models, approaches, methods, tools and case studies that contribute to explain the phenomenon.
Topics
The suggested topics include, but are not limited to:
- Changes in consumers access, search and acquisition of information
- Changes in consumer-retailer relationships (including building, maintaining, etc.)
- Changes in product access and consumption
- Changes in consumer knowledge management
- The issues of innovation integration within the point of sale
- Innovation in in-store service co-creation
The latest information on this call is available from
References
Demirkan, H., & Spohrer, J. (2014). Developing a framework to improve virtual shopping in digital malls with intelligent self-service systems. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21, 860-868.
Hristov, L., & Reynolds, J. (2015). Perceptions and practices of innovation in retailing. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 43(2), 126 – 147.
Pantano, E., & Priporas, C.-V. (2016). Mobile retailing effect on consumption experiences: A dynamic perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 548-555.
Pantano E., Migliarese P. (2014). Exploiting consumer-employee interactions in technology-enriched retail environments through a relational lens. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 21(6), 958-965.
Poon, P., Albaum, G., Chan, P.S.-F. (2012). Marketing trust in direct selling relation-ships. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 30(5), 588–603.
