Technology driven change in the retail sector: Implications for higher education

Abstract

In this paper the authors explore the implications for higher education of the disruptions caused by changes in the retail sector resulting from rapid developments in technology. Industry 4.0 technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things, blockchain, automation, robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality are increasingly evident in the retail sector. While predictions vary as to the extent of the disruption, retailers agree that embracing technology is now a necessity. The evidence in the paper is taken from a diverse sample of 60 senior managers across 24 retail companies in Ireland. The authors adopt a mixed-methods approach to data collection. They report that the skills required to perform in retail now and in the future will be a combination of human, digital and traditional skills. What emerges from the study is that advances in technology necessitate the provision of new hard skills, but importantly reinforce the necessity for soft skills so that the potential of the new technology can be fully understood and utilised. Helping retail employees upskill and future proof is a major challenge for higher education. Retailers need to proactively develop their employees by identifying clear progression pathways and promoting careers in retail.

Applications of Blockchain Technology to Higher Education Arena: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Castro et al [ 5 ] considered that linking blockchain and higher education diplomas can positively impact students around the world. Next, Woods et al [ 30 ] explored the implications for higher education caused by disruptions brought about by changes in the sector.…”

An examination of skill requirements for augmented reality and virtual reality job advertisements

“…Of course, different sectors have different skill requirements. For instance, Woods et al (2021) emphasized that the retail sectors needed traditional sales skills along with soft skills: technical skills were not a prominent priority and could be taught on the job. On the other hand, the IT industry places greater weight on hard technical skills (Kolding et al, 2018; Mardis et al, 2018).…”

A visually based approach to optimizing retail facility designs and shelve layouts

“…Furthermore, the economic implications of special cognition are accordingly ignored (Deb and Mitra, 2020). Hence, enhancing costumer experience through factors that influence spatial cognition and navigability should be addressed strongly for the optimization of RF and are a candidate to enhancing the experience-based learning approaches (Iorio and Spagnoli, 2023;Jones et al, 2021;Woods et al, 2022). It is worth noting that the utilization of space syntax techniques is highly suitable for this task (Yamu et al, 2021;Youssef and Youssef, 2022), yet little research has used this approach to study the specifics of RF design, rather most space syntax based studied investigated larger retail scales such malls, shopping venues and commercial districts (Andi et al, 2023;Deb and Mitra, 2020).…”