We are proud to announce that the next edition of this colloquium will be held at the Johannes Kepler University Linz in Linz, Austria.

The colloquium will take place from July 1st to 3rd, 2026.

Marketing Myopia Reloaded: Rediscovering Retail's Core

Retail is being reinvented – algorithm by algorithm, app by app, store by store. Yet as we digitalise, automate, and optimise, a fundamental question remains: Are we still seeing the people behind the process? In an era of AI, robotics, and platform retailing, CERR 2026 invites researchers to re-centre the human being in the retail equation.

Our theme, Marketing Myopia Reloaded, builds on Theodore Levitt’s timeless question: What business are we really in? We invite contributions that challenge current tech-centrism and instead explore how technologies – from AI to automation – can act as meaningful tools, not ends in themselves. We are not anti-tech. We are pro-human, pro-purpose, and pro-impact.

This year’s colloquium brings together academics and professionals to reflect on what we call “Re-Novation”: the human-centred renewal of retail. Retail is, and always will be, a people’s business – in the supply chain, at the point of sale, and along the entire customer journey. We ask: What is the core of retail today? Where do passion, emotion, and irrationality still matter?

Join us in Linz for a three-day exchange at the heart of Europe – in a city of contrasts and curiosity – as we collectively rediscover the human side of retail in a digital age.

Suggested Topics (but not exclusively)

• Consumer and Shopper Behaviour
• Technology with Purpose
• Retail Ethics & Responsibility
• Omnichannel & Platform Retailing
• Re-Novation and Cultural Meaning
• Retail Strategy & Supply Chains
• Frontline Empowerment
• Retail Education
• Sustainability in Retail

Submission Details

We welcome full papers and extended abstracts. All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review. Accepted contributions will be included in the conference programme and considered for a Special Issue in the International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management.