WI2023 – Track: Digital Industry and Retailing

Track description

The retail sector is facing many challenges. The omnipresent competition for stationary retailers in the form of Amazon and Co. is tending to lead to declining sales. At the same time, stationary retailers must also position themselves in multi-channel and omni-channel setting, must evolve into service providers and platform providers, and must take into account the new digital technologies in order to be competitive in the future. This raises the question of the optimal business model in retail: digital only, stationary only, or hybrid? Is the medium-sized retailer capable of surviving on its own, or must it, in order to survive, think in terms of cooperation, decentralization or centralization? These can be “physical” cooperation (cooperatives) or “virtual” ones (integration into the platform economy), “horizontal” ones (mergers with other retailers) or “vertical” ones (integration of other actors in the supply chain). What digital skills will be needed in the workforce in the future? What should be the future touchpoint management strategy, and how will the customer be satisfied in the future? What are new innovations that will give the customer confidence?

This track welcomes conceptual, empirical, and design-oriented contributions that analyze, explain, or predict the impact of digital technologies on the future of the retail sector and related industries.

Track Topics

  • Retail strategies in the digital age
  • Innovative retail business models
  • Multi-channel and omni-channel
  • Service and IT integration strategies
  • Retailers in the platform economy
  • Smart city concepts for retailers
  • Horizontal and vertical integration
  • Touchpoint management
  • Trusted retail innovation
  • Customer Success Management
  • Digital skills for retail organizations

Track Chairs

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c. Jörg Becker

Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

Jörg Becker is Professor for Information Systems and Information Management, Director of the Institute of Information Systems at the University of Muenster and Executive Director of the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS), an international network of business information systems research institutions. His research focuses on retail information systems, eGovernment, data and process management, and executive information systems. He assists a number of retail companies in the software selection and implementation of enterprise resource planning and business intelligence systems. Jörg Becker has published in leading international journals, was Co-Chair of ICIS 2013 and ECIS 2015, and Program Chair and Track Chair of major international conferences. From 2008 to 2016, he was Deputy Rector of the University of Muenster and in this function responsible for all IT systems of the university.

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Schütte

Universität Duisburg-Essen

Reinhard Schütte is Professor of Business Informatics and Integrated Information Systems at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He studied and received his doctorate at the University of Muenster, was a research assistant at the University of Essen, represented the Chair of Industrial Management at the University of Koblenz and habilitated in Muenster. In 2013, he became Professor of Information Management and Retail Information Systems at Zeppelin University, and since 2015 he Professor for Business Information Systems at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Professor Schütte’s research interests are process-oriented, ranging from the impact of systems, including their acceptance, to the management of application systems and the holistic transformation of companies in the course of digitalization. The content of his research work is usually related to the domain of commerce, in which he is a proven expert. He is the author and co-author of more than 100 publications. In addition to his academic career, Professor Schütte has served as a member of the management and supervisory boards of large and medium-sized retail groups and was responsible, among other things, for one of the world’s largest IT transformation projects in the retail sector.

Prof. Dr. Axel Winkelmann

Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

Axel Winkelmann holds the Chair of Business Administration and Information Systems at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. He researches and teaches all about designing integrated organizational and application system. He advises and accompanies companies in the selection and introduction of enterprise software and new business models. The chair operates its own research lab with around 30 enterprise software systems from the ERP and WWS environment and publishes research results about software design e.g. in the context of AI or blockchain approaches.

Dr. Ann-Kristin Cordes

Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

Ann-Kristin Cordes is a postdoctoral researcher at the European Research Center for Information Systems (ERCIS) at the University of Muenster, Germany. She received her PhD from the University of Muenster, Germany. Her research focuses on understanding and shaping data-driven innovation and digital upskilling in retail companies. She is the spokesperson of the “WI-Women” sub-community of the association “Die WI e.V.”. In addition, she has experience in organizing a track at various conferences: ECIS 2022, CBI 2021 & 2020. She has served as AE for several different tracks at conferences: ECIS 2021 & 2020, WI Conference 2019, 2020 & 2021, ICIS 2019. Her reviews were awarded a Best Reviewer Award at the WI Conference 2019.


Associate Editors

  • Hans Peter Rauer, FH Bielefeld
  • Michael Rosemann, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
  • Ralf Plattfaut, FH Südwestfalen
  • Maike Greve, Universität Göttingen
  • Christoph Peters, Universität St. Gallen
  • Susanne Strahinger, TU Dresden
  • Isabel Ramos, University of Minho, Portugal
  • Kai Spohrer, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management